Ceawlin of Wessex
Encyclopedia
Ceawlin was a King of Wessex
. He may have been the son of Cynric of Wessex
and the grandson of Cerdic of Wessex
, whom the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
represents as the leader of the first group of Saxons
to come to the land which later became Wessex
. Ceawlin was active during the last years of the Anglo-Saxon
invasion, with little of southern England remaining in the control of the native Britons by the time of his death.
The chronology of Ceawlin's life is highly uncertain. The historical accuracy and dating of many of the events in the later Anglo-Saxon Chronicle have been called into question, and his reign is variously listed as lasting seven, seventeen, or thirty-two years. The Chronicle records several battles of Ceawlin's between the years 556 and 592, including the first record of a battle between different groups of Anglo-Saxons, and indicates that under Ceawlin Wessex acquired significant territory, some of which was later to be lost to other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms
. Ceawlin is also named as one of the eight "bretwalda
s", a title given in the Chronicle to eight rulers who had overlordship over southern Britain, although the extent of Ceawlin's control is not known.
Ceawlin died in 593, having been deposed the year before, possibly by his successor, Ceol
. He is recorded in various sources as having two sons, Cutha and Cuthwine
, but the genealogies in which this information is found are known to be unreliable.
is poorly sourced and the subject of a number of important disagreements among historians. It appears, however, that in the fifth century raids on Britain by continental peoples developed into migrations. The newcomers included Angles
, Saxons
, Jutes
, and Frisians
. These peoples captured territory in the east and south of England, but at about the end of the fifth century, a British victory at the battle of Mons Badonicus halted the Anglo-Saxon advance for fifty years. Near the year 550, however, the British began to lose ground once more, and within twenty-five years, it appears that control of almost all of southern England was in the hands of the invaders.
The peace following the battle of Mons Badonicus is attested partly by Gildas
, a monk, who wrote De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae
or On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain during the middle of the sixth century. This essay is a polemic against corruption and Gildas provides little in the way of names and dates. He appears, however, to state that peace had lasted from the year of his birth to the time he was writing. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
is the other main source that bears on this period, in particular in an entry for the year 827 that records a list of the kings who bore the title "bretwalda
", or "Britain-ruler". That list shows a gap in the early sixth century that matches Gildas's version of events.
Ceawlin's reign belongs to the period of Anglo-Saxon expansion at the end of the sixth century. Though there are many unanswered questions about the chronology and activities of the early West Saxon rulers, it is clear that Ceawlin was one of the key figures in the final Anglo-Saxon conquest of southern Britain.
of Wessex
. They record earlier material for the older entries, which were assembled from earlier annals that no longer survive, as well as, from saga material that might have been transmitted orally. The Chronicle dates the arrival of the future "West Saxons" in Britain to 495, when Cerdic and his son, Cynric, land at Cerdices ora, or Cerdic's shore. Almost twenty annals describing Cerdic's campaigns, and those of his descendants appear interspersed through the next hundred years of entries in the Chronicle. Although these annals provide most of what is known about Ceawlin, it also should be noted that the historicity of many of the entries is uncertain.
The West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List is a list of rulers of Wessex, including the lengths of their reigns. It survives in several forms, including as a preface to the [B] manuscript of the Chronicle. As with Chronicle, The List was compiled during the reign of Alfred the Great, and both the List and the Chronicle are influenced by the desire of their writers to use a single line of descent to trace the lineage of the Kings of Wessex through Cerdic to Gewis, a descendant of Woden
and the legendary ancestor of the West Saxons. The result served the political purposes of the scribe, but is riddled with contradictions for historians.
The contradictions may be seen clearly by calculating dates by different methods from the various sources. The first event in West Saxon history, the date of which can be regarded as reasonably certain, is the baptism of Cynegils, which occurred in the late 630s, perhaps as late as 640. The Chronicle dates Cerdic's arrival to 495, but adding up the lengths of the reigns as given in the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List, leads to the conclusion that Cerdic's reign might have started in 532, a difference of 37 years. Neither 495 nor 532 may be treated as reliable, however, the latter date relies on the presumption that the Regnal List is correct in presenting the kings of Wessex as having succeeded one another, with no omitted kings, no joint kingships, and that the durations of the reigns are correct as given. None of these presumptions may be made safely.
The sources also are inconsistent on the length of Ceawlin's reign. The Chronicle gives it as thirty-two years, from 560 to 592, but the Regnal Lists disagree: different versions give it as seven or seventeen years. A recent detailed study of the Regnal List dates the arrival of the West Saxons in England to 538, and favours seven years as the most likely length of Ceawlin's reign, with dates of 581–588 proposed. The sources do agree that Ceawlin is the son of Cynric and he usually is named as the father of Cuthwine. There is one discrepancy to be noted in this case: the entry for 685 in the [A] version of the Chronicle assigns Ceawlin a son, Cutha, but in the 855 entry in the same manuscript, Cutha is listed as the son of Cuthwine. Cutha also is named as Ceawlin's brother in the [E] and [F] versions of the Chronicle, in the 571 and 568 entries, respectively.
