List of monarchs of Wessex
This is a list of monarchs of Wessex until 927AD. For later monarchs, see the List of English monarchs. While the details of the later monarchs are confirmed by a number of sources, the earlier ones are in many cases obscure.
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The names are given in modern English form followed by the names and titles (as far as is known) in contemporary Old English (Anglo-Saxon) and Latin, the prevalent "official" languages of the time in England.
This was a period in which spellings varied widely, even within a document. A number of variations of the details below exist. Among these are the preference between the runic character thorn (Þ, lower-case þ, from the rune of the same name) and the letter eth (Ð or ð), both of which are pronounced /th/ and were interchangeable. They were used indiscriminately for voiced and unvoiced /th/ sounds, unlike in modern Icelandic. Thorn tended to be more used in the south (Wessex) and eth in the North (Mercia and Northumbria). Separate letters th were preferred in the earliest period in Northern texts, and returned to dominate by the Middle English period onward.
The character ⁊ (Tironian et) was used as the ampersand (&) in contemporary Anglo-Saxon writings. The era pre-dates the emergence of some forms of writing accepted today; notably rare were lower case characters, and the letters W and U. W was occasionally rendered VV (later UU), but the runic character wynn (Ƿ or ƿ) was a common way of writing the /w/ sound. Again the West Saxons initially preferred the character derived from a rune, and the Angles/Engle preferred the Latin-derived lettering VV, consistent with the thorn versus eth usage pattern.
Except in manuscripts, runic letters were an Anglian phenomenon. The early Engle restricted the use of runes to monuments, whereas the Saxons adopted wynn and thorn for sounds which did not have a Latin equivalent. Otherwise they were not used in Wessex.
Monarchs of the West Saxons (Wessex)
| Reign | Incumbent | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Kingdom of the Gewissae | |||
| Cerdicing dynasty | |||
| 519 to 534 | Cerdic | Possibly Celtic, Brythonic, name. | |
| 534 to 560 | Cynric | Son, or according to some sources grandson, of Cerdic. | |
| 560 to 591 | Ceawlin | Son of Cynric. Possibly Celtic, Brythonic, name. | |
| 591 to 597 | Ceol | Nephew of Ceawlin, grandson of Cynric. | |
| 597 to 611 | Ceolwulf | Brother of Ceol, grandson of Cynric. | |
| 611 to 643 | Cynegils | Sources derive him from Cynric, but name different dynasty members as his father. Possibly Celtic, Brythonic, name | |
| c. 626 to 636 | Cwichelm | Co-ruler with Cynegils, perhaps his son of this name. | |
| 643 to 645 | Cenwalh | Son of Cynegils. Possibly Celtic, Brythonic, name; Deposed | |
| Mercian dynasty | |||
| 645 to 648 | Penda | King of Mercia, expelled Cenwalh. | |
| Cerdicing dynasty | |||
| 648 to 674 | Cenwalh | Restored; reigned jointly with his wife Queen Seaxburh 672 to 674. | |
| 672 to 674 | Seaxburh | Reigned jointly with her husband Cenwalh until his death 674 | |
| 674 | Cenfus | (Disputed) Perhaps reigned between Seaxburh and his son Æscwine. Given a remote descent from Cynric. | |
| 674 to 676 | Æscwine | Son of Cenfus. | |
| 676 to 685 | Centwine | Traditionally son of Cynegils, but this is disputed. Deposed by Cædwalla | |
| 685 to 688 | Cædwalla | Perhaps descendant of Ceawlin. Usurper; abdicated, possibly of British origin. | |
| 688 to 726 | Ine | Descendant of Ceawlin. Abdicated | |
| 726 to 740 | Æthelheard | Perhaps brother-in-law of Ine. | |
| 740 to 756 | Cuthred | Relative, possibly brother, of Æthelheard. | |
| 756 to 757 | Sigeberht | Distant relative of Cuthred. Deposed (and killed?) by Cynewulf | |
| 757 to 786 | Cynewulf | Assassinated by Cyneheard, brother of Sigeberht | |
| 786 to 802 | Beorhtric | ||
| 802 to 839 | Ecgberht | Descendant of Ine's brother. | |
| 839 to 858 | Æthelwulf | Son of Ecgberht. | |
| 858 to 860 | Æthelbald | Son of Æthelwulf. | |
| 860 to 865 | Æthelberht | Son of Æthelwulf. | |
| 865 to 871 | Æthelred | Son of Æthelwulf. | |
| 871 to 899 | Alfred the Great | Son of Æthelwulf. The only Anglo-Saxon monarch to be given the epithet "the Great". | |
| 899 to 924 | Edward the Elder | Son of Alfred. Died 17 July 924 | |
| 924 | Ælfweard? | Second son of Edward the Elder. Died 2 August 924, only 16 days after his father. Only referred to as king in late sources. | |
| 924 to 927 | Æthelstan | First son of Edward the Elder. Became King of the English in 927 when the Northumbrians accepted his lordship.[1] | |
House of Wessex family tree
The chart shows their (claimed) descent from the traditional first king of Wessex, Cerdic, down to the children of Alfred the Great. A continuation of the tree into the 10th and 11th centuries can be found at English monarchs family tree.
