During the 8th century, as thehegemony ofMercia grew, Wessex largely retained its independence. It was during this period that the system ofshires was established. UnderEgbert,Surrey, Sussex, Kent,Essex, and Mercia, along with parts ofDumnonia, were conquered. He also obtained the overlordship of theNorthumbrian king. However, Mercian independence was restored in 830. During the reign of his successor,Æthelwulf, a Danish army arrived in the Thames estuary, but was decisively defeated. When Æthelwulf's son,Æthelbald, usurped the throne, the kingdom was divided to avoid war. Æthelwulf was succeeded in turn by his four sons, the youngest beingAlfred the Great.
Wessex was invaded by theDanes in 871, and Alfred was compelled to pay them to leave. They returned in876, but were forced to withdraw. In 878, they forced Alfred to flee to theSomerset Levels, but were eventually defeated at theBattle of Edington. During his reign Alfred issued a new law code, gathered scholars to his court and was able to devote funds to building ships, organising an army and establishing a system ofburhs. Alfred's son,Edward, captured the easternMidlands andEast Anglia from the Danes and became ruler of Mercia in918 upon the death of his sister,Æthelflæd. Edward's son,Æthelstan, conquered Northumbria in 927, and England became a unified kingdom for the first time.Cnut the Great, who conquered England in 1016, created the wealthy and powerful earldom of Wessex, but in 1066Harold Godwinson reunited the earldom with the crown and Wessex ceased to exist.
Following theRoman conquest of Britain, from the 1st century AD, numerous countryRoman villas with attached farms were established across Wessex, along with the important towns ofDorchester andWinchester (the ending -chester comes fromLatincastra, "a military camp"). The Romans, or rather theRomano-British, built another major road that integrated Wessex, running eastwards from Exeter through Dorchester to Winchester andSilchester and on toLondon.
In the mid-4th century there were increasing raids on Roman Britain by peoples such as thePicts,Scottish people,Attacotti, andFranks, as well as the Saxons. In 367, these tribes simultaneouslyinvaded Britain from the north, west and east. The invaders reportedly defeated or co-opted Roman forces in most parts of northern and western Britain. However, the Roman generalTheodosius had recaptured most areas by the end of 368.[4] In 380–1,Magnus Maximus defeated further raids. However, there was increasing internal conflict across the Roman Empire. During 383–4, in the context of the overthrow of EmperorGratian, Maximus took most of the garrison from Britain to Gaul, where he was madeAugustus of the West, ruling Britain, Gaul, Spain and Roman Africa. Following the death of Maximus in 388, Roman authority in Britain again declined. During the late 390s,Stilicho attempted to restore control, with a campaign against the Picti, but this was undermined in 401 when Stilicho transferred troops to the Continent to fight theGoths. Two subsequent Roman rulers of Britain were murdered. In 407, a Roman officer in Britain,Constantine III declared himself Augustus of the West, and left for Gaul, taking with him Roman troops. Finally, in 410, when Romano-British officials requested military assistance from EmperorHonorius, he told them to manage their own defences.[5] Economic decline occurred after these events: circulation of Roman coins ended and the importation of items from the Roman Empire stopped.[6][7]
Imaginary depiction of Cerdic fromJohn Speed's 1611 "Saxon Heptarchy"
Theories about the settlement of Saxons, Jutes and Angles in Britain are divided into two categories by the historianPeter Hunter Blair (1956), namely "Welsh" and "English".
The Welsh tradition is exemplified byGildas, inDe Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae. In brief, it states that after the Romans left, theCeltic Britons managed to continue for a time without any major disruptions. However, when finally faced with northern invaders, a certain unnamed ruler in Britain (called "a proud tyrant" by Gildas) requested assistance from theSaxons in exchange for land.
There were no conflicts between the British and the Saxons for a time, but following "a dispute about the supply of provisions" the Saxons warred against the British and severely damaged parts of the country. In time, however, some Saxon troops left Britain; underAmbrosius Aurelianus, the British subsequently defeated those who remained.
