List of monarchs of Wessex

Map of England c. 802–839

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)

Cerdicing Dynasty

Notes

  1. ↑ The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mentions him as being king of the west Saxons (AD 626) and a son of Cynegils (AD 628).[8]
  2. ↑ He was the son of Cwichelm and ruled under Penda.[9]
  3. ↑ 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]
  4. ↑ The father of Aescwine. Was a subking in Wessex.[11]
  5. ↑ A claimed descendant of Cerdic.

References

  1. ↑ Barbara Yorke, Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England (London: Routledge, 1997), p. 1
  2. ↑ Michael Frassetto, The Early Medieval World (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2013), p. 308
  3. ↑ D. P. Kirby, The Earliest English Kings, Second Edition (London; New York: Routledge, 2000), p. 173
  4. 1 2 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
  5. ↑ Michael Frassetto, The Early Medieval World (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2013), p. 54
  6. ↑ Frank Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England (Oxford University Press, 1971), pp. 339-40
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ Frank Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England (Oxford University Press, 1971), pp. 45, 66
  9. ↑ Mike Ashley, The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens (New York: Carroll & Graf, 1999), p. 304
  10. ↑ Mike Ashley, The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens (New York: Carroll & Graf, 1999), p. 305
  11. ↑ John Cannon, John Ashton Cannon, Anne Hargreaves, The Kings & Queens of Britain (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 55
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.