John Glynn of Morval (C.1420 - 1472): A Biography

ABSTRACT Studies of Cornwall, and the role of its governing officials in the fifteenth century, are still at a rudimentary stage. A cursory search of the British Library’s vast online catalogue, or the index of the ‘Oxford Dictionary of National Biography’, exemplifies this point – with scholarly interest, for the most part, concentrated to the major landowning families of the region. This is not altogether surprising, given the collection of family documentation and the ongoing efforts of archivists to collate and arrange access to data across the county. However, it is clear that Cornwall was home to a large number of lesser known, yet equally important, political operators – individuals that executed law and order in their environs, and who heralded from lesser, ‘middle of the road’, stock. Thise following article examines the career of one such figurenotable figure of this description– John Glynn – who came to head several branches of government before falling in the most spectacular of circumstances.