Whether Ceawlin is a descendant of Cerdic is a matter of debate. Subgroupings of different West Saxon lineages give the impression of separate groups, of which Ceawlin's line is one. Some of the problems in the Wessex genealogies may have come about because of efforts to integrate Ceawlin's line with the other lineages: it was very important to the West Saxons to be able to trace their ancestors back to Cerdic. Another reason for doubting the literal nature of these early genealogies is that the etymology of the names of several early members of the dynasty do not appear to be Germanic, which is the origin of these peoples. The name, Ceawlin, is one of the names that does not have a convincing Anglo-Saxon origin; it seems more likely to be from the native Britons.
It also should be noted that the earliest sources do not use the term "West Saxon". According to Bede
's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, the term is interchangeable with the Gewisse, meaning the descendants of Gewis. The term "West Saxon" only appears in the late seventh century, after the reign of Cædwalla.
, and the annals record the conquest of the island in 530. In 534, according to the Chronicle, Cerdic died and his son Cynric took the throne; the Chronicle adds that "they gave the Isle of Wight to their nephews, Stuf and Wihtgar". These records are in direct conflict with Bede
, who states that the Isle of Wight was settled by Jutes, not Saxons; the archaeological record
is somewhat in favour of Bede on this.
Subsequent entries in the Chronicle give details of some of the battles by which the West Saxons won their kingdom. Ceawlin's campaigns are not given as near the coast. They range along the Thames valley
and beyond, as far as Surrey
in the east and the mouth of the Severn in the west. Ceawlin clearly is part of the West Saxon expansion, but the military history of the period is difficult to understand. In what follows the dates are as given in the Chronicle, although as noted above, these are earlier than now thought accurate.
556: Beran byrg
The first record of a battle fought by Ceawlin is in 556, when he and his father, Cynric, fought the native Britons at "Beran byrg", or Bera's Stronghold. This now is identified as Barbury Castle
, an Iron Age hill fort in Wiltshire, near Swindon. Cynric would have been king of Wessex at this time.
568: Wibbandun
The first battle Ceawlin fought as king is dated by the Chronicle to 568, when he and Cutha fought with Æthelberht, the king of Kent. The entry says "Here Ceawlin and Cutha fought against Aethelberht and drove him into Kent; and they killed two ealdormen
, Oslaf and Cnebba, on Wibbandun." The location of "Wibbandun", which can be translated as "Wibba's Mount", has not been identified definitely; it was at one time thought to be Wimbledon, but this now is known to be incorrect. This battle is notable as the first recorded conflict between the invading peoples: previous battles recorded in the Chronicle are between the Anglo-Saxons and the native Britons.
There are multiple examples of joint kingship in Anglo-Saxon history, and this may be another: it is not clear what Cutha's relationship to Ceawlin is, but it certainly is possible he was also a king. The annal for 577, below, is another possible example.
571: Bedcanford
The annal for 571 reads: "Here Cuthwulf fought against the Britons at Bedcanford, and took four settlements: Limbury
and Aylesbury
, Benson
and Eynsham
; and in the same year he passed away." Cuthwulf's relationship with Ceawlin is unknown, but the alliteration common to Anglo-Saxon royal families suggests Cuthwulf may be part of the West Saxon royal line. The location of the battle itself is unidentified. It has been suggested that it was Bedford
, but what is known of the early history of Bedford's names, does not support this. This battle is of interest because it is surprising that an area so far east should still be in Briton hands this late: there is ample archaeological evidence of early Saxon and Anglian presence in the Midlands, and historians generally have interpreted Gildas's De Excidio as implying that the Britons had lost control of this area by the mid-sixth century. One possible explanation is, that this annal records a reconquest of land that was lost to the Britons in the campaigns ending in the battle of Mons Badonicus.
577: The lower Severn
The annal for 577 reads "Here Cuthwine and Ceawlin fought against the Britons, and they killed three kings, Coinmail and Condidan and Farinmail, in the place which is called Dyrham
, and took three cities: Gloucester
and Cirencester
and Bath." This entry is all that is known of these Briton kings; their names are in an archaic form that makes it very likely that this annal derives from a much older written source. The battle itself has long been regarded as a key moment in the Saxon advance, since in reaching the Bristol Channel
, the West Saxons divided the Britons west of the Severn from land communication with those in the peninsula to the south of the Channel. Wessex almost certainly lost this territory to Penda of Mercia
in 628, when the Chronicle records that "Cynegils and Cwichelm fought against Penda at Cirencester and then came to an agreement."
It is possible that when Ceawlin and Cuthwine took Bath, they found the Roman baths still operating to some extent. Nennius
, a ninth-century historian, mentions a "Hot Lake" in the land of the Hwicce
, which was along the Severn, and adds "It is surrounded by a wall, made of brick and stone, and men may go there to bathe at any time, and every man can have the kind of bath he likes. If he wants, it will be a cold bath; and if he wants a hot bath, it will be hot". Bede also describes hot baths in the geographical introduction to the Ecclesiastical History in terms very similar to those of Nennius.
