- 611-642: King of Wessex
Cynegils of Wessex was born circa 595 in Wessex, England to Ceol of Wessex (-597) and died circa 643 Wessex, England of unspecified causes.
Map of 6th Century England including Wessex which was formerly known as Gewisse.
Biography
Cynegils (ang) was King of Wessex from c. 611 to c. 642. Cynegils is traditionally considered to have been King of Wessex, but the familiar kingdoms of the so-called Heptarchy had not yet formed from the patchwork of smaller kingdoms in his lifetime.[1] The later kingdom of Wessex was centred on the counties of Hampshire, Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire but the evidence of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is that the kingdom of Cynegils was located on the upper River Thames, extending into northern Wiltshire and Somerset, southern Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, and western Berkshire, with Dorchester-on-Thames as one of the major royal sites. This region, probably connected to the early tribal grouping known as the Gewisse, a term used by Bede for the West Saxons, lay on the frontier between the later kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia.[2]
As for a number of other members of the ruling house of Wessex (including Cerdic, Ceawlin and Caedwalla) a Celtic, rather than Germanic, etymology for Cynegils's name has been suggested, with the literal meaning of 'grey dog'.[3]
Death
Mortuary chest at Winchester Cathedral which purportedly held Cynegils's remains. It contains the bones of several individuals as the bones from it and other mortuary chests were scattered during the Civil War.[4]
The date of Cynegils's death is not certainly known. Bede states only that he was followed by his son Cenwalh.[5] Different versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle give 641 (manuscripts B, C and E) or 643 (manuscripts A,G) for the year of Cenwalh's accession. Many texts follow Dumville (1985), assuming that these variations both represent scribal deviations from 642, which would conform with the stated reign length of 31 years.[6]
Family & Children
As well as Cenwalh, and the daughter who married Oswald, Cynegils is said to have had a son named Cwichelm, who may or may not be the same person as the king associated with Cynegils. It is said that King Centwine was a son of Cynegils, but there is strong circumstantial evidence that this identification was a later invention.[7]
- Cwichelm of Wessex (c615-636) - who may or may not be the same person as the king associated with Cynegils.
- Cenwealh of Wessex (c618-672) - said to be a son of Cynegils, king of West Saxon from 642-645 and 648-672.
- Centwine of Wessex (619-c686) - said to be a son of Cynegils, but there is strong circumstantial evidence that this identification was a later invention.[8]
- Cyneburg of Wessex (c621) - daughter who married Oswald[9]
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Cwichelm of Wessex (c615-636) | |||
| Cenwealh of Wessex (c618-672) | 619 Wessex, England | 672 Wessex, England | Sister of Penda Seaxburh of Wessex (c630-c674) |
| Centwine of Wessex (619-c686) | 619 Wessex, England | 686 Wessex, England | |
| Cyneburg of Wessex (c621) | |||
Siblings
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Cynegils of Wessex (c596-642) | 595 Wessex, England | 643 Wessex, England | |
Genealogy
It appears that Cynegils became king on the death of King Ceolwulf c. 611. His relationship to Ceolwulf is uncertain. Cynegils is variously described in West Saxon sources as being a son of Ceolwulf, a son of Ceol brother of Ceolwulf, a son of Ceola son of Cutha, a son of Cuthwine son of Ceawlin, and a son of Cuthwulf son of Cuthwine. Several of the sources give Cynegils a brother named Ceolwald, described as the grandfather of King Ine.[10] Although the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Wessex king lists portray the West Saxons as ruled by a single king, it is likely that the kingship was shared between two or more kings.[11]
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 611 states: "This year Cynegils succeeded to the government in Wessex, and held it one and thirty winters. Cynegils was the son of Ceol, Ceol of Cutha, Cutha of Cynric."[12] Contradicting this simple account, the entry under 614 states that "This year Cynegils and Cwichelm fought at Beandun,[13] and slew two thousand and forty-six of the Welsh." Likewise, Bede writes that the attempted assassination of King Edwin of Northumbria in 626 was ordered by Cwichelm, king of the West Saxons.[14] Whether the King Cwichelm of 614 is the same person as the king of the late 620s, and whether this person is the same as the Cwichelm who was baptised, and died, c. 636, is disputed. Some historians presume Cwichelm to have been a son of Cynegils.[15]
In 628, Cynegils and Cwichelm fought King Penda at Cirencester. The Chronicle[16] could be expected to report a victory, but does not, so it is likely that Penda was the victor.[17] Cynegils and Cwichelm appear to have been subject to Edwin of Northumbria by this time, paying an enormous tribute of a hundred thousand hides if Nick Higham's conception of the Tribal Hidage's origins is correct.[18]
See Also
Bibliography
- "Prince Cuthwine of Wessex." Render Plus. 20 April 2009
- Yorke, Barbara (1990). Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Seaby. ISBN 1-85264-027-8.
