Cenwalh of Wessex
Encyclopedia
Cenwalh, also Cenwealh or Coenwalh, was King of Wessex
from c. 643 to c. 645 and from c. 648 unto his death, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in c. 672.
states that Cenwealh was the son of the King Cynegils
baptised by Bishop Birinus
. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
offers several ancestries for Cynegils, and the relationship of Cynegils and Cenwealh to later kings is less than certain. It has been noted that the name Cenwalh may have had a British rather than Anglo-Saxon etymology. Although Cynegils is said to have been a convert to Christianity
, Bede writes that Cenwealh:
Cenwealh took refuge with the Christian king Anna of East Anglia
, and was baptised while in exile although the date of his exile is uncertain. Bede says that it lasted three years, but does not give the dates. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that he granted lands at Ashdown
to a kinsman named Cuthred. If this is same Cuthred whose death is reported circa
661, then he was perhaps a son of King Cwichelm
or a grandson of Cynegils, if indeed King Cwichelm was not also a son of Cynegils.
None of the West Saxon dates give any clear evidence for the period of Cenwealh's exile, but since King Anna was killed by Penda in 654, and exiled from East Anglia by him in 651 (according to the contemporary Additamentum Nivialensis), Cenwealh's exile cannot have begun much later than 648. Furthermore, if (as William of Malmesbury
states) Cenwalh was baptized by Saint Felix
, this must have occurred by c.647. Cenwalh's repudiation of Penda's sister therefore followed fairly closely upon Penda's killing of Oswald of Northumbria
at Maserfeld
in 642, Oswald being the godfather of Cynegils, and husband of Cenwalh's sister Cyneburh, and thus the protector of Cynegils's line in Wessex. Penda was killed at the Battle of Winwaed on 15 November 655. Barbara Yorke
suggests that Cenwealh returned to power in 648, D.P. Kirby places his exile in the 650s.
Agilbert
. Bede states:
The new diocese of Winchester
, in lands formerly belonging to the Jutes
, thereafter confined to the Isle of Wight
, lay in the heart of the future Wessex. The ravaging of Ashdown by Penda's son Wulfhere
c. 661, in the original lands of the Gewisse, suggests that this movement was brought about by sustained Mercian pressure on the Saxons.
Wulfhere advanced as far south as the Isle of Wight, and detached the Meon
valley from Cenwealh's kingdom, giving it to his godson Æthelwalh, King of the South Saxons. At around this time, the Mercian prince Frithuwold was ruling Surrey
and Berkshire
. Wulfhere's defeat at the hands of Ecgfrith
in 674 freed the southern kingdoms from Mercian control, and Wulfhere was defeated the following year by the West Saxons led by Æscwine.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records a battle between Cenwealh and the Britons in its entry for 658: "Here Cenwealh fought at Peonnum against the Wealas and caused them to flee as far as the Parret". The advance into the British south-west is obscure, but Cenwealh's relations with the Britons were not uniformly hostile. He is reported to have endowed the British monastery at Sherborne
, in Dorset
, while the early Anglo-Saxon mission
ary Saint Boniface
is said to have been born in Crediton
, Devon, and educated at a formerly British monastery near Exeter
.
Whether Cenwealh ruled alone in Wessex is uncertain. Earlier kings appear to have shared rulership, and Cenberht
, father of the future King Caedwalla
, may have ruled together with Cenwealh rather than being merely a sub-king.
In 665–668 Cenwealh quarreled with Bishop Wini, who sought refuge with the Mercian king Wulfhere, which D.P. Kirby takes to be a sign of Wulfhere's influence. By this time, the Bishop at Dorchester was the Mercian-backed Ætla, and Thame
was a possession of Wulfhere's.
Cenwealh died in the 670s. His death is generally assumed to be in 674, but a case has been made for 676. According to tradition, his widow, Seaxburh
held power for a year after his death.
is said to have been his brother, but Kirby notes the circumstantial evidence which makes this unlikely.
