Kingdom of Sussex
Encyclopedia
The Kingdom of Sussex or Kingdom of the South Saxons was a Saxon colony
and later independent kingdom
of the Saxons
, on the south coast of England. Its boundaries coincided in general with those of the earlier kingdom of the Regnenses
and the later county of Sussex
. A large part of its territory was covered in early times by the Forest of Andred. This forest according to the Anglo Saxon Chronicle was 120 miles wide and 30 miles deep (although probaby closer to 90 miles wide). It was inhabited by wolves, boars and possibly even bears. It was so dense that even the Domesday Book
did not record some of its settlements.
The South Saxons were ruled by the kings of Sussex.
, which states that in the year AD 477 Ælle arrived at a place called Cymenshore
in three ships with his three sons. The chronicle describes how on landing Ælle slew the local defenders and
drove the remainder into the Forest of Andred. The chronicle goes on to describe Ælle's battle with the British in 485 near the bank of Mercredesburne
, and his siege of Pevensey
in 491 after which the inhabitants were massacred.
Cymenshore is traditionally thought to have been located at what is now known as the Owers Rocks, south of Selsey
, however there is no archaeological evidence to support the existence of Ælle and his three sons in the Selsey area.
Most historians regard the foundation of Sussex with Ælle landing with three ships and three sons as a myth.
The archaeological evidence that we do have indicates the area of settlement by the location of cemeteries of the period. The origins of the settlers can be derived by comparing the design of grave goods and pottery with the designs of similar items in the German homelands. The principal area of settlement in the 5th century has been identified as between the lower Ouse
and Cuckmere
rivers in East Sussex, based on the number of Anglo-Saxon cemeteries there. However exceptionally there are two cemeteries in West Sussex at Highdown
, near Worthing and Apple Down, 11 km or 7 miles north west of Chichester. The area between the Ouse and Cuckmere was believed to have been the location for the federate treaty settlement of Anglo-Saxon mercenaries.
There is some evidence to support the treaty hypothesis, based on the grave finds of the period. For example, the excavation of one of the cemeteries, at Rookery Hill at Bishopstone
, East Sussex, yielded late Roman or insular Roman metalwork including a Quoit Brooch Style buckle
, which would indicate settlement here to the early 5th century.
Subsequent excavations revealed a considerable area of Saxon buildings. Of the 22 buildings excavated three were sunken huts, 17 are rectangular founded on individual post holes, one is represented by post holes between which are beam slots, and one by eight single large posts.
The cemetery at Highdown is only 2 km from a hoard of Roman gold and silver that was found in 1997. The Patching hoard, as it came to be known, contained a coin as recent as 461AD. Thus Highdown cemetery would have been in use by Saxons when the hoard was buried at Patching. The settlement that used Highdown as a burial ground, in the 5th century, has never been identified, but White speculates that there may have been some link between Patching and Highdown and Welch has suggested that a Romano-British community was based there and that they controlled a group of Saxon mercenaries.
fought against the South Saxons.
In 681 the founder of Selsey Abbey
, the exiled St Wilfrid of Northumbria
, arrived in the kingdom of the South Saxons and remained there for five years evangelising and baptising the people.
According to Bede
, Æðelwealh
, king of Sussex, had previously been baptised in Mercia
at the suggestion of Wulfhere
, who presented him with the Isle of Wight
and the Meonwara
.
There had been a famine in the land of the South Saxons when Wilfrid arrived. Wilfrid taught the locals to fish, and they were impressed with Wilfrid's teachings and agreed to be baptised en masse. On the day of the baptisms the rain fell on the "thirsty earth", so ending the famine.
Æðelwealh gave 87 hides (an area of land) and a royal vill
to Wilfrid to enable him to found Selsey Abbey. The abbey eventually became the seat of the South Saxon bishopric
, where it remained until after the Norman Conquest, when it was moved to Chichester
by decree of the Council of London
of 1075.
Shortly after the arrival of St Wilfrid, the kingdom was ravaged and Æðelwealh slain by an exiled West Saxon prince Caedwalla
. The latter was eventually expelled, by Æðelwealh's successors, two Ealdormen named Berhthun
and Andhun. In 686 the South Saxons attacked Hlothhere, king of Kent
, in support of his nephew Eadric
, but soon afterwards Berhthun was killed and the kingdom subjugated for a time by Ceadwalla, who had now become king of Wessex
.
Of the later South Saxon kings we have little knowledge except from occasional charters
.
In 692 a grant is made by a king called Noðhelm
(or Nunna) to his sister, which is witnessed by another king called Watt
.
Nunna is described in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as the kinsman of Ine of Wessex
who fought with him against Geraint
, King of the Britons, in 710. According to Bede, Sussex was subject to Ine for a number of years.
, Bishop Eadberht
of Selsey (c.705 x?709) - (716 x?), was given a grant of land by King Nunna; the document included King Watt
as a witness. However, the charter is now believed to have been a 10th or early 11th century forgery.
There is another charter, that is thought to be genuine, that records a series of transactions of a piece of land near modern day Burpham
in the Arun Valley
.