- Kirby, D.P. (1992). The Earliest English Kings. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-09086-5.
External Links
- wikipedia:en:Cynegils
- House of Wessex - Family Tree Chart on Wikipedia
- Anglo-Saxon Chronicle - Pt 1 A.D. 250-750 - Online Medieval & Classical Library
- Cynegils of Wessex at thePeerage
- Cynegils of Wessex - Geni.com
- Anglo-Saxon and Danish Kings of England - Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
- Cynegils 1 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England
- Royal Berkshire History: Cynegils, King of Wessex (Died AD 643)
Ancestry Trees
Contemporary Sources
Anglo Saxon Chronicles
Source: Online Medieval and Classical Library Part 1 (400-750 AD)
Royal Succession Chart
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Ceolwulf |
King of Wessex 611–642 |
Succeeded by Cenwalh |
References
- ^ The Kingdom of Kent may have been the exception. S.E. Kelly, "Kent, Kingdom of", in M. Lapidge et al. (eds), The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England; D.P. Kirby, The Earliest English Kings, p. 30ff.; Ann Williams, Kingship and Government in Pre-Conquest England, c.500–1066, p. 5ff.; Barbara Yorke, Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England, p. 25ff.
- ^ Kirby, p. 48ff.; Yorke, pp. 135–137; Barbara Yorke, "Gewisse", in M. Lapidge et al.; Barbara Yorke, "Wessex", in M. Lapidge et al., in M. Lapidge et al.
- ^ Alice Roberts (2022) Buried: An Alternative History of the First Millennium in Britain, Simon & Schuster, London, p.253
- ^ "Unlocking the secrets of the Winchester Cathedral mortuary chests". Current Archaeology. 4 July 2019. https://archaeology.co.uk/articles/news/unlocking-the-secrets-of-the-winchester-cathedral-mortuary-chests.htm.
- ^ Bede, III, 7.
- ^ D.N. Dumville (1985), "The West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List and the Chronology of Early Wessex", Peritia 4 21–66 doi:10.1484/J.Peri.3.96, p. 40; similarly E. B. Pryde and D. E. Greenway (1996), Handbook of British Chronology, revised 3rd edition, Cambridge University Press, p.22; PASE s.v. "Cynegils 1"; Barbara Yorke (2004), "Cynegils" and "Cenwalh", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- ^ Kirby, p. 53, noting that Aldhelm fails to mention Cynegils, which would be expected, as the first convert King of the West Saxons, if he were the grandfather of Abbess Bugga, daughter of Centwine, to whom the poem in question was addressed.
- ^ Kirby, p. 53, noting that Aldhelm fails to mention Cynegils, which would be expected, as the first convert King of the West Saxons, if he were the grandfather of Abbess Bugga, daughter of Centwine, to whom the poem in question was addressed.
- ^ See notes for brother Centwine for details of Cyneburg's life
- ^ Kirby, appendix, figure 4; see also Yorke, pp. 133–134.
- ^ Kirby, pp. 48–49.
- ^ For a prosopography of Cynegils in the sources, see "Cynegils 1". Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England. http://pase.ac.uk/jsp/DisplayPerson.jsp?personKey=2424. Retrieved 2007-02-06.
- ^ Possibly Bindon near Axmouth in Devon, see Morris, J. (1995) The Age of Arthur ISBN 1-84212-477-3 p.307. Beandun has also been identified with Bampton, Oxfordshire, but evidence is lacking. See Victoria County History of Oxfordshire: Bampton and Weald.
- ^ Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, II, 9.
- ^ Kirby. p. 51.
- ^ reference to the aforementioned Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
- ^ Sarah Zaluckyj, Mercia: The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Central England, pp. 28 and 102.
- ^ N.J. Higham, An English empire: Bede and the early Anglo-Saxon kings, p. 74ff.; but see also John Blair, "Tribal Hidage", in M. Lapidge et al.
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