A lengthy conflict ensued, in which neither side gained any decisive advantage until the Britons routed the Saxons at theBattle of Mons Badonicus. After this, there occurred a peaceful period for the Britons, under which Gildas was living at the time he wrote theDe Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae.[8]
One of the "English" traditions about the Saxon arrival concernsHengest and Horsa. WhenBede wrote hisEcclesiastical History of the English People, he adapted Gildas' narrative and added details, such as the names of those involved. To the "proud tyrant" he gave the nameVortigern, and the Saxon commanders he named Hengest and Horsa.
Further details were added to the story in theHistoria Brittonum, which was partially written byNennius. According to theHistoria, Hengest and Horsa fought the invaders of Britain under the condition of gaining the Island ofThanet. The daughter of Hengest, Rowena, later arrived on a ship of reinforcements, and Vortigern married her.
However, a war arose in Kent due to a dispute between Hengest and Vortigern's son. After losing several battles, the Saxons finally defeated the British by treacherously attacking them once the two parties had convened for a meeting. Some additional details of the Hengest and Horsa legend are found in theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle. TheChronicle then records subsequent Saxon arrivals, including that of Cerdic, the founder of Wessex, in 495.[9]
According to theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle,Cerdic of Wessex and his sonCynric of Wessex landed in southern Hampshire in 495, but this account is not regarded by historians as reliable due to duplication ofChronicle entries and evidence that the area was first occupied byJutes. Although the entry mentions Cynric as Cerdic's son, a different source lists him as the son of Cerdic's son,Creoda of Wessex.[10]
TheChronicle continues, stating that "Port, and his two sons Bieda and Mægla", landed atPortsmouth in 501 and killed a high-ranking British nobleman.[11] In 508, Cerdic and Cynric slew British kingNatanleod along with five thousand of his men[11] (though the historicity of Natanleod has been disputed),[12] and Cerdic became the first king of Wessex in 519.
The Saxons attacked Cerdicesford[13] in 519, intending to cross theRiver Avon and block a road which connectedOld Sarum andBadbury Rings, a British stronghold. The battle appears to have ended as a draw, and the expansion of Wessex ended for about thirty years. This is likely due to losses suffered during the battle and an apparent peace agreement with the Britons.
The battle ofMons Badonicus is believed to have been fought around this time.Gildas states that the Saxons were completely defeated in the battle, in whichKing Arthur participated according toNennius. This defeat is not recorded in theChronicle.[14] The thirty-year period of peace was temporarily interrupted[15] when, according to theChronicle, the Saxons conquered theIsle of Wight in 530 at a battle nearCarisbrooke.[11]
Cynric became the ruler of Wessex after Cerdic died in 534, and reigned for twenty-six years.[11] The sources do agree thatCeawlin, who succeeded Cynric in about 581, is the son of Cynric; he usually is named as the father of Cuthwine.[16] Ceawlin's reign is thought to be more reliably documented than those of his predecessors, though theChronicle's dates of 560 to 592 are different from the revised chronology. Ceawlin overcame pockets of resisting Britons to the northeast, in theChilterns,Gloucestershire andSomerset. The capture ofCirencester,Gloucester andBath in 577, after the pause caused by the battle of Mons Badonicus, opened the way to the southwest.
Ceawlin is one of the seven kings named in Bede'sEcclesiastical History of the English People as holding"imperium" over the southern English: theChronicle later repeated this claim, referring to Ceawlin as abretwalda, or "Britain-ruler". Ceawlin was deposed, perhaps by his nephew,Ceol, and died a year later.
Six years later, in about 594, Ceol was succeeded by a brother,Ceolwulf, who was succeeded in his turn in about 617 byCynegils of Wessex. The genealogies do not agree on Cynegils' pedigree: his father is variously given as Ceola, Ceolwulf, Ceol, Cuthwine, Cutha or Cuthwulf.
The tradition embodied in theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle, and in the genealogies of the West Saxon dynasty, is open to considerable doubt. This is largely because the founder of the dynasty and a number of his alleged descendants hadBrittonic Celtic, rather than Anglo-Saxon Germanic, names.[17] The name Cerdic is derived from the British name Caraticos.[18][19] This may indicate that Cerdic was a native Briton, and that his dynasty became anglicised over time.[20][21][22] Other members of the dynasty possessing Celtic names includeCeawlin andCædwalla. Cædwalla, who died as late as 689, was the last West Saxon king to possess a Celtic name.[23]
Cynegils' reign saw the first event in West Saxon history that can be dated with reasonable certainty: thebaptism of Cynegils byBirinus, at the end of the 630s, perhaps in 640. Birinus was then established as bishop of the West Saxons, with his seat atDorchester-on-Thames. This was the firstconversion toChristianity by a West Saxon king, but it was not accompanied by the immediate conversion of all the West Saxons: Cynegils' successor (and probably his son),Cenwealh, who came to the throne in about 642, was apagan at his accession. However, he too was baptised only a few years later and Wessex became firmly established as a Christian kingdom. Cynegils' godfather was KingOswald of Northumbria, and his conversion may have been connected with an alliance against KingPenda of Mercia, who had previously attacked Wessex.