It starts off with a grant of land, at Peppering, by Nunna to Berhfrith probably for the foundation of a minster.
Berhfrith transferred the land to Eolla, who in turn sold it to Wulfhere. The land then went to Beoba who passed it on to Beorra and Ecca. Finally King Osmund bought the land from his comes
Erra and granted it to a religious woman known as Tidburgh.
The charter is undated but it has been possible to date the various transactions approximately, by cross referencing people who appear both on this charter and on other charters that do provide dates.
On the transaction, where Eolla has acquired the land from Berhfrith and sells it to Wulfhere [c. AD 705 x(716x?)], Nunna's subscription is followed by a certain Osric
who was possibly Nunna's co-ruler. The other witnesses who followed Osric were Eadberht and Eolla, both who can be identified as ecclesiastics.
Nunna's last surviving charter, which is dated 714 in error for 717, is witnessed by a King Æðelstan
.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that "In 722 Ealdberht fled into Surrey and Sussex, and Ine fought against the South Saxons".
A little later, Æðelberht
was King of Sussex, but he is known only from charters. The dates of Æðelberht's reign are unknown beyond the fact that he was a contemporary of Sigeferth
, Bishop of Selsey from 733, as Sigeferth witnessed an undated charter of Æðelberht in which Æðelberht is styled Ethelbertus rex Sussaxonum.
After this we hear nothing more until about 765, when a grant of land is made by a king named Ealdwulf
, with two other kings, Ælfwald
and Oslac
, as witnesses.
In 765 and 770 grants are made by a King Osmund
, the later of which was later confirmed by Offa of Mercia
.
Offa also confirmed two charters of Æðelberht
, and in 772 he grants land himself in Sussex, with Oswald
, dux Suðsax, as a witness. It is probable that about this time Offa annexed the kingdom of Sussex, as several persons, Osmund
, Ælfwald
and Oslac
, who had previously used the royal title, now sign with that of dux.
Mercian power collapsed in the years following Offa's death in 796, and the South Saxons re-emerged as an independent political entity. This status was to be short-lived because the power of Wessex was rising and Sussex was to become the first kingdom of the old heptarchy
to be annexed in a process that brought about the gradual unification of the Ænglecynne and the foundation of a united England.
, and from this time they remained subject to the West Saxon dynasty. The earldom of Sussex seems later to have been sometimes combined with that of Kent.
From 895 Sussex suffered from constant raids by the Danes, till the accession of Canute, after which arose the two great forces of the house of Godwine
and of the Normans
. Godwine was probably a native of Sussex, and by the end of Edward the Confessor
's reign a third part of the county was in the hands of his family.
The death of Eadwine
, Ealdorman of Sussex, is recorded in 982, because he was buried at Abingdon Abbey
in Berkshire, where one version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was compiled. According to the abbey's records, in which he was called princeps Australium Saxonum, Eadwinus nomine (Eadwine leader of the South Saxons), he bequeathed estates to them in his will, although the document itself has not survived. Earlier in the same year he witnessed a charter of King Ethelred the Unready
as Eaduuine dux. His name was also added to a forged charter dated 956 (possibly an error for 976).
In the next generation, Wulfnoth Cild
, Thegn of Sussex, played a prominent part in English politics. In 1009 his actions resulted in the destruction of the English fleet, and by 1011 Sussex, together with most of South East England, was in the hands of the Danes. In an early example of local government reform, the Anglo-Saxon ealdormanries were abolished by the Danish kings and replaced with a smaller number of larger earldoms. Wulfnoth Cild was the father of Godwin
, who was made Earl of Wessex in 1020. His earldom included Sussex. When he died in 1053, Godwin was succeeded as Earl of Wessex (including Sussex) by his son Harold
, who had previously been Earl of East Anglia.
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
and later independent kingdom
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
of the Saxons
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
, on the south coast of England. Its boundaries coincided in general with those of the earlier kingdom of the Regnenses
Regnenses
The Regnenses, Regni or Regini were a British Celtic kingdom and later a civitas of Roman Britain. Their capital was Noviomagus Reginorum, known today as Chichester in modern West Sussex....
and the later county of Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
. A large part of its territory was covered in early times by the Forest of Andred. This forest according to the Anglo Saxon Chronicle was 120 miles wide and 30 miles deep (although probaby closer to 90 miles wide). It was inhabited by wolves, boars and possibly even bears. It was so dense that even the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
did not record some of its settlements.
The South Saxons were ruled by the kings of Sussex.
Foundation
The foundation legend of the Kingdom of the South Saxons is given by the Anglo-Saxon ChronicleAnglo-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...
, which states that in the year AD 477 Ælle arrived at a place called Cymenshore
Cymenshore
Cymenshore is the place in Southern England where according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Ælle of Sussex landed in 477 AD and battled the Welsh with his three sons Cymen, Wlencing and Cissa.-Historical context:The account of Ælle and his three sons landing at Cymenshore, in the Anglo Saxon...
in three ships with his three sons. The chronicle describes how on landing Ælle slew the local defenders and
drove the remainder into the Forest of Andred. The chronicle goes on to describe Ælle's battle with the British in 485 near the bank of Mercredesburne
Battle of Mercredesburne
The Battle of Mercredesburne was a battle between the Saxon leader Ælle's army and the Britons, in the year 485.-Background:The legendary foundation of the Kingdom of the South Saxons is provided by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, that states that in the year AD 477Ælle arrived at a place called...
