David Lees

PhD thesis title: ‘Identities in twelfth-century Cornwall.’

My research examines representations of Cornwall in twelfth-century literature. My thesis will consider how Cornwall was perceived as a distinct land and as a region with connections to the ‘Celtic’ world and as an English shire. The formation of communities on the ground will also be considered, as will the development of elite identity in Cornwall over the long twelfth century. It will be argued that many different identities, and several different ways of representing Cornwall, co-existed, making Cornish identity as flexible and ever-changing as any other medieval identity.