Cynegils (Old English pronunciation:[ˈkynejiɫs]) was King ofWessex from c. 611 to c. 642. Cynegils is traditionally considered to have beenKing of Wessex, even though the kingdoms of theHeptarchy had not yet formed from the patchwork of smaller kingdoms in his lifetime.[2] The later kingdom ofWessex was centred on the counties ofHampshire,Dorset,Somerset andWiltshire but the evidence of theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle is that the kingdom of Cynegils was located on the upperRiver Thames, extending into northern Wiltshire and Somerset, southernGloucestershire andOxfordshire, and westernBerkshire, withDorchester-on-Thames as one of the major royal sites. This region, probably connected to the early tribal grouping known as theGewisse, a term used byBede for the West Saxons, lay on the frontier between the later kingdoms of Wessex andMercia.[3]
As for several other members of the ruling house of Wessex (includingCerdic,Ceawlin andCaedwalla) a Celtic, rather than Germanic, etymology for Cynegils's name has been suggested, with the literal meaning of 'grey dog'.[4]
It appears that Cynegils became king on the death of KingCeolwulf c. 611. His relationship with Ceolwulf is uncertain. Cynegils is variously described in West Saxon sources as being a son of Ceolwulf, a son ofCeol 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 KingIne.[5] Although theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle and Wessex king lists portray the West Saxons as ruled by a single king, the kingship was likely shared between two or more kings.[6]
TheAnglo-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."[7] Contradicting this simple account, the entry under 614 states that "This year Cynegils and Cwichelm fought atBeandun,[8] and slew two thousand and forty-six of theWelsh." Likewise,Bede writes that the attempted assassination of KingEdwin of Northumbria in 626 was ordered byCwichelm, king of the West Saxons.[9] 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 wasbaptised, and died, c. 636, is disputed. Some historians presume Cwichelm to have been a son of Cynegils.[10]
In 628, Cynegils and Cwichelm fought KingPenda atCirencester.The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle could be expected to report a victory, but does not, so Penda was likely the victor.[11] Cynegils and Cwichelm appear to have been subject toEdwin of Northumbria by this time, paying an enormous tribute of a hundred thousandhides if Nick Higham's conception of theTribal Hidage's origins is correct.[12]
In the 630s, BishopBirinus established himself at Dorchester, and both Cynegils and Cwichelm are said to have been baptised with KingOswald of Northumbria as their godfather. Another West Saxon king, namedCuthred, who died c. 661, appears at this time. Oswald married a daughter of Cynegils at this time. Her name is not recorded in early sources, butReginald of Durham calls her Kyneburga (Cyneburg).[13] This mission appears to have made a little long-term impact as Cynegils's sonCenwalh was not baptised until 646, according toThe Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, after having been driven from his kingdom by Penda.[14]
Mortuary chest atWinchester 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 theCivil War.[15]
The date of Cynegils's death is not certainly known. Bede states only that he was followed by his son Cenwalh.[16] Different versions ofTheAnglo-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.[17]
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 KingCentwine was a son of Cynegils, but there is strong circumstantial evidence that this identification was a later invention.[18]
^TheKingdom 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.
^Roberts, Alice (26 May 2022).Buried: An alternative history of the first millennium in Britain.London: Simon and Schuster. p. 253.ISBN978-1-3985-1004-3.
^Kirby, appendix, figure 4; see also Yorke, pp. 133–134.
^D.N. Dumville (1985), "The West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List and the Chronology of Early Wessex",Peritia4 21–66doi: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 thatAldhelm 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.
^Keynes, Simon (2014). "Appendix I: Rulers of the English, c.450–1066". InLapidge, Michael (ed.).The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.ISBN978-0-470-65632-7.
^Kirby, D. P.The Earliest English Kings. London and New York: Routledge.ISBN978-0-4152-4211-0.
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