Kingdom of Wessex
 British kingdoms circa 802 A.D. Kingdom of Wessex highlighted |
Monarchs of the Kingdom of WessexA
lordly roster of the Anglo Saxon monarchs of Wessex is in
order here, even though we won't be investigating the history and
genealogy of all of them. Not all of them are in my direct lineage.
They are shown in order, left
to right, starting on the top line. We
will be
concentrating on the high-lighted (blue) names, and names with links.
Roster of Monarchs
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 Imaginary drawing
of Cerdic from
John Speed's, Saxon Heptarchy map |
Cerdic, King of
Wessex
was born circa 467
in Germany. He was a son of Elesa ?.
Cerdic had a sister
(name unkown). He was the founder of Wessex and reigned
from 519 to 534 when he died and was succeeded by his son,
Cynric.
Descent from Cerdic became a necessary criterion
for later kings of Wessex, and Egbert of Wessex, progenitor of the
English royal house and subsequent rulers of England and Britain,
claimed him as an ancestor. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,
Cerdic landed in Hampshire in 495 with his son Cynric
in three keels (ships). He is said to have fought a British king named Natanleod at Netley
Marsh in Hampshire and killed him thirteen years later (in 508) and to
have fought at Cerdicesleag (Charford, Cerdic's Ford) in 519, after
which he became the first
king of Wessex. Cerdic's
sister (name unknown) had two sons, Stuf
and Whitgar, King
of Isle of Wight. |
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 Wyvern of Wessex |
Cynric, King of Wessex
Cynric reigned from 534 to
560.
He defeated the Romano-Britons at Salisbury in 552. Cynric
faced
competition from Stuf and Wihtgar, who came to Wessex in 514 and were
said
to be "nefa" of Cerdic and Cynric. The term "nefa" means both
nephew
and grandson, and it has been suggested that Stuf and Wihtgar were
father
and son; possibly a son and grandson of Cerdic's sister and a Jutish
nobleman.
In 534, Cynric gave the
Isle of Wight
to Stuf and Wihtgar. Cynric
had three sons, Ceawlin,
King of Wessex, Cutha,
who
had three sons:
Ceola,
King of Wessex (592 - 597), Ceowulf, King of
Wessex (597 - 611), and Ceadda.
Cynric's third son was
Cuthwulf.
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 Imaginary Version of Wessex crown |
Ceawlin, King of Wessex from 560 to 592 at which time he was deposed by his nephew Ceola. Ceawlin died in 593 Ceawlin captured Gloucester and Bath from the Britons in 577. Ceola and his brothers, Cutha and Cuthwulf seem to have led some or all the West Saxons between 568 and 584. Ceawlin had the following sons: Cwichelm, Crida, and Cuthwine. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cuthwine
of Wessex died in 584, His
was a son of Ceawlin,
King of Wessex, Cuthwine,
an under ruler in Wessex, had two sons: Cynebald
and
Cuthwulf. |
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| Cuthwulf
of Wessex was a son of Cuthwine
of Wessex. He was an under ruler in Wessex and had a son,
Ceolwold |
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| Ceolwold of
Wessex, an under
ruler
in Wessex who had a son: Cenred |
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Wyvern of Wessex |
Cenred of
Wessex, an under ruler who acceded in 694,
and
had the following
children:
Ine, King of Wessex
(688 - 726), Ingild. Cwenburh,
Abbess
of Wimborne, Cuthburh
who married Aldfrid,
King of Northumbria (685 -
704); their son was Osred
I, King of Northumbria (704
-
716)
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Version of Wessex crown |
Ine,
King of Wessex* reigned
over 37 years in Wessex, from 688-726. His
predecessor was Cędwalla. His
father
was Cenred;
his
consort was Ęthelburg
of
Wessex.
According to an entry in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle,
"A.D. 718. This year died Ingild,
the brother of Ine(a).
Cwenburga
and Cuthburga
were their sisters. Cuthburga reared
the monastery of Wimburn; and, though given in marriage to Ealdferth, King of
Northumberland, they parted during their lives."
Ine abdicated in 726, (with no potential sucessors in his
family),
to go to Rome, leaving the kingdom to "younger men", in the words of
the contemporary chronicler Bede. He was succeeded by Ęthelheard.
He died after 726 in Rome, Italy.