However, if no descendants of Cenwealh held the throne in Wessex, it may be that his descendants held power in Mercia and Kent
in the ninth century. The Mercia kings Coenwulf
and Ceolwulf
, and their brother Cuthred
, King of Kent, claimed descent from an otherwise unknown brother of Penda and Eowa
called Coenwalh. It has been suggested that Coenwalh was in fact this Cenwealh, brother-in-law, rather than brother, of Penda and Eowa.
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...
from c. 643 to c. 645 and from c. 648 unto his death, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in c. 672.
Penda and Anna
BedeBede
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...
states that Cenwealh was the son of the King Cynegils
Cynegils of Wessex
Cynegils was King of Wessex from c. 611 to c. 643.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...
baptised by Bishop Birinus
Birinus
Birinus , venerated as a saint, was the first Bishop of Dorchester, and the "Apostle to the West Saxons".-Life and ministry:After Augustine of Canterbury performed initial conversions in England, Birinus, a Frank, came to the kingdoms of Wessex in 634, landing at the port of "Hamwic", now in the...
. 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...
offers several ancestries for Cynegils, and the relationship of Cynegils and Cenwealh to later kings is less than certain. It has been noted that the name Cenwalh may have had a British rather than Anglo-Saxon etymology. Although Cynegils is said to have been a convert to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, Bede writes that Cenwealh:
refused to embrace the mysteries of the faith, and of the heavenly kingdom; and not long after also he lost the dominion of his earthly kingdom; for he put away the sister of Penda, king of the MerciaMerciaMercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
ns, whom he had married, and took another wife; whereupon a war ensuing, he was by him expelled his kingdom...
Cenwealh took refuge with the Christian king Anna of East Anglia
Anna of East Anglia
Anna was King of East Anglia from the early 640s until his death. Anna was a member of the Wuffingas family, the ruling dynasty of the East Angles. He was one of the three sons of Eni who ruled East Anglia, succeeding some time after Ecgric was killed in battle by Penda of Mercia...
, and was baptised while in exile although the date of his exile is uncertain. Bede says that it lasted three years, but does not give the dates. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that he granted lands at Ashdown
Ashdown
- People :*Jamie Ashdown, footballer*Paddy Ashdown, British politician*Pete Ashdown, US businessman and politician*Peter Ashdown, racing driver*Thomas Albery Ashdown, Lt Commander RNR Rtd...
to a kinsman named Cuthred. If this is same Cuthred whose death is reported circa
Circa
Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...
661, then he was perhaps a son of King Cwichelm
Cwichelm of Wessex
Cwichelm was an Anglo-Saxon king of the Gewisse, a people in the upper Thames area who later created the kingdom of Wessex. He is usually counted among the Kings of Wessex....
or a grandson of Cynegils, if indeed King Cwichelm was not also a son of Cynegils.
None of the West Saxon dates give any clear evidence for the period of Cenwealh's exile, but since King Anna was killed by Penda in 654, and exiled from East Anglia by him in 651 (according to the contemporary Additamentum Nivialensis), Cenwealh's exile cannot have begun much later than 648. Furthermore, if (as William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. C. Warren Hollister so ranks him among the most talented generation of writers of history since Bede, "a gifted historical scholar and an omnivorous reader, impressively well versed in the literature of classical,...
states) Cenwalh was baptized by Saint Felix
Felix of Burgundy
Felix of Burgundy, also known as Felix of Dunwich , was a saint and the first bishop of the East Angles. He is widely credited as the man who introduced Christianity to the kingdom of East Anglia...
, this must have occurred by c.647. Cenwalh's repudiation of Penda's sister therefore followed fairly closely upon Penda's killing of Oswald of Northumbria
Oswald of Northumbria
Oswald was King of Northumbria from 634 until his death, and is now venerated as a Christian saint.Oswald was the son of Æthelfrith of Bernicia and came to rule after spending a period in exile; after defeating the British ruler Cadwallon ap Cadfan, Oswald brought the two Northumbrian kingdoms of...
at Maserfeld
Battle of Maserfield
The Battle of Maserfield , Welsh: "Maes Cogwy", was fought on August 5, 641 or 642, between the Anglo-Saxon kings Oswald of Northumbria and Penda of Mercia, ending in Oswald's defeat, death, and dismemberment...