Wansdyke
, an early medieval defensive linear earthwork, runs from south of Bristol
to near Marlborough, Wiltshire, passing not far from Bath. It probably was built in the fifth or sixth centuries, perhaps by Ceawlin.
584: Fethan leag
Ceawlin's last recorded victory is in 584. The entry reads "Here Ceawlin and Cutha fought against the Britons at the place which is named Fethan leag, and Cutha was killed; and Ceawlin took many towns and countless war-loot, and in anger he turned back to his own [territory]." There is a wood named "Fethelée" mentioned in a twelfth century document that relates to Stoke Lyne
, in Oxfordshire
, and it now is thought that the battle of Fethan leag must have been fought in this area.
The phrase "in anger he turned back to his own" probably indicates that this annal is drawn from saga material, as perhaps are all of the early Wessex annals. It also has been used to argue that perhaps, Ceawlin did not win the battle and that the chronicler chose not to record the outcome fully – a king does not usually come home "in anger" after taking "many towns and countless war-loot". It may be that Ceawlin's overlordship of the southern Britons came to an end with this battle.
About 731, Bede, a Northumbria
n monk and chronicler, wrote a work called the Ecclesiastical History of the English People. The work was not primarily a secular history, but Bede provides much information about the history of the Anglo-Saxons, including a list early in the history of seven kings who, he said, held "imperium" over the other kingdoms south of the Humber
. The usual translation for "imperium" is "overlordship". Bede names Ceawlin as the second on the list, although he spells it "Caelin", and adds that he was "known in the speech of his own people as Ceaulin". Bede also makes it clear that Ceawlin was not a Christian—Bede mentions a later king, Æthelberht of Kent, as "the first to enter the kingdom of heaven".
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in an entry for the year 827, repeats Bede's list, adds Egbert of Wessex
, and also mentions that they were known as "bretwalda", or "Britain-ruler". A great deal of scholarly attention has been given to the meaning of this word. It has been described as a term "of encomiastic poetry", but there also is evidence that it implied a definite role of military leadership.
Bede says that these kings had authority "south of the Humber
", but no doubt the span of control, at least of the earlier bretwaldas, likely was less than this. In Ceawlin's case the range of control is hard to determine accurately, but Bede's inclusion of Ceawlin in the list of kings who held imperium, and the list of battles he is recorded as having won, indicate an energetic and successful leader who, from a base in the upper Thames valley, dominated much of the surrounding area and held overlordship over the southern Britons for some period. Despite Ceawlin's military successes, the northern conquests he made could not always be retained: Mercia
took much of the upper Thames valley, and the north-eastern towns won in 571 were among territory subsequently under the control of Kent and Mercia at different times.
Bede's concept of the power of these overlords also must be regarded as the product of his eighth-century viewpoint. When the Ecclesiastical History was written, Æthelbald of Mercia dominated the English south of the Humber, and Bede's view of the earlier kings was doubtless strongly coloured by the state of England at that time. For the earlier bretwaldas, such as Ælle and Ceawlin, there must be some element of anachronism in Bede's description. It also is possible that Bede only meant to refer to power over Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, not the native Britons.
Ceawlin is the second king in Bede's list. All the subsequent bretwaldas followed more or less consecutively, but there is a long gap, perhaps fifty years, between Ælle of Sussex, the first bretwalda, and Ceawlin. The lack of gaps between the overlordships of the later bretwaldas has been used to make an argument for Ceawlin's dates matching the later entries in the Chronicle with reasonable accuracy. According to this analysis, the next bretwalda, Æthelberht of Kent, must have been already a dominant king by the time Pope Gregory the Great wrote to him in 601, since Gregory would have not written to an underking. Ceawlin defeated Æthelberht in 568 according to the Chronicle. Æthelberht's dates are a matter of debate, but recent scholarly consensus has his reign starting no earlier than 580. The 568 date for the battle at Wibbandun is thought to be unlikely because of the assertion in various versions of the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List that Ceawlin's reign lasted either seven or seventeen years. If this battle is placed near the year 590, before Æthelberht has established himself as a powerful king, then the subsequent annals relating to Ceawlin's defeat and death may be reasonably close to the correct date. In any case, the battle with Æthelberht is unlikely to have been more than a few years on either side of 590. The gap between Ælle and Ceawlin, on the other hand, has been taken as supporting evidence for the story told by Gildas in De Excidio of a peace lasting a generation or more following a Briton victory at Mons Badonicus.
Æthelberht of Kent succeeds Ceawlin on the list of bretwaldas, but the reigns may overlap somewhat: recent evaluations give Ceawlin a likely reign of 581–588, and place Æthelberht's accession near to the year 589, but these analyses are no more than scholarly guesses. Ceawlin's eclipse in 592, probably by Ceol, may have been the occasion for Æthelberht to rise to prominence; Æthelberht very likely was the dominant Anglo-Saxon king by 597. Æthelberht's rise may have been earlier: the 584 annal, even if it records a victory, is the last victory of Ceawlin's in the Chronicle, and the period after that may have been one of Æthelberht's ascent and Ceawlin's decline.