(*an
uncle in
this line)
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| Ingild
of Wessex who died in
718, had a son:
Eoppa |
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| Eoppa
of Wessex who
had a son: Eaba |
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Eaba
of Wessex / Kent who possibly
married a princess of Kent, had a son, Ealhmund or Ęlhumund, a
Kentish noble who descended from Cerdic,
the first Anglo Saxon King of Wessex |
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Ęlhumund of Kent
a noble of Kent who
was
a descendant of Cerdic King of
Wessex and
father of Egbert
(Exgbert)
King of Wessex
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 Egbert, King of Wessex Imaginary rendition - artist unknown  |
Egbert, King of
Wessex from 802 until 839, was also known as Ecgberht or Ecgbert
was born circa 770 in Wessex and died in 4 February
839 and
buried in
Winchester Cathedral, Winchester, Wessex, England.
Egbert's father was Ealhmund
of Kent. It is possible the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
in 825 refers to a claim to the
throne through Ine
of
Wessex from whose brother Ingild,
an aetheling
in the House
of Wessex, Egbert was descended. The line continues back to Cerdic King
of Wessex, founder of the House of Wessex. Egbert's mother was possibly
a daughter of King Aethelbert II of Kent, therefore Aelmund was able to
claim the joint Kingship of Kent between AD 784-785. Shortly
after Egbert made an attempt at the throne of Wessex, but was was
forced into exile by Offa
of Mercia and Beorhtric
of Wessex.
Egbert left Wessex and spent about twenty years living in the court of
the Emperor Charlemagne. On Beorhtric's death Egbert came back
to
Wessex, succeeding to the vacated throne as King of the West
Saxons in 802. In 825 King Egbert of Wessex wins a decisive victory over King Beornwulf of Mercia at Ellendun. In 827 following his conquest of Mercia, Egbert controls all of England south of the Humber. In 829 Egbert defeats the Northumbrian king at Dore near Sheffield. Wessex becomes the dominant kingdom. In 830 he is recognized as overlord of other English kings, the first Saxon king recognized as sovereign of all England; King of England. Egbert married Redburga, or Redburh of Francia, (born about 0788 and died 839 in Wessex) and had two sons, Ęthelwulf King of Wessex, Athelstan, Sub King of Kent, and a daughter, Editha, Abbess of Polesworth. He was succeeded by son, Ęthelwulf. Egbert's mother was possibly a daughter of King Aethelbert II of Kent, therefore Aelmund was able to claim the joint Kingship of Kent between AD 784-785. |
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 Ęthelwulf, King of Wessex Imaginary rendition - artist unknown  Ęthelwulf's ring, in Cassell's History of England, Century Edition, published circa 1902 |
Ęthelwulf. King of Wessex
son of Egbert,
King of Wessex and his wife Redburga,
was
born circa 806, and died 13 January 858. He married first, Osburga, of
Isle of Wight, born circa 810, died March 853,
daughter of Oslac of
Isle of
Wight (born about 790) in 830.
The couple had six children: Ęthelswith
born circa
833, died 889; Ęthelbald
King of Wessex
born circa
834, died 20 Dec 860; Ęthelstan,
Sub-King of Kent born 834; Ęthelbert, King
of Wessex born circa 836,
died circa 865; Ęthelred
I, King of Wessex
born circa 837 - 840, died 23 Apr 871; Alfred
The
Great, King of England
b. 849, d. 26 Oct 901. Ęthelwulf conquered the kingdom of Kent on behalf of his father in 825, and was sometime later made King of Kent as a sub-king to Egbert. He succeeded his father as King of Wessex on Egbert's death in 839; his kingdom then stretched from the county of Kent in the east to Devon in the west. At the same time his eldest son Ęthelstan became sub-king of Kent as a subordinate ruler. Ęthelwulf sent young son Alfred to Rome in 853. He made a pilgrimage to Rome in 855. They stayed there for approximately a year. Ęthelwulf married Judith of France, born October 844 – died 870, the first daughter of the Frankish King and Holy Roman Emperor Charles the Bald and his wife Ermentrude of Orléans on October 1, 856 at Verberie sur Oise, France on his way back from Rome. Ęthelwulf by this time was an old man and Judith was a very young girl/woman. There were no children as a result of the marriage, but Judith had became a "Queen". More about Judith later. Upon his return to England in 856 Ęthelwulf met with an acute crisis. His eldest surviving son Ęthelbald (Athelstan had since died) had devised a conspiracy with the Ealdorman of Somerset and the Bishop of Sherborne to oppose Ęthelwulf's resumption of the kingship once he returned. Ęthelwulf mustered enough support to fight a civil war, or to banish Ęthelbald and his fellow conspirators. Instead Ęthelwulf yielded western Wessex to his son while he himself retained central and eastern Wessex Upon the death of his father, Ęthelwulf succeded him to the throne of all of Wessex, Sussex, Kent and Essex in 839.