These attacks marked the beginning of sustained pressure from the expanding kingdom ofMercia. In time this would deprive Wessex of its territories north of theThames and the(Bristol) Avon, encouraging the kingdom's reorientation southwards. Cenwealh marriedPenda's daughter, and when he repudiated her, Penda again invaded and drove him into exile for some time, perhaps three years. The dates are uncertain but it was probably in the late 640s or early 650s. He spent his exile inEast Anglia, and was converted to Christianity there. After his return, Cenwealh faced further attacks from Penda's successorWulfhere, but was able to expand West Saxon territory inSomerset at the expense of theBritons. He established a second bishopric atWinchester, while the one atDorchester was soon abandoned as Mercian power pushed southwards.
After Cenwealh's death in 673, his widow,Seaxburh, held the throne for a year; she was followed byÆscwine, who was apparently descended from another brother of Ceawlin. This was one of several occasions when the kingship of Wessex is said to have passed to a remote branch of the royal family with an unbroken male line of descent from Cerdic; these claims may be genuine, or may reflect the spurious assertion of descent from Cerdic to legitimise a new dynasty. Æscwine's reign only lasted two years, and in 676 the throne passed back to the immediate family of Cenwealh with the accession of his brotherCentwine of Wessex. Centwine is known to have fought and won battles against theBritons, but the details have not survived.
Centwine was succeeded by another supposed distant relative,Cædwalla, who claimed descent from Ceawlin. Cædwalla reigned for just two years, but achieved a dramatic expansion of the kingdom's power, conquering the kingdoms ofSussex,Kent and theIsle of Wight, although Kent regained its independence almost immediately and Sussex followed some years later. His reign ended in 688 when he abdicated and went on pilgrimage to Rome, where he was baptised byPope Sergius I but died soon afterwards.Bokerley Dyke appears to have been fortified around this period, and the former Roman Road atAckling Dyke blocked by the Britons to prevent the West Saxons' advance intoDorset.[24] Evidence suggests that Dorset, north Hampshire, eastern Devon and southern Wiltshire were substantially under West Saxon control by the beginning of the reign ofCædwalla of Wessex in 685, but details of their conquest are unclear.[25]
His successor wasIne, who also claimed to be a descendant of Cerdic through Ceawlin, but again through a long-separated line of descent. Ine was the most durable of the West Saxon kings, reigning for 38 years. He issued the oldest surviving English code of laws apart from those of the kingdom of Kent, and established a second West Saxon bishopric atSherborne, covering the area west ofSelwood Forest, which formed an important boundary between east and west Wessex. Near the end of his life he followed in Cædwalla's footsteps by abdicating and making a pilgrimage to Rome. The throne then passed to a series of other kings who claimed descent from Cerdic, but whose supposed genealogies and relationship to one another are unknown.
During the 8th century Wessex was overshadowed by Mercia, whose power was then at its height, and the West Saxon kings may at times have acknowledged Mercian overlordship. They were, however, able to avoid the more substantial control which Mercia exerted over smaller kingdoms. During this period Wessex continued its gradual advance to the west, overwhelming the British kingdom ofDumnonia (Devon). At this time Wessex tookde facto control of much of Devon, although Britons retained a degree of independence in Devon until at least the 10th century. (William of Malmesbury claimed that the Britons and Saxons inhabited Exeter "as equals" until 927.) As a result of the Mercian conquest of the northern portion of its early territories inGloucestershire andOxfordshire, theThames and theAvon now probably formed the northern boundary of Wessex, while its heartland lay inHampshire,Wiltshire,Berkshire,Dorset andSomerset. The system ofshires which was later to form the basis of local administration throughout England (and eventuallyIreland,Wales andScotland as well) originated in Wessex, and had been established by the mid-8th century.