Ceawlin lost the throne of Wessex in 592. The annal for that year reads, in part: "Here there was great slaughter at Woden's Barrow, and Ceawlin was driven out." Woden's Barrow is a tumulus, now called Adam's Grave, at Alton Priors
, Wiltshire
. No details of his opponent are given. The medieval chronicler William of Malmesbury
, writing in about 1120, says that it was "the Angles and the British conspiring together", Alternatively, it may have been Ceol, who is supposed to have been the next king of Wessex, ruling for six years according to the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Ceawlin died the following year. The relevant part of the annal reads: "Here Ceawlin and Cwichelm and Crida perished." Nothing more is known of Cwichelm and Crida, although they may have been members of the Wessex royal house – their names fit the alliterative pattern common to royal houses of the time.
According to the Regnal List, Ceol was a son of Cutha, who was a son of Cynric; and Ceolwulf, his brother, reigned for seventeen years after him. It is possible that some fragmentation of control among the West Saxons occurred at Ceawlin's death: Ceol and Ceolwulf may have been based in Wiltshire, as opposed to the upper Thames valley. This split also may have contributed to Æthelberht's ability to rise to dominance in southern England. The West Saxons remained influential in military terms, however: the Chronicle and Bede record continued military activity against Essex and Sussex within twenty or thirty years of Ceawlin's death.
Wessex
The Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
. He may have been the son of Cynric of Wessex
Cynric of Wessex
Cynric was King of Wessex from 534 to 560. Everything known about him comes from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. There he is stated to have been the son of Cerdic, and also to have been the son of Cerdic's son, Creoda...
and the grandson of Cerdic of Wessex
Cerdic of Wessex
Cerdic was probably the first King of Anglo-Saxon Wessex from 519 to 534, cited by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as the founder of the kingdom of Wessex and ancestor of all its subsequent kings...
, whom the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
represents as the leader of the first group of Saxons
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
to come to the land which later became Wessex
Wessex
The Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
. Ceawlin was active during the last years of the Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
invasion, with little of southern England remaining in the control of the native Britons by the time of his death.
The chronology of Ceawlin's life is highly uncertain. The historical accuracy and dating of many of the events in the later Anglo-Saxon Chronicle have been called into question, and his reign is variously listed as lasting seven, seventeen, or thirty-two years. The Chronicle records several battles of Ceawlin's between the years 556 and 592, including the first record of a battle between different groups of Anglo-Saxons, and indicates that under Ceawlin Wessex acquired significant territory, some of which was later to be lost to other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms
Heptarchy
The Heptarchy is a collective name applied to the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of south, east, and central Great Britain during late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, conventionally identified as seven: Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Sussex and Wessex...
. Ceawlin is also named as one of the eight "bretwalda
Bretwalda
Bretwalda is an Old English word, the first record of which comes from the late 9th century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. It is given to some of the rulers of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms from the 5th century onwards who had achieved overlordship of some or all of the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms...
s", a title given in the Chronicle to eight rulers who had overlordship over southern Britain, although the extent of Ceawlin's control is not known.
Ceawlin died in 593, having been deposed the year before, possibly by his successor, Ceol
Ceol of Wessex
Ceol was King of Wessex from 592 to 597.He was the son of Cutha , the son of Cynric of Wessex. He reigned from either 591 AD or 592 to 597...
. He is recorded in various sources as having two sons, Cutha and Cuthwine
Cuthwine
Cuthwine, born c. 565, was a member of the House of Wessex, son of Ceawlin of Wessex. After the deposition of his father Ceawlin from the throne of Wessex in 592 he did not inherit the throne which passed to his cousin, Ceol...
, but the genealogies in which this information is found are known to be unreliable.
Historical context
The history of the sub-Roman period in BritainSub-Roman Britain
Sub-Roman Britain is a term derived from an archaeological label for the material culture of Britain in Late Antiquity: the term "Sub-Roman" was invented to describe the potsherds in sites of the 5th century and the 6th century, initially with an implication of decay of locally-made wares from a...
is poorly sourced and the subject of a number of important disagreements among historians. It appears, however, that in the fifth century raids on Britain by continental peoples developed into migrations. The newcomers included Angles
Angles
The Angles is a modern English term for a Germanic people who took their name from the ancestral cultural region of Angeln, a district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...
, Saxons
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
, Jutes
Jutes
The Jutes, Iuti, or Iutæ were a Germanic people who, according to Bede, were one of the three most powerful Germanic peoples of their time, the other two being the Saxons and the Angles...
, and Frisians
Frisii
The Frisii were an ancient Germanic tribe living in the low-lying region between the Zuiderzee and the River Ems. In the Germanic pre-Migration Period the Frisii and the related Chauci, Saxons, and Angles inhabited the Continental European coast from the Zuyder Zee to south Jutland...