The tree is largely based on the late 9th-century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List (reproduced in several forms, including as a preface to the [B] manuscript of the Chronicle),[2] and Asser's Life of King Alfred. These sources are all closely related and were compiled at a similar date, and incorporate a desire in their writers to associate the royal household with the authority of being a continuation of a unified line of kingship descended from a single original founder.[3]
One apparently earlier pedigree survives, which traces the ancestry of King Ine back to Cerdic. This first appears in a 10th-century manuscript copy of the "Anglian collection" of Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies. The manuscript is thought to have been made at Glastonbury in the 930s during the reign of King Æthelstan [4] (whose family traced their own royal descent back to Cerdic via a brother of King Ine), but the material may well date back to the earliest reconstructable version of the collection, c. 796; and possibly still further back, to 725-6.[5] Compared to the later texts, this pedigree gives an ancestry for Ceolwald as son of Cuthwulf son of Cuthwine which in the later 9th-century texts sometimes seems confused; and it states Cynric as son of Creoda son of Cerdic, whereas the Chronicle annals go to some length to present Cerdic and Cynric as a father-and-son pair who land in and conquer the southern part of Wessex together (a narrative now considered spurious by historians).[6]
Many of the links shown are disputed. Egbert, who became King of Wessex in 802, was probably of Kentish origin, and his ancestry back to Cerdic may have been invented to legitimize his claim to the throne of Wessex.[7] There are also a number of discrepancies between different sources.
| Cerdic King of Wessex ?–519-534 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cynric King of Wessex c.494–534-560 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ceawlin King of Wessex c.535–560-592 | Cutha | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cuthwine b. c.565 | Ceol King of Wessex ?–592-597 | Ceolwulf King of Wessex ?–597-611 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cenfus King of Wessex ?–674-674 | Cedda b.590 | Cuthwulf b.592 | Cynegils King of Wessex ?–611-642 | Pybba King of Mercia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Æscwine King of Wessex ?–674-676 | Cenberht 620-661 | Ceolwald | Cwichelm King of Wessex ?–626-636 | Centwine King of Wessex ?–676-685 | Seaxburh Queen of Wessex ?–672-674 | Cenwalh King of Wessex ?–642-645, 648-672 | sister of Penda | Penda King of Mercia c.606–c.626-655 King of Wessex 645-648 | Eowa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Caedwalla King of Wessex 659–685-688 | Mul King of Kent 660-686-687 | Cenred b. 640 | Cuthred | Osmod | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ingild | Aldfrith King of Northumbria ?–685–704/5 | Cuthburh d. c.718 | Cwenburh d. c.735 | Ine King of Wessex c.670–688-726 | Æthelburh | Æthelheard King of Wessex ?–726-740 | Cuthred King of Wessex ?–740-756 | Eanwulf | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eoppa | Cynric aethling d. 748 | Thingfrith | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eafa | Sigeberht King of Wessex ?–756-757 | Cyneheard d. 786 | Cynewulf King of Wessex ?–757-786 | Offa King of Mercia ?–757-796 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ealhmund King of Kent ?–784-784 | Beorhtric King of Wessex ?–786-802 | Eadburh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Egbert King of Wessex 771/5–802-839 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Judith of France | Æthelwulf King of Wessex 795–839-858 | Osburh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Æthelstan King of Kent 830–839-858 | Æthelbald King of Wessex 831–858-860 | Burgred King of Mercia ?–852-874 | Æthelswith 833–889 | Æthelberht King of Wessex 835–860-865 | Æthelred I King of Wessex c.848–865-871 | Alfred the Great King of the Anglo-Saxons 849–871-899 | Ealhswith 852–905 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Æthelhelm c.865–c.890 | Æthelwold ætheling - 902 or 903 | Æthelred Lord of the Mercians ?–c.881-911 | Æthelflæd Lady of the Mercians 869–911-918 | Edward the Elder King of the Anglo-Saxons 871–899-924 | Æthelweard 875–922 | Ælfthryth 877–929 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ælfwynn Ruler of Mercia c.888-r. 918-d.? | English monarchs' family tree | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
See also
- List of Wessex consorts
- List of English monarchs
- Governors of Roman Britain
- List of legendary kings of Britain
Notes
- Keynes, Simon (2001). "Edward, King of the Anglo-Saxons". In N. J. Higham; D. H. Hill (eds.). Edward the Elder 899-924. Routledge. p. 61. ISBN 0-415-21497-1.
- D.N. Dumville (1985), "The West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List and the Chronology of Early Wessex", Peritia 4 21–66 doi:10.1484/J.Peri.3.96
D.N. Dumville (1986), "The West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List: Manuscripts and Texts", Anglia 104 1–32 doi:10.1515/angl.1986.1986.104.1 - A "political fiction", according to D.P. Kirby (1992), The Earliest English Kings. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-09086-5, p. 49)
- Kenneth Sisam (1953), "Anglo-Saxon Royal Genealogies", Proceedings of the British Academy 39 287–348
David Dumville (1976) "The Anglian collection of royal genealogies and regnal lists", in Anglo-Saxon England, Clemoes, ed., 5 (1976), pp. 23–50. doi:10.1017/S0263675100000764 - Dumville (1976), pp. 40, 42, 46. It is also possible that the material may first have been joined in with the collection in a copy made in Mercia c.840.
- Barbara Yorke (1989), "The Jutes of Hampshire and Wight and the origins of Wessex" in S.R. Bassett (ed), The Origins of Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms, Leicester: Leicester University Press. ISBN 0718513177 pp. 84-96.
Yorke's theory "has met with general acceptance (I cannot find any historian or archaeologist that disagrees with her conclusions)", according to Robin Bush at "Were the West Saxons guilty of ethnic cleansing?". Time Team Live 2001. Channel 4. 2001-08-28. Archived from the original on 2006-02-19. - Heather Edwards (2004), Ecgberht, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
References
- Barbara Yorke (1995), Wessex in the early Middle Ages, A & C Black, ISBN 071851856X; pp 79-83; table p. 81