in 642, Oswald being the godfather of Cynegils, and husband of Cenwalh's sister Cyneburh, and thus the protector of Cynegils's line in Wessex. Penda was killed at the Battle of Winwaed on 15 November 655. Barbara Yorke
Barbara Yorke
Barbara Yorke is a historian of Anglo-Saxon England.She studied history and archaeology at Exeter University, where she completed both her undergraduate degree and her Ph.D. She is currently Professor of Early Medieval History at the University of Winchester, and is a Fellow of the Royal...
suggests that Cenwealh returned to power in 648, D.P. Kirby places his exile in the 650s.
Origins of Christian Wessex
Whenever Cenwealh returned to power, his Bishop in Dorchester-on-Thames was the FrankFranks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
Agilbert
Agilbert
Agilbert was the second Bishop of the West Saxon kingdom and later Bishop of Paris. Son of a Neustrian noble named Betto, he was a first cousin of Audoin and related to the Faronids and Agilolfings, and less certainly to the Merovingians...
. Bede states:
At length the king, who understood none but the language of the Saxons, grown weary of that bishop's barbarous tongue, brought into the province another bishop of his own nation, whose name was WiniWine (bishop)Wine was a medieval Bishop of London and the first Bishop of Winchester.Wine was consecrated the first bishop of Winchester in 660 and possibly translated to Dorchester around 663...
, who had been ordained in France; and dividing his province into two dioceses, appointed this last his episcopal see in the city of WinchesterWinchesterWinchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
, by the Saxons called Wintancestir.
The new diocese of Winchester
Diocese of Winchester
The Diocese of Winchester forms part of the Province of Canterbury of the Church of England.Founded in 676, it is one of the oldest and largest of the dioceses in England.The area of the diocese incorporates:...
, in lands formerly belonging to the Jutes
Jutes
The Jutes, Iuti, or Iutæ were a Germanic people who, according to Bede, were one of the three most powerful Germanic peoples of their time, the other two being the Saxons and the Angles...
, thereafter confined to the Isle of 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...
, lay in the heart of the future Wessex. The ravaging of Ashdown by Penda's son Wulfhere
Wulfhere of Mercia
Wulfhere was King of Mercia from the end of the 650s until 675. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of Northumbria's overlordship of southern England, and Wulfhere...
c. 661, in the original lands of the Gewisse, suggests that this movement was brought about by sustained Mercian pressure on the Saxons.
Wulfhere advanced as far south as the Isle of Wight, and detached the Meon
River Meon
The River Meon is a river that flows through an area of Hampshire in southern England known as the Meon Valley, it flows generally southwards from the South Downs to the Solent. For most of its route it is a chalk stream, with a length of 21 miles .The River Meon rises approximately...
valley from Cenwealh's kingdom, giving it to his godson Æthelwalh, King of the South Saxons. At around this time, the Mercian prince Frithuwold was ruling Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
and Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
. Wulfhere's defeat at the hands of Ecgfrith
Ecgfrith of Northumbria
King Ecgfrith was the King of Northumbria from 670 until his death. He ruled over Northumbria when it was at the height of its power, but his reign ended with a disastrous defeat in which he lost his life.-Early life:...
in 674 freed the southern kingdoms from Mercian control, and Wulfhere was defeated the following year by the West Saxons led by Æscwine.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records a battle between Cenwealh and the Britons in its entry for 658: "Here Cenwealh fought at Peonnum against the Wealas and caused them to flee as far as the Parret". The advance into the British south-west is obscure, but Cenwealh's relations with the Britons were not uniformly hostile. He is reported to have endowed the British monastery at Sherborne
Sherborne
Sherborne is a market town in northwest Dorset, England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The A30 road, which connects London to Penzance, runs through the town. The population of the town is 9,350 . 27.1% of the population is aged 65 or...
