Glasney Cornish Holocaust 1549 Memorial Commemoration

News from Kernow Matters To Us:

The Bishop of Exeter, Rt Revd Robert Atwell arrived in traditional style in Penryn today, Saturday 27th August, 2016, on the occasion of the commemoration of the 1549 Cornish Holocaust.

He processed to the Glasney Memorial accompanied by other senior clergy and the Mayor of Penryn, Cllr Mark Snowdown and Civic Party as well as the Grand Bard of Gorsedh Kernow, Dr Merv Davey and a watching crowd including the Treasurer, Tony Leamon,  and other representatives of our organisation 'Kernow Matters' and addressed one and all in Latin, Cornish and finally English.

A ceremony was then held which remembered the events of that time and the murder of thousands of Cornish patriots by the English State.

The roots of the bloody English massacre of over 10% of Cornwall's population can be traced back to Cornwall's own ancient desire for independence from England, meaning they were loath to accept new laws from a central government geographically distant from them.

More recently, the Cornish Rebellion of 1497 and the subsequent destruction of monasteries from 1536 through to 1545 under King Henry VIII had brought an end to the formal scholarship, supported by the monastic orders, that had sustained the Cornish cultural identities.

The dissolution of Glasney College and Crantock College played a significant part in fomenting opposition to future cultural reforms. It has been argued that the Catholic Church had "proved itself extremely accommodating of Cornish language and culture" and that government attacks on the traditional religion had reawakened the spirit of defiance in Cornwall, and in particular the majority Cornish-speaking far west

In June 2007, the then Bishop of Truro, The Rt Revd Bill Ind, said that the massacre during the vicious suppression of the Prayer Book Rebellion more than 450 years ago was an "enormous mistake" for which the Church of England should be ashamed, saying, "I am often asked about my attitude to the Prayerbook Rebellion and in my opinion, there is no doubt that the English Government behaved brutally and stupidly and killed many Cornish people. I don't think apologising for something that happened over 500 years ago helps, but I am sorry about what happened and I think it was an enormous mistake."

Many thanks to those representatives of KM attending and to our member Ayesha for the photography.