Anglo-Saxon–Viking coin weight, used for tradingbullion andhacksilver. The material islead and it weighs 36 g (1.3 oz). Embedded with an Anglo-Saxonsceat (Series K type 32a) dating to 720–750 and minted in Kent. It is edged in a dotted triangle pattern. Its origin is theDanelaw region and dates to 870–930
In 802 the fortunes of Wessex were transformed by the accession ofEgbert who came from acadet branch of the ruling dynasty that claimed descent from Ine's brotherIngild. With his accession the throne became firmly established in the hands of a single lineage. Early in his reign he conducted two campaigns against the "West Welsh", first in 813 and then again atGafulford in 825. During the course of these campaigns he conquered the western Britons still in Devon and reduced those beyond theRiver Tamar, nowCornwall, to the status of avassal.[26] In 825 or 826 he overturned the political order of England by decisively defeating KingBeornwulf of Mercia atEllendun and seizing control ofSurrey, Sussex, Kent andEssex from the Mercians, while with his helpEast Anglia broke away from Mercian control. In 829 he conquered Mercia, driving its KingWiglaf into exile, and secured acknowledgement of his overlordship from the king ofNorthumbria. He thereby became theBretwalda, or high king of Britain. This position of dominance was short-lived, as Wiglaf returned and restored Mercian independence in 830, but the expansion of Wessex across south-eastern England proved permanent.
Egbert's later years saw the beginning ofDanishViking raids on Wessex, which occurred frequently from 835 onwards. In 851 a huge Danish army, said to have been carried on 350 ships, arrived in the Thames estuary. Having defeated KingBeorhtwulf of Mercia in battle, the Danes moved on to invade Wessex, but were decisively crushed by Egbert's son and successor KingÆthelwulf in the exceptionally bloodyBattle of Aclea. This victory postponed Danish conquests in England for fifteen years, but raids on Wessex continued.
In 855–856 Æthelwulf went onpilgrimage toRome and his eldest surviving sonÆthelbald took advantage of his absence to seize his father's throne. On his return, Æthelwulf agreed to divide the kingdom with his son to avoid bloodshed, ruling the new territories in the east while Æthelbald held the old heartland in the west. Æthelwulf was succeeded by each of his four surviving sons ruling one after another: the rebellious Æthelbald, thenÆthelbert, who had previously inherited the eastern territories from his father and who reunited the kingdom on Æthelbald's death, then Æthelred, and finallyAlfred the Great. This occurred because the first two brothers died in wars with the Danes without issue, while Æthelred's sons were too young to rule when their father died.
In 865, several of the Danish commanders combined their respective forces into one large army and landed in England. Over the following years, what became known as theGreat Heathen Army overwhelmed the kingdoms ofNorthumbria and East Anglia. Then in 871, theGreat Summer Army arrived fromScandinavia, to reinforce the Great Heathen Army. The reinforced army invaded Wessex and, although Æthelred and Alfred won some victories and succeeded in preventing the conquest of their kingdom, a number of defeats and heavy losses of men compelled Alfred to pay the Danes to leave Wessex.[27][28] The Danes spent the next few years subduingMercia and some of them settled in Northumbria, but the rest returned to Wessex in 876. Alfred responded effectively and was able with little fighting to bring about their withdrawal in 877. A portion of the Danish army settled in Mercia, but at the beginning of 878 the remaining Danes mounted a winter invasion of Wessex, taking Alfred by surprise and overrunning much of the kingdom. Alfred was reduced to taking refuge with a small band of followers in the marshes of theSomerset Levels, but after a few months he was able to gather an army and defeated the Danes at theBattle of Edington, bringing about their final withdrawal from Wessex to settle in East Anglia. There were simultaneous Danish raids on the north coast of France andBrittany in the 870s – prior to the establishment ofNormandy in 911 – and recorded Danish alliances with bothBretons and Cornish may have resulted in the suppression of Cornish autonomy with the death by drowning of KingDonyarth in 875 as recorded by theAnnales Cambriae.[29] No subsequent 'Kings' of Cornwall are recorded after this time, butAsser records Cornwall as a separate kingdom from Wessex in the 890s.[30]
In 879 a Viking fleet that had assembled in the Thames estuary sailed across the English Channel to start a new campaign on the continent. The rampaging Viking army on the continent encouraged Alfred to protect his Kingdom of Wessex.[31] Over the following years Alfred carried out a dramatic reorganisation of the government and defences of Wessex, building warships, organising the army into two shifts which served alternately, and establishing a system of fortifiedburhs across the kingdom. This system is recorded in a 10th-century document known as theBurghal Hidage, which details the location and garrisoning requirements of thirty-three forts, whose positioning ensured that no one in Wessex was more than a long day's ride from a place of safety.[32] In the 890s these reforms helped him to repel the invasion of another huge Danish army – which was aided by the Danes settled in England – with minimal losses.