, in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, while the early Anglo-Saxon mission
Anglo-Saxon mission
Anglo-Saxon missionaries were instrumental in the spread of Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century, continuing the work of Hiberno-Scottish missionaries which had been spreading Celtic Christianity across the Frankish Empire as well as in Scotland and Anglo-Saxon England itself...
ary Saint Boniface
Saint Boniface
Saint Boniface , the Apostle of the Germans, born Winfrid, Wynfrith, or Wynfryth in the kingdom of Wessex, probably at Crediton , was a missionary who propagated Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century. He is the patron saint of Germany and the first archbishop of Mainz...
is said to have been born in Crediton
Crediton
Crediton is a town and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon in England. It stands on the A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, about north west of Exeter. It has a population of 6,837...
, Devon, and educated at a formerly British monastery near Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
.
Whether Cenwealh ruled alone in Wessex is uncertain. Earlier kings appear to have shared rulership, and Cenberht
Cenberht
Cenberht was a king in the lands of the West Saxons.Cenberht was said to be the son of Cadda, about whom nothing is recorded, and the grandson of Cutha. It is thought that Cutha is the same person as Cuthwine, also found in West Saxon genealogies. He was thus, according to later genealogies, a...
, father of the future King 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...
, may have ruled together with Cenwealh rather than being merely a sub-king.
In 665–668 Cenwealh quarreled with Bishop Wini, who sought refuge with the Mercian king Wulfhere, which D.P. Kirby takes to be a sign of Wulfhere's influence. By this time, the Bishop at Dorchester was the Mercian-backed Ætla, and Thame
Thame
Thame is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about southwest of the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury. It derives its toponym from the River Thame which flows past the north side of the town....
was a possession of Wulfhere's.
Cenwealh died in the 670s. His death is generally assumed to be in 674, but a case has been made for 676. According to tradition, his widow, Seaxburh
Seaxburh of Wessex
Seaxburh was a wife of Cenwalh of Wessex who according to tradition ruled Wessex as queen for a year following Cenwalh's death in 674. She should not be confused with her near-contemporary, Seaxburh of Ely, the saintly daughter of Anna of East Anglia....
held power for a year after his death.
Descendants
No later kings of the West Saxons are known to be descended from Cenwealh, indeed no descendants of his are known. King CentwineCentwine of Wessex
Centwine was King of Wessex from circa 676 to 685 or 686, although he was perhaps not the only king of the West Saxons at the time.The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that Centwine became king circa 676, succeeding Æscwine...
is said to have been his brother, but Kirby notes the circumstantial evidence which makes this unlikely.
However, if no descendants of Cenwealh held the throne in Wessex, it may be that his descendants held power in Mercia and 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...
in the ninth century. The Mercia kings Coenwulf
Coenwulf of Mercia
Coenwulf was King of Mercia from December 796 to 821. He was a descendant of a brother of King Penda, who had ruled Mercia in the middle of the 7th century. He succeeded Ecgfrith, the son of Offa; Ecgfrith only reigned for five months, with Coenwulf coming to the throne in the same year that Offa...
and Ceolwulf
Ceolwulf I of Mercia
Ceolwulf I was King of Mercia and Kent, from 821 to 823. He was the brother of Cœnwulf, his predecessor, and was deposed by Beornwulf.-External links:* http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=seek&query=S+186...
, and their brother Cuthred
Cuthred of Kent
Cuðred was a King of Kent .After the revolt of Kent under Eadberht III Præn was defeated in 798 by Cœnwulf, he established Cuðred as a client king...
, King of Kent, claimed descent from an otherwise unknown brother of Penda and Eowa
Eowa of Mercia
Eowa was a son of the Mercian king Pybba and a brother of the Mercian king Penda; according to the Historia Brittonum and the Annales Cambriae. These two sources state that Eowa was a king of the Mercians himself at the time of the Battle of Maserfield , in which he was killed, on August 5 of what...
called Coenwalh. It has been suggested that Coenwalh was in fact this Cenwealh, brother-in-law, rather than brother, of Penda and Eowa.
External links
- Cenwealh 2 at the Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon EnglandProsopography of Anglo-Saxon EnglandThe Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England is a major research project based at King's College London in the Department of History and the Centre for Computing in the Humanities, and at the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, University of Cambridge.From 2000, PASE has been funded by the...
- Anglo-Saxons.net has a chronology and the texts of charters attributed to Cenwealh