List of monarchs of Wessex
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This is a list of monarchs of Wessex until 927. 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.
The names are given in modern English form followed by the names and titles (as far as is known) in contemporary Anglo-Saxon English and Latin, the prevalent 'official' languages of the time.
This was a time when spellings varied widely, even within a document. A number of variations of the details below exist. Amongst these are the preference between the runic letter "Thorn" (Þ) and the letter "Eth" (Ð), both of which are pronounced "Th" and were interchangeable. They were used indiscriminately for voiced and unvoiced sounds, unlike modern Icelandic. Thorn tended to be more used in the south (Wessex) and eth in the North (Mercia and Northumbria). "Th" was preferred in the earliest period in Northern texts.
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 and the letters "W" and "U". W was occasionally rendered "VV", but the runic letter "wynn" (Ƿ) was the normal way of writing the "W" sound. Again, in the earliest period, the Angles/Engle preferred 'VV', whilst the West Saxons preferred the letter derived from a rune. (Compare "thorn" (Þ, from the rune of the same name) and "eth" (Ð).)
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 | CERDIC ELESING GEVVISSÆ CYNING CERDIC REX GEVVISSÆ |
Possibly Celtic, Brythonic, name |
| 534 to 560 | Cynric | CYNRIC CERDICING GEVVISSÆ CYNING CYNRIC REX GEVVISSÆ |
|
| 560 to 591 | Ceawlin | CEAVVLIN CYNRICING GEVVISSÆ CYNING CEAVVLIN REX GEVVISSÆ |
Possibly Celtic, Brythonic, name |
| 591 to 597 | Ceol | CEOL CVÞING GEVVISSÆ CYNING CEOL REX GEVVISSÆ |
|
| 597 to 611 | Ceolwulf | CEOLVVLF CVÞING GEVVISSÆ CYNING CEOLVVLF REX GEVVISSÆ |
|
| 611 to 643 | Cynegils | CYNEGILS CEOLING GEVVISSÆ CYNING CYNEGILS REX GEVVISSÆ |
Possibly Celtic, Brythonic, name |
| c. 626 to 636 | Cwichelm | CVVICHELM CYNEGILSING GEVVISSÆ CYNING CVVICHELM REX GEVVISSÆ |
|
| 643 to 645 | Cenwalh | CENVVALH CYNEGILSING GEVVISSÆ CYNING CENVVALH REX GEVVISSÆ |
Possibly Celtic, Brythonic, name; Deposed |
| Mercian dynasty | |||
| 645 to 648 | Penda | PENDA PYBBING MIERCNA ⁊ GEVVISSÆ CYNING PENDA REX MIERCNA ET GEVVISSÆ |
|
| Cerdicing dynasty | |||
| 648 to 674 | Cenwalh | CENVVALH CYNEGILSING VVESTSEAXNA CYNING CENVVALH REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM |
Restored; reigned jointly with his wife Queen Seaxburh 672 to 674 |
| 672 to 674 | Seaxburh | SEAXBVRG VVESTSEAXNA CVEN SEAXBVRH REGINA SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM |
Reigned jointly with her husband Cenwalh until his death 674 |
| 674 | Cenfus | CENFVS CENFERÞING VVESTSEAXNA CYNING CENFVS REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM |
|
| 674 to 676 | Æscwine | ÆSCVVINE CENFVSING VVESTSEAXNA CYNING ÆSCVVINE REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM |
|
| 676 to 685 | Centwine | CENTVVINE CYNEGILSING VVESTSEAXNA CYNING CENTVVINE REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM |
Deposed by Cædwalla |
| 685 to 688 | Cædwalla | CÆDVVALLA CENBRYHTING VVESTSEAXNA CYNING CÆDVVALLA REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM |
Usurper; abdicated, possibly of British origin |
| 688 to 726 | Ine | INE CENREDING VVESTSEAXNA CYNING INE REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM |
Abdicated |
| 726 to 740 | Æthelheard | ÆÞELHEARD VVESTSEAXNA CYNING ÆÞELHEARD REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM |
|
| 740 to 756 | Cuthred | CVÞRED VVESTSEAXNA CYNING CVÞRED REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM |
|
| 756 to 757 | Sigeberht | SIGEBRYHT VVESTSEAXNA CYNING SIGEBRYHT REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM |
Deposed (and killed?) by Cynewulf |
| 757 to 786 | Cynewulf | CYNEVVLF VVESTSEAXNA CYNING CYNEVVLF REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM |
Assassinated by Cyneheard, brother of Sigeberht |
| 786 to 802 | Beorhtric | BEORHTRIC VVESTSEAXNA CYNING BEORHTRIC REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM |
|
| 802 to 839 | Egbert | ECGBRYHT EALHMVNDING VVESTSEAXNA CYNING ECGBRYHT REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM |
|
| 839 to 858 | Æthelwulf | ÆÞELVVLF ECGBRYHTING VVESTSEAXNA CYNING ÆÞELVVLF REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM |
|
| 858 to 860 | Æthelbald | ÆÞELBALD ÆÞELVVLFING VVESTSEAXNA CYNING ÆÞELBALD REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM |
|
| 860 to 865 | Æthelberht | ÆÞELBRYHT ÆÞELVVLFING VVESTSEAXNA CYNING ÆÞELBRYHT REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM |
|
| 865 to 871 | Æthelred | ÆÞELRED ÆÞELVVLFING VVESTSEAXNA CYNING ÆÞELRED REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM |
|
| 871 to 899 | Alfred the Great | ÆLFRED ÆÞELVVLFING ÐE GREAT VVESTSEAXNA CYNING ÆLFRED MAGNVS REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM |
The only Anglo-Saxon monarch to be given the epithet "the Great". |
| 899 to 924 | Edward the Elder | EADVVEARD ÆLFREDING ÐE ELDRA WESTSEAXNA CYNING EADVVEARD REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM |
Died 17 July 924 |
| 924 | Ælfweard? | ÆLFVVEARD WESTSEAXNA CYNNING ÆLFVVEARD REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM |
Second son of Edward the Elder. Died 2 August 924, only 16 days after his father |
| 924 to 927 | Æthelstan | ÆÞELSTAN EADVVEARDING WESTSEAXNA CYNNING ÆÞELSTAN REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM |
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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cedda b.590 | Cuthwulf b.592 | Cynegils King of Wessex ?–611-642 | Pybba King of Mercia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cenfus King of Wessex ?–674-674 | Cenberht 620-661 | Ceolwald | Cwichelm King of Wessex ?–626-636 | 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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Æscwine King of Wessex ?–674-676 | Caedwalla King of Wessex 659–685-688 | Mul King of Kent 660-686-687 | Cenred b. 640 | Cuthred | Centwine King of Wessex ?–676-685 | Osmod | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ingild 672-718 | 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 b. 706 | Cynric aethling d. 748 | Thingfrith | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eafa b. 730 | Kentish Princess | 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 c.750–784-784 | Beorhtric King of Wessex ?–786-802 | Eadburh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Egbert King of Wessex 775–802-839 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Æthelwulf King of Wessex 795–839-858 | Osburh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Æthelstan King of Kent 830–839-855 | Æthelbald King of Wessex 831–856-860 | 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 d. 901 | 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 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. 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
- "Family tree of the Kings of Wessex and England 802–1066" (PDF). The official website of the British Monarchy. Retrieved 2010-07-30.
- Barbara Yorke (1995), Wessex in the early Middle Ages, A & C Black, ISBN 071851856X; pp 79-83; table p. 81
External links
- "Family tree of Kings of Wessex and England 802–1066" (PDF). The official website of the British Monarchy. Retrieved 2011-03-30.