. These peoples captured territory in the east and south of England, but at about the end of the fifth century, a British victory at the battle of Mons Badonicus halted the Anglo-Saxon advance for fifty years. Near the year 550, however, the British began to lose ground once more, and within twenty-five years, it appears that control of almost all of southern England was in the hands of the invaders.
The peace following the battle of Mons Badonicus is attested partly by Gildas
Gildas
Gildas was a 6th-century British cleric. He is one of the best-documented figures of the Christian church in the British Isles during this period. His renowned learning and literary style earned him the designation Gildas Sapiens...
, a monk, who wrote De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae
De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae
De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae is a work by the 6th-century British cleric Gildas. It is a sermon in three parts condemning the acts of Gildas' contemporaries, both secular and religious, whom he blames for the dire state of affairs in sub-Roman Britain...
or On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain during the middle of the sixth century. This essay is a polemic against corruption and Gildas provides little in the way of names and dates. He appears, however, to state that peace had lasted from the year of his birth to the time he was writing. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
is the other main source that bears on this period, in particular in an entry for the year 827 that records a list of the kings who bore the title "bretwalda
Bretwalda
Bretwalda is an Old English word, the first record of which comes from the late 9th century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. It is given to some of the rulers of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms from the 5th century onwards who had achieved overlordship of some or all of the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms...
", or "Britain-ruler". That list shows a gap in the early sixth century that matches Gildas's version of events.
Ceawlin's reign belongs to the period of Anglo-Saxon expansion at the end of the sixth century. Though there are many unanswered questions about the chronology and activities of the early West Saxon rulers, it is clear that Ceawlin was one of the key figures in the final Anglo-Saxon conquest of southern Britain.
Early West Saxon sources
The two main written sources for early West Saxon history are the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List. The Chronicle is a set of annals which were compiled near the year 890, during the reign of King Alfred the GreatAlfred the Great
Alfred the Great was King of Wessex from 871 to 899.Alfred is noted for his defence of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of southern England against the Vikings, becoming the only English monarch still to be accorded the epithet "the Great". Alfred was the first King of the West Saxons to style himself...
of Wessex
Wessex
The Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
. They record earlier material for the older entries, which were assembled from earlier annals that no longer survive, as well as, from saga material that might have been transmitted orally. The Chronicle dates the arrival of the future "West Saxons" in Britain to 495, when Cerdic and his son, Cynric, land at Cerdices ora, or Cerdic's shore. Almost twenty annals describing Cerdic's campaigns, and those of his descendants appear interspersed through the next hundred years of entries in the Chronicle. Although these annals provide most of what is known about Ceawlin, it also should be noted that the historicity of many of the entries is uncertain.
The West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List is a list of rulers of Wessex, including the lengths of their reigns. It survives in several forms, including as a preface to the [B] manuscript of the Chronicle. As with Chronicle, The List was compiled during the reign of Alfred the Great, and both the List and the Chronicle are influenced by the desire of their writers to use a single line of descent to trace the lineage of the Kings of Wessex through Cerdic to Gewis, a descendant of Woden
Woden
Woden or Wodan is a major deity of Anglo-Saxon and Continental Germanic polytheism. Together with his Norse counterpart Odin, Woden represents a development of the Proto-Germanic god *Wōdanaz....
and the legendary ancestor of the West Saxons. The result served the political purposes of the scribe, but is riddled with contradictions for historians.
The contradictions may be seen clearly by calculating dates by different methods from the various sources. The first event in West Saxon history, the date of which can be regarded as reasonably certain, is the baptism of Cynegils, which occurred in the late 630s, perhaps as late as 640. The Chronicle dates Cerdic's arrival to 495, but adding up the lengths of the reigns as given in the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List, leads to the conclusion that Cerdic's reign might have started in 532, a difference of 37 years. Neither 495 nor 532 may be treated as reliable, however, the latter date relies on the presumption that the Regnal List is correct in presenting the kings of Wessex as having succeeded one another, with no omitted kings, no joint kingships, and that the durations of the reigns are correct as given. None of these presumptions may be made safely.
The sources also are inconsistent on the length of Ceawlin's reign. The Chronicle gives it as thirty-two years, from 560 to 592, but the Regnal Lists disagree: different versions give it as seven or seventeen years. A recent detailed study of the Regnal List dates the arrival of the West Saxons in England to 538, and favours seven years as the most likely length of Ceawlin's reign, with dates of 581–588 proposed. The sources do agree that Ceawlin is the son of Cynric and he usually is named as the father of Cuthwine. There is one discrepancy to be noted in this case: the entry for 685 in the [A] version of the Chronicle assigns Ceawlin a son, Cutha, but in the 855 entry in the same manuscript, Cutha is listed as the son of Cuthwine. Cutha also is named as Ceawlin's brother in the [E] and [F] versions of the Chronicle, in the 571 and 568 entries, respectively.
