List of monarchs of Wessex
This is a list of monarchs of Wessex until 927. For later monarchs, see the List of English monarchs. Details for many of the later English monarchs are confirmed by a number of sources. But the earliest kings of Wessex predate many written sources.[1] Wessex was one of the seven kingdoms of the British Heptarchy. This is a later name given to the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England during the early Middle Ages.[2] Besides Wessex it included Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, and Sussex.
The year 865 saw the arrival of the Great Heathen Army in East Anglia.[3] One by one the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were defeated by the Danes (Vikings). By the close of the ninth century the last four independent kingdoms of England had been reduced to just one.[4] Wessex was the only remaining kingdom not destroyed by the Vikings.[4] Under Alfred the Great Wessex became the core of a unified England.[5] His grandson, Athelstan was the first King of England.[6]
Monarchs of the West Saxons (Wessex)[change | change source]
Cerdicing Dynasty[change | change source]
- Cerdic (519–534)
- Creoda (534?) Likely disputed [7]
- Cynric (534–560)
- Ceawlin (560–591)
- Ceol (591–597)
- Ceolwulf (597–611)
- Cynegils (611–643)
- Cwichelm (626–636)[a]
- Cenwalh (643–645)
- Centwine (probable) (645–648)[b]
- Cenwalh (648–672) (restored to the throne)
- Seaxburh (672–674)[c]
- Cenfus (674)[d]
- Aescwine (674–676)
- Centwine (676–685)
- Caedwalla (685–688)
- Ine (688–726)
- Athelheard (726–740)
- Cuthred (740–756)
- Sigeberht (756–757)
- Cynewulf (757–786)
- Beorhtric (786–802)[e]
- Egbert (802–839)
- Athelwulf (839–858)
- Athelbald (858–860)
- Athelbert (860–865)
- Athelred (865–871)
- Alfred the Great (871–899)
- Edward the Elder (899–924)
- Alfweard (924), son of Edward, ruled for 16 days.
- Athelstan (924–927), after 927 ruled as King of the English.
Related pages[change | change source]
Image gallery[change | change source]
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An image of Cerdic, King of Wessex -
The death of Penda of Mercia -
Bishop Wilfrid receiving a charter from Caedwalla, King of Wessex -
Egbert, King of Wessex, from an illuminated manuscript -
Athelwulf, King of Wessex -
Alfred the Great, King of Wessex -
The death of Cynewulf, King of Wessex
Notes[change | change source]
- ↑ The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mentions him as being king of the west Saxons (AD 626) and a son of Cynegils (AD 628).[8]
- ↑ He was the son of Cwichelm and ruled under Penda.[9]
- ↑ Queen of Wessex also called queen of the Gewisse. She ruled Wessex for a year or two after the death of her husband, Cenwalh. It was extremely rare for a woman to rule in her own right in Wessex and she was the only woman to appear in a Wessex regnal list.[10]
- ↑ The father of Aescwine. Was a subking in Wessex.[11]
- ↑ A claimed descendant of Cerdic.
References[change | change source]
- ↑ Barbara Yorke, Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England (London: Routledge, 1997), p. 1
- ↑ Michael Frassetto, The Early Medieval World (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2013), p. 308
- ↑ D. P. Kirby, The Earliest English Kings, Second Edition (London; New York: Routledge, 2000), p. 173
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 N. P. Brooks, 'England in the Ninth Century: The Crucible of Defeat', Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Fifth Series, Vol. 29, (1979), p. 1
- ↑ Michael Frassetto, The Early Medieval World (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2013), p. 54
- ↑ Frank Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England (Oxford University Press, 1971), pp. 339-40
- ↑ Homs, George. "Creoda King Of The West Saxons King of the West Saxons (± 493-± 534) » Stamboom Homs » Genealogie Online". Genealogie Online. Retrieved 2018-10-22.
- ↑ Frank Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England (Oxford University Press, 1971), pp. 45, 66
- ↑ Mike Ashley, The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens (New York: Carroll & Graf, 1999), p. 304
- ↑ Mike Ashley, The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens (New York: Carroll & Graf, 1999), p. 305
- ↑ John Cannon, John Ashton Cannon, Anne Hargreaves, The Kings & Queens of Britain (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 55