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 Ęthelbald, King of Wessex |
Ęthelbald
King of Wessex from 856 to 860. He was
the second of the five sons of King
Ęthelwulf of Wessex and Osburga.
In 850, he received the rank of Ealdorman. In 855 he became regent of Wessex
while his father, Ęthelwulf,
visited
Rome, his elder brother Ęthelstan
having died around 851. His brother Ęthelbert
was left in charge of Kent. When Ethelwulf died on the 13th of January 858, he was succeeded by his son, Ethelbald. In the same year Ethelbald earned the censure of the Church by marrying Judith, his widowed teenage stepmother. The relationship was deemed incestuous and in direct contravention of church law. The marriage was eventually annulled in 860 on the grounds of consanguinity, the same year that Ethelbald died. Through her marriages to two Kings of Wessex, Judith was twice Queen of Wessex and was both the stepmother and later sister-in-law of Alfred the Great. Interestingly, when Judith married Baldwin I of Flanders, her son by this third marriage, Baldwin II of Flanders would go on to marry Alfred's daughter, Ęlfthryth (also known as Elfrida). By her third marriage, Judith was also the ancestress of another Queen of England, Matilda of Flanders, the consort of England's first Norman King, William the Conqueror. Thus Judith is not only an ancestress of the Counts of Flanders, but through Matilda, she is also direct ancestress of the Monarchs of England, including Queen Elizabeth II. Please see Judith of Flanders in the pages of Wickipedia |
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 Ęthelberht King of Wessex Artist's depiction |
Ęthelberht
King
of Wessex was
born circa 836, the third son of
Ęthelwulf of Wessex and his first wife, Osburga. In 855 he
became under-king of Kent while his father, Ęthelwulf,
visited Rome.
His brother Ęthelbald
was left in charge of the West Saxons. After his father's death in 858
he succeeded him as king of Kent and the other eastern parts of the
kingdom. When Ęthelbald died childless in 860, the kingship of
the West
Saxons also passed to Ęthelberht. Just
as his father and brother, he was also crowned at Kingston upon Thames.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle storming Winchester and ravaging eastern
Kent.
describes Ęthelberht's reign as one of good
harmony and lasting peace. Though this was true of internal affairs,
the Vikings remained a great threat, unsuccessfully. One development
was that Wessex and
its recent south-eastern
conquests became a united kingdom. Unlike his predecessors,
Ęthelberht
did not appoint another member of his family as under-king of Kent. A
charter issued in the first year of Ęthelberht's reign reflects
an
extraordinary new kind of assembly: it was the first charter of a West
Saxon king to include a full complement both of West Saxon and of
Kentish witnesses. |
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 Ęthelred King of Wessex coin |
Ęthelred King of
Wessex was King
of Wessex from 865 to 871. He was born circa 840 in Wessex the
fourth son of
King Ęthelwulf. He succeeded his brother, Ęthelberht (Ethelbert) He married Wulfrida
and they had two sons, as King of Wessex and Kent in 865, Ęthelwold,
the elder, and Ęthelhelm, the younger.
Ęthelred was not able to control the increasing Danish raids on England, but younger brother Alfred was of aid to him as second in command in a series of battles in 870 and 871. On 4 January 871 at the Battle of Reading, Ęthelred suffered a heavy defeat. Although Ęthelred was able to re-form his army in time to win a victory at the Battle of Ashdown, he suffered another defeat on 22 January at the Battle of Basing, and was killed at the Battle of Merton on 23 April 871. Ęthelred is buried at Wimborne in Dorset. Following his death, he was popularly regarded as a saint, but never canonized. He was succeeded by his younger brother, Alfred the Great. |
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 Alfred the Great |
Alfred the
Great.,King of England Alfred
was born at Wantage in Oxfordshire in 849, the fifth son of Aethelwulf,
King of the West Saxons. He succeeded his brother following his
untimely death at the hands of the Danish. Click
this link for more information about the only English monarch known as
'the Great'.
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Copyright © L. Neale Clifton 1997 - 2011
Sources:
Wickipedia (Internet)
the Peerage (Internet)
Catholic Encyclopedia
Anglo-Saxon Chronicles (authors unknown)
Rbt. Sewell's Genealogy (Internet)
Modified 11 August 2011