Whether Ceawlin is a descendant of Cerdic is a matter of debate. Subgroupings of different West Saxon lineages give the impression of separate groups, of which Ceawlin's line is one. Some of the problems in the Wessex genealogies may have come about because of efforts to integrate Ceawlin's line with the other lineages: it was very important to the West Saxons to be able to trace their ancestors back to Cerdic. Another reason for doubting the literal nature of these early genealogies is that the etymology of the names of several early members of the dynasty do not appear to be Germanic, which is the origin of these peoples. The name, Ceawlin, is one of the names that does not have a convincing Anglo-Saxon origin; it seems more likely to be from the native Britons.
It also should be noted that the earliest sources do not use the term "West Saxon". According to Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, the term is interchangeable with the Gewisse, meaning the descendants of Gewis. The term "West Saxon" only appears in the late seventh century, after the reign of Cædwalla.
West Saxon expansion
Ultimately, the kingdom of Wessex occupied the southwest of England, but the initial stages in this expansion are not apparent from the sources. Cerdic's landing, whenever it is to be dated, seems to have been near the Isle of WightIsle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, and the annals record the conquest of the island in 530. In 534, according to the Chronicle, Cerdic died and his son Cynric took the throne; the Chronicle adds that "they gave the Isle of Wight to their nephews, Stuf and Wihtgar". These records are in direct conflict with Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
, who states that the Isle of Wight was settled by Jutes, not Saxons; the archaeological record
Archaeological record
The archaeological record is the body of physical evidence about the past. It is one of the most basic concepts in archaeology, the academic discipline concerned with documenting and interpreting the archaeological record....
is somewhat in favour of Bede on this.
Subsequent entries in the Chronicle give details of some of the battles by which the West Saxons won their kingdom. Ceawlin's campaigns are not given as near the coast. They range along the Thames valley
Thames Valley
The Thames Valley Region is a loose term for the English counties and towns roughly following the course of the River Thames as it flows from Oxfordshire in the west to London in the east. It includes parts of Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, North Hampshire, Surrey and west London...
and beyond, as far as Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
in the east and the mouth of the Severn in the west. Ceawlin clearly is part of the West Saxon expansion, but the military history of the period is difficult to understand. In what follows the dates are as given in the Chronicle, although as noted above, these are earlier than now thought accurate.
556: Beran byrg
The first record of a battle fought by Ceawlin is in 556, when he and his father, Cynric, fought the native Britons at "Beran byrg", or Bera's Stronghold. This now is identified as Barbury Castle
Barbury Castle
Barbury Castle is an Iron Age hill fort situated in Wiltshire, England. It is one of several such forts found along the ancient Ridgeway route. The site, which lies within the Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, has been managed as a country park by Swindon Borough Council since 1971...
, an Iron Age hill fort in Wiltshire, near Swindon. Cynric would have been king of Wessex at this time.
568: Wibbandun
The first battle Ceawlin fought as king is dated by the Chronicle to 568, when he and Cutha fought with Æthelberht, the king of Kent. The entry says "Here Ceawlin and Cutha fought against Aethelberht and drove him into Kent; and they killed two ealdormen
Ealdorman
An ealdorman is the term used for a high-ranking royal official and prior magistrate of an Anglo-Saxon shire or group of shires from about the ninth century to the time of King Cnut...
, Oslaf and Cnebba, on Wibbandun." The location of "Wibbandun", which can be translated as "Wibba's Mount", has not been identified definitely; it was at one time thought to be Wimbledon, but this now is known to be incorrect. This battle is notable as the first recorded conflict between the invading peoples: previous battles recorded in the Chronicle are between the Anglo-Saxons and the native Britons.
There are multiple examples of joint kingship in Anglo-Saxon history, and this may be another: it is not clear what Cutha's relationship to Ceawlin is, but it certainly is possible he was also a king. The annal for 577, below, is another possible example.
571: Bedcanford
The annal for 571 reads: "Here Cuthwulf fought against the Britons at Bedcanford, and took four settlements: Limbury
Limbury
Limbury, or using the full name Limbury-cum-Biscot, was a civil parish in Bedfordshire before becoming part of Luton and has a long history dating back before the Norman conquest of England....
and Aylesbury
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
, Benson
Benson, Oxfordshire
Benson is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England. It is about north of Wallingford at the foot of the Chiltern Hills at the confluence of a chalk stream and the River Thames, next to Benson Lock...
and Eynsham
Eynsham
Eynsham is a village and civil parish about east of Witney in Oxfordshire, England.-History:Eynsham grew up near the historically important ford of Swinford on the River Thames flood plain...
; and in the same year he passed away." Cuthwulf's relationship with Ceawlin is unknown, but the alliteration common to Anglo-Saxon royal families suggests Cuthwulf may be part of the West Saxon royal line. The location of the battle itself is unidentified. It has been suggested that it was Bedford
Bedford
Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...