In 2015, two individuals found a large hoard nearLeominster consisting primarily of Saxon jewellery and silver ingots but also coins; the latter date to around 879 CE. According to a news report, "experts believe it [the hoard] was buried by a Viking during a series of raids known to have taken place in the area at that time", while Wessex was ruled by Alfred the Great and Mercia by Ceolwulf II. Two imperial coins recovered from the treasure hunters depict the two kings, "indicating an alliance between the two kingdoms—at least, for a time—that was previously unknown to historians", according to the report.[33][34] A report byThe Guardian adds that[35]
"The presence of both kings on the two emperor coins suggests some sort of pact between the pair. But the rarity of the coins also suggests that Alfred quickly dropped his ally, who was just about written out of history".
Alfred also reformed the administration of justice, issued a new law code and championed a revival of scholarship and education. He gathered scholars from around England and Europe to his court, and with their help translated a range ofLatin texts into English, doing much of the work personally, and orchestrated the composition of theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle. As a result of these literary efforts and the political dominance of Wessex, theWest Saxon dialect of this period became the standard written form ofOld English for the rest of theAnglo-Saxon period and beyond.
Wessex and areas under its control in 871.
Wessex and areas under its control in 886.
Wessex and areas under its control in 897.
The Danish conquests had destroyed the kingdoms of Northumbria and East Anglia and divided Mercia in half, with the Danes settling in the north-east while the south-west was left to the English kingCeolwulf, allegedly a Danish puppet. When Ceolwulf's rule came to an end he was succeeded as ruler of "English Mercia" not by another king but by a mereealdorman,Aethelred, who acknowledged Alfred's overlordship and married his daughterEthelfleda. The process by which this transformation of the status of Mercia took place is unknown, but it left Alfred as the only remaining English king.
Unification of England and Defeat of the Danelaw in the 10th century under Wessex.
After the invasions of the 890s, Wessex and EnglishMercia continued to be attacked by the Danish settlers in England, and by small Danish raiding forces from overseas, but these incursions were usually defeated, while there were no further major invasions from the continent. The balance of power tipped steadily in favour of the English. In 911 EaldormanÆthelred died, leaving his widow, Alfred's daughterÆthelflæd, in charge of Mercia. Alfred's son and successorEdward the Elder then annexed London,Oxford and the surrounding area, probably includingMiddlesex,Hertfordshire,Buckinghamshire andOxfordshire, from Mercia to Wessex. Between 913 and 918 a series of English offensives overwhelmed the Danes of Mercia and East Anglia, bringing all of England south of theHumber under Edward's power. In 918 Æthelflæd died and Edward took over direct control of Mercia, extinguishing what remained of its independence and ensuring that henceforth there would be only oneKingdom of the English. In 927 Edward's successorÆthelstan conqueredNorthumbria, bringing the whole of England under one ruler for the first time. The Kingdom of Wessex had thus been transformed into theKingdom of England.
Æthelstan never married, and when he died in 939 he was succeeded by his half-brotherEdmund. Edmund's sons were young children when he died in 946, so he was succeeded by his full brotherEadred. Edmund and Eadred both lost control of Northumbria at the beginning of their reigns but had regained it by their deaths. Northumbria's acceptance of West Saxon rule in 954 meant the final unification of the kingdom of England. When Eadred died in 955, he was succeeded by Edmund's elder son Eadred, whose incompetent rule may have led to the division of England between Wessex under Eadred and Mercia and Northumbria under his younger brotherEdgar in 957, although some historians argue that it was intended from the start that the kingdom would be divided when Edgar came of age, which occurred in 957. Eadwig died in 959 and Edgar became king of the whole of England.
