Cissa of Sussex
Encyclopedia
Cissa is the name of a (possibly) mythical King of Sussex
Kingdom of Sussex
The Kingdom of Sussex or Kingdom of the South Saxons was a Saxon colony and later independent kingdom of the Saxons, on the south coast of England. Its boundaries coincided in general with those of the earlier kingdom of the Regnenses and the later county of Sussex. A large part of its territory...

, and Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...

 whose placename is first mentioned in 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...

 (ASC) of 895AD, is supposedly named after him
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...

.

Historical attestation

In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Cissa is listed as one of the three sons of Ælle, who in the year 477 arrived in Britain
Sub-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...

, at a place called Cymenshore
Cymenshore
Cymenshore is the place in Southern England where according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Ælle of Sussex landed in 477 AD and battled the Welsh with his three sons Cymen, Wlencing and Cissa.-Historical context:The account of Ælle and his three sons landing at Cymenshore, in the Anglo Saxon...

 (traditionally thought to have been in the Selsey area of Sussex.), in three ships with his three sons, and fought three battles. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle were a series of documents that charted Anglo-Saxon history from the mid-fifth century till 1066 although one version extends till 1154. The Chronicle was commissioned during the reign of Alfred the Great
Alfred 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...

 over 400 years after Cissa, and their accuracy particularly for the early dates are regarded as questionable. There has been no archaeological evidence to support the existence of Ælle and his three son's in the Chichester or Selsey area. The absence of early Anglo-Saxon burial grounds in the Chichester area suggests that they did not arrive there until more than a hundred years after Ælle’s time; Some have suggested that Chichester had an independent region of Britons (known as Sub-Roman
Sub-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...

 ) in the late fifth century, however there is also no archaeology or placename evidence to support that hypothesis either.

The earliest Anglo-Saxon object in the area is a brooch found in the Roman cemetery, in the St. Pancras area of Chichester, that dates to the time of Ælle’s grandchildren. Its isolation suggests a Saxon woman who lived and died in a British community rather than a Saxon settlement. None of this excludes the possibility of Saxon overlords. Some historians have suggested that it is very likely that large numbers of the Romano-British population welcomed the new Germanic culture as a release from an outmoded Roman world.

The reign of Cissa is not mentioned by any source earlier than Henry of Huntingdon
Henry of Huntingdon
Henry of Huntingdon , the son of a canon in the diocese of Lincoln, was a 12th century English historian, the author of a history of England, Historia anglorum, "the most important Anglo-Norman historian to emerge from the secular clergy". He served as archdeacon of Huntingdon...

, who wrote between 1130 to 1154, and clearly used his imagination to fill out gaps in the historical record. One of Henry's main sources was the Venerable 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...

 and the 13th century chronicler, Roger of Wendover
Roger of Wendover
Roger of Wendover , probably a native of Wendover in Buckinghamshire, was an English chronicler of the 13th century.At an uncertain date he became a monk at St Albans Abbey; afterwards he was appointed prior of the cell of Belvoir, but he forfeited this dignity in the early years of Henry III,...

s main source was Henry, although it is probable that he had access to information from manuscripts and oral sources  now lost in history. Both Henry of Huntingdon
Henry of Huntingdon
Henry of Huntingdon , the son of a canon in the diocese of Lincoln, was a 12th century English historian, the author of a history of England, Historia anglorum, "the most important Anglo-Norman historian to emerge from the secular clergy". He served as archdeacon of Huntingdon...

 and Roger of Wendover provide extended versions of the three ASC entries relating to Ælle. It is assumed by both authors that Ælle was succeeded by his 'son' Cissa as is the alleged date of this 'succession'.
Roger of Wendover even went so far as to provide a death date for Cissa, that had previously been absent. The date he gave was 590, which, given that Cissa is supposed to have arrived in Britain in 477 (means that he must have been 123 when he died.). An emendation from 'died in 590, to 'died aged 90' would resolve this inconsistency. As Kirby & Williams observed "It seems very unlikely that these annals in later medieval chronicles will provide a certain basis for historical reconstruction".

Evidence from place names

Chichester is not called Elchester from Ælle, but bears the name of one of his three ‘sons’, it may have been named after Cissa just as Lancing has been thought to derive from Wlencing. "All three of Ælle's 'sons' have names which conveniently link to ancient or surviving place-names". "Conceivably the names of Ælle's sons were derived from the place-names as the legends of the origins of the South Saxons
Kingdom of Sussex
The Kingdom of Sussex or Kingdom of the South Saxons was a Saxon colony and later independent kingdom of the Saxons, on the south coast of England. Its boundaries coincided in general with those of the earlier kingdom of the Regnenses and the later county of Sussex. A large part of its territory...

 evolved; or perhaps the legends themselves gave rise to the place-names".
Another place name potentially associated with Cissa is the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

 hill fort
Hill fort
A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...

 Cissbury Ring
Cissbury Ring
Cissbury Ring is a hill fort on the South Downs, in the borough of Worthing, and about from its town centre, in the English county of West Sussex.-Hill fort:...

, near Cissbury
Cissbury
Cissbury is the name of a prehistoric site near the village of Findon around 5 miles north of Worthing in the English county of West Sussex. The site is managed by the National Trust....

, which William Camden
William Camden
William Camden was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and officer of arms. He wrote the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England.- Early years :Camden was born in London...

 said "plainly bespeaks it the work of king Cissa". Yet its real date precludes any such connexion, and furthermore there is a record from 1663 in which it was called "Cesars Bury". It seems that ties between Cissbury and Cesars Bury and Cissa are nothing more than back-formations: Cissbury has been identified with a Saxon mint, “the implied Sith(m)esteburh of Saxon coinage
History of the English penny (c. 600-1066)
The history of the English penny can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of the 7th century: to the small, thick silver coins known to contemporaries as pæningas or denarii, though now often referred to as sceattas by numismatists. Broader, thinner pennies inscribed with the name of the king...

, ‘the last built burh’." Indeed, "[e]very association of the original name with Cissa son of Ælle is fanciful.”

External links

  • St Thomas a Becket - Parish Church at the East end of Pagham Harbour Various AS artefacts found in the area including a cremation urn restored and dated by British museum.
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