, but what is known of the early history of Bedford's names, does not support this. This battle is of interest because it is surprising that an area so far east should still be in Briton hands this late: there is ample archaeological evidence of early Saxon and Anglian presence in the Midlands, and historians generally have interpreted Gildas's De Excidio as implying that the Britons had lost control of this area by the mid-sixth century. One possible explanation is, that this annal records a reconquest of land that was lost to the Britons in the campaigns ending in the battle of Mons Badonicus.
577: The lower Severn
The annal for 577 reads "Here Cuthwine and Ceawlin fought against the Britons, and they killed three kings, Coinmail and Condidan and Farinmail, in the place which is called Dyrham
Dyrham
Dyrham is a village and parish in South Gloucestershire, England.-Location and communications:Dyrham is at lat. 51° 29' north, long. 2° 22' west . It lies at an altitude of 100 metres above sea level. It is near the A46 trunk road, about north of Bath and a little south of the M4 motorway...
, and took three cities: Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
and Cirencester
Cirencester
Cirencester is a market town in east Gloucestershire, England, 93 miles west northwest of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswold District. It is the home of the Royal Agricultural College, the oldest agricultural...
and Bath." This entry is all that is known of these Briton kings; their names are in an archaic form that makes it very likely that this annal derives from a much older written source. The battle itself has long been regarded as a key moment in the Saxon advance, since in reaching the Bristol Channel
Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean...
, the West Saxons divided the Britons west of the Severn from land communication with those in the peninsula to the south of the Channel. Wessex almost certainly lost this territory to Penda of Mercia
Penda of Mercia
Penda was a 7th-century King of Mercia, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom in what is today the English Midlands. A pagan at a time when Christianity was taking hold in many of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Penda took over the Severn Valley in 628 following the Battle of Cirencester before participating in the...
in 628, when the Chronicle records that "Cynegils and Cwichelm fought against Penda at Cirencester and then came to an agreement."
It is possible that when Ceawlin and Cuthwine took Bath, they found the Roman baths still operating to some extent. Nennius
Nennius
Nennius was a Welsh monk of the 9th century.He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the Historia Brittonum, based on the prologue affixed to that work, This attribution is widely considered a secondary tradition....
, a ninth-century historian, mentions a "Hot Lake" in the land of the Hwicce
Hwicce
The Hwicce were one of the peoples of Anglo-Saxon England. The exact boundaries of their kingdom are uncertain, though it is likely that they coincided with those of the old Diocese of Worcester, founded in 679–80, the early bishops of which bore the title Episcopus Hwicciorum...
, which was along the Severn, and adds "It is surrounded by a wall, made of brick and stone, and men may go there to bathe at any time, and every man can have the kind of bath he likes. If he wants, it will be a cold bath; and if he wants a hot bath, it will be hot". Bede also describes hot baths in the geographical introduction to the Ecclesiastical History in terms very similar to those of Nennius.
Wansdyke
Wansdyke (earthwork)
Wansdyke is a series of early medieval defensive linear earthworks in the West Country of England, consisting of a ditch and a running embankment from the ditch spoil, with the ditching facing north. It runs at least from Maes Knoll in historic Somerset, a hillfort at the east end of Dundry Hill...
, an early medieval defensive linear earthwork, runs from south of Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
to near Marlborough, Wiltshire, passing not far from Bath. It probably was built in the fifth or sixth centuries, perhaps by Ceawlin.
584: Fethan leag
Ceawlin's last recorded victory is in 584. The entry reads "Here Ceawlin and Cutha fought against the Britons at the place which is named Fethan leag, and Cutha was killed; and Ceawlin took many towns and countless war-loot, and in anger he turned back to his own [territory]." There is a wood named "Fethelée" mentioned in a twelfth century document that relates to Stoke Lyne
Stoke Lyne
Stoke Lyne is a village and civil parish about north of Bicester, Oxfordshire.-Manor:Tostig Godwinson, Earl of Northumbria owned the manor of Stoke Lyne before the Norman Conquest of England in 1066...
, in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, and it now is thought that the battle of Fethan leag must have been fought in this area.
The phrase "in anger he turned back to his own" probably indicates that this annal is drawn from saga material, as perhaps are all of the early Wessex annals. It also has been used to argue that perhaps, Ceawlin did not win the battle and that the chronicler chose not to record the outcome fully – a king does not usually come home "in anger" after taking "many towns and countless war-loot". It may be that Ceawlin's overlordship of the southern Britons came to an end with this battle.
Bretwaldaship
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
n monk and chronicler, wrote a work called the Ecclesiastical History of the English People. The work was not primarily a secular history, but Bede provides much information about the history of the Anglo-Saxons, including a list early in the history of seven kings who, he said, held "imperium" over the other kingdoms south of the Humber
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal River Ouse and the tidal River Trent. From here to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank...
. The usual translation for "imperium" is "overlordship". Bede names Ceawlin as the second on the list, although he spells it "Caelin", and adds that he was "known in the speech of his own people as Ceaulin". Bede also makes it clear that Ceawlin was not a Christian—Bede mentions a later king, Æthelberht of Kent, as "the first to enter the kingdom of heaven".