After the conquest of England by the Danish kingCnut in 1016, he established earldoms based on the former kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia and East Anglia, but initially administered Wessex personally. Within a few years, however, he had created an earldom of Wessex, encompassing all of England south of the Thames, for his English henchmanGodwin, Earl of Wessex. For almost fifty years the vastly wealthy holders of this earldom, first Godwin and then his sonHarold Godwinson, were the most powerful men in English politics after the king. Finally, on the death ofEdward the Confessor in 1066, Harold became king, reuniting the earldom of Wessex with the crown. No new earl was appointed before the ensuingNorman Conquest of England, and as the Norman kings soon did away with the great earldoms of the late Anglo-Saxon period, 1066 marks the extinction of Wessex as a political unit.
BothHenry of Huntingdon andMatthew of Westminster talk of a goldendragon being raised at the Battle ofBurford in 752 by the West Saxons. TheBayeux Tapestry depicts a fallen golden dragon, as well as a red/golden/white dragon at the death of KingHarold II, who was previouslyEarl of Wessex. Dragon standards were in fairly wide use in Europe at the time, being derived from thedraco standard employed by thelater Roman army, and there is no evidence that it explicitly identified Wessex.[36]
A panel of 18th centurystained glass atExeter Cathedral indicates that an association with an image of a dragon in south west Britain pre-dated theVictorians. Nevertheless, the association with Wessex was only popularised in the 19th century, most notably through the writings ofE. A. Freeman. By the time of the grant ofarmorial bearings by theCollege of Arms toSomerset County Council in 1911, a (red) dragon had become the accepted heraldic emblem of the former kingdom.[37] This precedent was followed in 1937 whenWiltshire County Council was granted arms.[38] Two gold Wessex dragons were later granted as supporters to the arms ofDorset County Council in 1950.[39]
Wessex Division Formation patch
In theBritish Army the wyvern has been used to represent Wessex: the43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division, and postwar regional 43 (Wessex) Brigade adopted a formation sign consisting of a gold wyvern on a black or dark blue background. The regularWessex Brigade of the 1960s adopted a cap badge featuring the heraldic beast, until the regiments took back up individual regimental badges in the late 1960s. The Territorial ArmyWessex Regiment continued to wear the Wessex Brigade badge until the late 1980s when its individual companies too readopted their parent regular regimental cap badges. The now disbanded West Somerset Yeomanry adopted a Wessex Wyvern rampant as the centre piece for its cap badge, and the currentRoyal Wessex Yeomanry adopted a similar device in 2014 when the Regiment moved from wearing individual squadron county yeomanry cap badges to a unified single Regimental cap badge.
WhenSophie, Countess of Wessex was granted arms, the sinister supporter assigned was a blue wyvern, described by the College of Arms as"an heraldic beast which has long been associated with Wessex".[40]
Crampton's 1970s flag, designed for the modern Wessex region.
In the 1970sWilliam Crampton, the founder of the BritishFlag Institute, designed a flag for the Wessex region that depicts a gold wyvern on a red field.[41]
A white cross on a field of red, known as the Flag ofSaint Aldhelm (whose feast day on 25 May is also celebrated as "Wessex Day") is sometimes flown by Wessex regionalists as an alternative to the Wyvern. The flag is effectively an inverted version of the Cross of Saint George, although it is also thought to have been derived from the arms ofSherborne Abbey, Dorset.[42][43]
The attributed arms of Wessex are also known as the "Arms of Edward the Confessor", and the design is based on an emblem historically used byKing Edward the Confessor on the reverse side ofpennies minted by him. The heraldic design continued to represent both Wessex and Edward in classical heraldry[45] and is found on a number of church windows in derived shields such as the Arms of the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster (Westminster Abbey, which was founded by the king).
^Hooper, Nicholas Hooper; Bennett, Matthew (1996).The Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare: the Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press. pp. 22–23.ISBN0521440491.
Keynes, Simon (1998). "Alfred and the Mercians". In Blackburn, Mark A.S.; Dumville, David N. (eds.).Kings, currency, and alliances: history and coinage of southern England in the ninth century. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer. pp. 1–46.ISBN978-0-8511-5598-2.
^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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