2nd son of King John
Richard I
Accessed Sept 2025
Quotes
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hornacote-3 - Gervais Hornacote (1188 - 1208)
Tintagel and King Arthur:
"From about AD 450 until about AD 650 Tintagel was a prosperous and highly significant site, closely involved in trade with the Mediterranean world. The island was covered with many small rectangular buildings, some visible today. A large bank and ditch, also still visible, defended the landward side of the narrow neck, which at this date may have been as high as the land on either side.
"After the mid-7th century there is little evidence of activity on the headland [of Tintagel] for over 500 years. In about 1138 Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain gave the figure of King Arthur, the legendary ruler of Britain, Ireland and large parts of continental Europe, its international fame.
"The History contains the earliest written mention of Tintagel in the tale of how Arthur was conceived there by Uther Pendragon, King of Britain, the result of his magically assisted seduction of Queen Igerna (Igraine), wife of Duke Gorlois of Cornwall.
"In May 1233 the newly created Earl of Cornwall, Richard, brother of Henry III, bought the ‘Island of Tyntagel’, together with ‘Richard’s castle’, from Gervase de Tyntagel (whose father, Robert, had changed the family surname from Hornicote to Tintagel).[1] ‘Richard’s castle’ was presumably built by the earl himself, and if so was begun between 1225, when King Henry granted him the county of Cornwall, and 1233, when the transaction took place."[1]
"The Cornish were not slow in complaining about the Earl's administration of Cornwall. An opportunity to do so arose in August 1258, at the start of the reform movement, when four knights were appointed in each county to conduct an investigation into all wrongs committed by royal and baronial officials and bailiffs. In Cornwall the commissioners were Reginald de Botreaux, Gervase de Hornacott, Ralph Arundel and ALAN BLOYOU, all of them prominent local knights. (2) With Richard absent in Germany at this time, the election of these commissioners cannot have been subject to direct comital interference. Botreaux, Hornacott, Arundel and BLOYOU were thus probably popular local men, trusted by the people whose complaints they were to hear, and not the Earl's henchmen. Certainly Hornacott and BLOYOU had little reason to be on good terms with the Earl. Gervase de Hornacott had changed his name from Gervase de Tintagel after he lost the bulk of his estate to Richard's ambitions at Tintagel in the 1230s, although there is no clear evidence that he had been either coerced into or cheated by the subsequent exchange."[2
Richard of Cornwall - King of the Romans
My interest in Richard of Cornwall is that he was the founder of Hailes Abbey and Hailes Abbey and was the origin of the Hailes Abbey Chronicals.
These Chronicals are the source of the notion that Sir John de Botetourt was the illegitimate son of Edward I.
Richard of Cornwall was a "supporter" of the legends of Geoffrey of Monmouth and king Athur (of the round table and Merlin the wizard fame). His association with Tintagel Castle and Hailes is too suspect (in my mind) to dismiss.
The Wikipedia page on Richard of Cornwall says:
Richard (5 January 1209 – 2 April 1272) was an English prince who was King of the Romans from 1257 until his death in 1272. He was the second son of John, King of England, and Isabella, Countess of Angoulême.
Richard was nominal Count of Poitou from 1225 to 1243, and he also held the title Earl of Cornwall since 1225.
He was one of the wealthiest men in Europe and joined the Barons' Crusade, where he achieved success as a negotiator for the release of prisoners and assisted with the building of the citadel in Ascalon.
Being the 2nd son of King John, Henry III was the eldest,
he was quite a powerful man.
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The Wikipedia page also says:
In 1225, Richard traded with Gervase de Tintagel, swapping the land of Merthen (originally part of the manor of
Winnianton) for Tintagel Castle. It has been suggested that a castle was built on the site by Richard in 1233
to establish a connection with the Arthurian legends that were associated by Geoffrey of Monmouth with the area.
Richard hoped that, in this way, he could gain the Cornish people's trust. The castle itself held no real
strategic value.
Geoffrey of Monmouth - and Athurian legend
The assocation of Richard of Cornwall with Geoffrey of Monmouth does not suggest that entries in the Hailes
Abbey Chronicals are any more realiable than the Arthurian legend.
Geoffrey of Monmouth (Latin: Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus; Welsh: Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy;
c. 1095 – c. 1155) was a Catholic cleric from Monmouth, Wales, and one of the major figures in the development
of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur.
He is best known for his chronicle The History of the Kings of Britain
(Latin: De gestis Britonum or Historia Regum Britanniae) which was widely popular in its day,
being translated into other languages from its original Latin. It was given historical
credence well into the 16th century, but is now considered historically unreliable.
The History of the Kings of Britain - Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth seems to be responsible for the Athurian and other legends. While his writings are
now genrally dismissed by later historians, he was influencial in the beliefs of royalty at the time of
Edward I.
Richard of Cornwall was the 2nd son of King John. Richard founded Hailes Abbey
Gervais de Tintagel - Gervais Hornacote (1188 - 1208)