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in an entry for the year 827, repeats Bede's list, adds Egbert of Wessex
Egbert of Wessex
Egbert was King of Wessex from 802 until his death in 839. His father was Ealhmund of Kent...
, and also mentions that they were known as "bretwalda", or "Britain-ruler". A great deal of scholarly attention has been given to the meaning of this word. It has been described as a term "of encomiastic poetry", but there also is evidence that it implied a definite role of military leadership.
Bede says that these kings had authority "south of the Humber
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal River Ouse and the tidal River Trent. From here to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank...
", but no doubt the span of control, at least of the earlier bretwaldas, likely was less than this. In Ceawlin's case the range of control is hard to determine accurately, but Bede's inclusion of Ceawlin in the list of kings who held imperium, and the list of battles he is recorded as having won, indicate an energetic and successful leader who, from a base in the upper Thames valley, dominated much of the surrounding area and held overlordship over the southern Britons for some period. Despite Ceawlin's military successes, the northern conquests he made could not always be retained: Mercia
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
took much of the upper Thames valley, and the north-eastern towns won in 571 were among territory subsequently under the control of Kent and Mercia at different times.
Bede's concept of the power of these overlords also must be regarded as the product of his eighth-century viewpoint. When the Ecclesiastical History was written, Æthelbald of Mercia dominated the English south of the Humber, and Bede's view of the earlier kings was doubtless strongly coloured by the state of England at that time. For the earlier bretwaldas, such as Ælle and Ceawlin, there must be some element of anachronism in Bede's description. It also is possible that Bede only meant to refer to power over Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, not the native Britons.
Ceawlin is the second king in Bede's list. All the subsequent bretwaldas followed more or less consecutively, but there is a long gap, perhaps fifty years, between Ælle of Sussex, the first bretwalda, and Ceawlin. The lack of gaps between the overlordships of the later bretwaldas has been used to make an argument for Ceawlin's dates matching the later entries in the Chronicle with reasonable accuracy. According to this analysis, the next bretwalda, Æthelberht of Kent, must have been already a dominant king by the time Pope Gregory the Great wrote to him in 601, since Gregory would have not written to an underking. Ceawlin defeated Æthelberht in 568 according to the Chronicle. Æthelberht's dates are a matter of debate, but recent scholarly consensus has his reign starting no earlier than 580. The 568 date for the battle at Wibbandun is thought to be unlikely because of the assertion in various versions of the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List that Ceawlin's reign lasted either seven or seventeen years. If this battle is placed near the year 590, before Æthelberht has established himself as a powerful king, then the subsequent annals relating to Ceawlin's defeat and death may be reasonably close to the correct date. In any case, the battle with Æthelberht is unlikely to have been more than a few years on either side of 590. The gap between Ælle and Ceawlin, on the other hand, has been taken as supporting evidence for the story told by Gildas in De Excidio of a peace lasting a generation or more following a Briton victory at Mons Badonicus.
Æthelberht of Kent succeeds Ceawlin on the list of bretwaldas, but the reigns may overlap somewhat: recent evaluations give Ceawlin a likely reign of 581–588, and place Æthelberht's accession near to the year 589, but these analyses are no more than scholarly guesses. Ceawlin's eclipse in 592, probably by Ceol, may have been the occasion for Æthelberht to rise to prominence; Æthelberht very likely was the dominant Anglo-Saxon king by 597. Æthelberht's rise may have been earlier: the 584 annal, even if it records a victory, is the last victory of Ceawlin's in the Chronicle, and the period after that may have been one of Æthelberht's ascent and Ceawlin's decline.
Wessex at Ceawlin's death
Alton, Wiltshire
Alton is a civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire. It comprises the twin villages of Alton Barnes and Alton Priors, together with the nearby hamlet of Honeystreet on the Kennet and Avon Canal....
, Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
. No details of his opponent are given. The medieval chronicler William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. C. Warren Hollister so ranks him among the most talented generation of writers of history since Bede, "a gifted historical scholar and an omnivorous reader, impressively well versed in the literature of classical,...
, writing in about 1120, says that it was "the Angles and the British conspiring together", Alternatively, it may have been Ceol, who is supposed to have been the next king of Wessex, ruling for six years according to the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Ceawlin died the following year. The relevant part of the annal reads: "Here Ceawlin and Cwichelm and Crida perished." Nothing more is known of Cwichelm and Crida, although they may have been members of the Wessex royal house – their names fit the alliterative pattern common to royal houses of the time.
According to the Regnal List, Ceol was a son of Cutha, who was a son of Cynric; and Ceolwulf, his brother, reigned for seventeen years after him. It is possible that some fragmentation of control among the West Saxons occurred at Ceawlin's death: Ceol and Ceolwulf may have been based in Wiltshire, as opposed to the upper Thames valley. This split also may have contributed to Æthelberht's ability to rise to dominance in southern England. The West Saxons remained influential in military terms, however: the Chronicle and Bede record continued military activity against Essex and Sussex within twenty or thirty years of Ceawlin's death.