Mul of Kent
Encyclopedia
Mul (died 687) may have briefly ruled as king of Kent
Kingdom of Kent
The Kingdom of Kent was a Jutish colony and later independent kingdom in what is now south east England. It was founded at an unknown date in the 5th century by Jutes, members of a Germanic people from continental Europe, some of whom settled in Britain after the withdrawal of the Romans...

 following its conquest by his brother, Caedwalla
Caedwalla of Wessex
Cædwalla was the King of Wessex from approximately 685 until he abdicated in 688. His name is derived from the British Cadwallon. He was exiled as a youth, and during this time attacked the South Saxons and killed their king, Æthelwealh, in what is now Sussex. Cædwalla was unable to hold the...

 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...

, in 686. Mul's father was Coenberht, making him a member of the House of Wessex (a descendant of Cynric
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...

.) The name Mul is very unusual and it has been postulated that it derives from the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 mulus meaning mule, a word which it is known entered the Old English vocabulary; presumably it was a nickname which became habitual.

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...

tells us that, in 686, "Caedwalla and Mul, his brother, ravaged Kent and Wight
Isle 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...

." In 687, however, it reports that "Mul was burned in Kent, and 12 other men with him; and that year Caedwalla again ravaged Kent."

In 694, according to the ASC, the people of Kent came to terms with Ine
Ine of Wessex
Ine was King of Wessex from 688 to 726. He was unable to retain the territorial gains of his predecessor, Cædwalla, who had brought much of southern England under his control and expanded West Saxon territory substantially...

, Caedwalla's successor, and granted him a sum "because they had burned Mul earlier".

Mul’s reign is mentioned in a charter of Swæfheard
Swæfheard
Swæfheard was a king of Kent, reigning jointly with Oswine, Wihtred, and possibly Swæfberht.Swæfheard’s charter dated 1 March 689, in the second year of his reign, identifies his father as Sæbbi, King of Essex . He witnessed two charters of Oswine , one of which is dated 27 January 690...

 http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=seek&query=S+10.

See also

  • House of Wessex family tree
    House of Wessex family tree
    The following chart is a family tree of the kings of the House of Wessex, a dynasty whose members were Kings of Wessex, and then, from Athelstan onwards, Kings of England....

  • List of monarchs of Kent
  • Chronology of Kentish Kings
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