, and his siege of Pevensey
Pevensey
Pevensey is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. The main village is located 5 miles north-east of Eastbourne, one mile inland from Pevensey Bay. The settlement of Pevensey Bay forms part of the parish.-Geography:The village of Pevensey is located on...
in 491 after which the inhabitants were massacred.
Cymenshore is traditionally thought to have been located at what is now known as the Owers Rocks, south of Selsey
Selsey
Selsey is a seaside town and civil parish, about seven miles south of Chichester, in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. Selsey lies at the southernmost point of the Manhood Peninsula, almost cut off from mainland Sussex by the sea...
, however there is no archaeological evidence to support the existence of Ælle and his three sons in the Selsey area.
Most historians regard the foundation of Sussex with Ælle landing with three ships and three sons as a myth.
The archaeological evidence that we do have indicates the area of settlement by the location of cemeteries of the period. The origins of the settlers can be derived by comparing the design of grave goods and pottery with the designs of similar items in the German homelands. The principal area of settlement in the 5th century has been identified as between the lower Ouse
River Ouse, Sussex
The River Ouse is a river in the counties of West and East Sussex in England.-Course:The river rises near Lower Beeding and runs eastwards into East Sussex, meandering narrowly and turning slowly southward...
and Cuckmere
River Cuckmere
The River Cuckmere rises near Heathfield in East Sussex, England on the southern slopes of the Weald. The name of the river probably comes from an Old English word meaning fast-flowing, since it descends over 100 m in its initial four miles...
rivers in East Sussex, based on the number of Anglo-Saxon cemeteries there. However exceptionally there are two cemeteries in West Sussex at Highdown
Highdown Hill
Highdown Hill is a prominent hill in the South Downs, as its name suggests, reaching a height of . The summit of the hill and its western slopes lie in the parish of Ferring in the Arun district, while its eastern slopes lie in the borough of Worthing. It is a popular spot for picnickers,...
, near Worthing and Apple Down, 11 km or 7 miles north west of Chichester. The area between the Ouse and Cuckmere was believed to have been the location for the federate treaty settlement of Anglo-Saxon mercenaries.
There is some evidence to support the treaty hypothesis, based on the grave finds of the period. For example, the excavation of one of the cemeteries, at Rookery Hill at Bishopstone
Bishopstone
-Places:England*Bishopstone, Buckinghamshire*Bishopstone, East Sussex*Bishopstone, Herefordshire*Bishopstone, Salisbury, Wiltshire*Bishopstone, Swindon, Wiltshire...
, East Sussex, yielded late Roman or insular Roman metalwork including a Quoit Brooch Style buckle
Quoit (brooch)
The quoit is a type of brooch popular during Saxon times. It was affixed with a single, straight, unclasped pin. It is thought to be an evolutionary link between Roman belt devices and the modern belt buckle....
, which would indicate settlement here to the early 5th century.
Subsequent excavations revealed a considerable area of Saxon buildings. Of the 22 buildings excavated three were sunken huts, 17 are rectangular founded on individual post holes, one is represented by post holes between which are beam slots, and one by eight single large posts.
The cemetery at Highdown is only 2 km from a hoard of Roman gold and silver that was found in 1997. The Patching hoard, as it came to be known, contained a coin as recent as 461AD. Thus Highdown cemetery would have been in use by Saxons when the hoard was buried at Patching. The settlement that used Highdown as a burial ground, in the 5th century, has never been identified, but White speculates that there may have been some link between Patching and Highdown and Welch has suggested that a Romano-British community was based there and that they controlled a group of Saxon mercenaries.
7th century
After 491 the written history of Sussex goes blank until 607, when the annals report that Ceolwulf of WessexCeolwulf of Wessex
Ceolwulf was King of Wessex from 597 to 611. He became king upon the death of his brother Ceol, because at that time Ceol's son Cynegils was too young to rule.Ceolwulf reigned for fourteen years and nothing is known of Wessex during his time as king....
fought against the South Saxons.
In 681 the founder of Selsey Abbey
Selsey Abbey
Selsey Abbey was almost certainly built at Church Norton, Selsey, Sussex, England. It was founded in 683AD, and became the seat of the Sussex bishopric, until it was moved in 1075AD to Chichester.-Historical Context :...
, the exiled St Wilfrid of Northumbria
Wilfrid
Wilfrid was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Gaul, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and became the abbot of a newly founded monastery at Ripon...
, arrived in the kingdom of the South Saxons and remained there for five years evangelising and baptising the people.
According to Bede
Bede
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...
, Æðelwealh
Aethelwalh of Sussex
Æthelwealh was the first historical king of Sussex. Æthelwealh became the first Christian king of Sussex and was king when Sussex was converted to Christianity in 681...
, king of Sussex, had previously been baptised in Mercia
Mercia
Mercia 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...
at the suggestion of 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...
, who presented him with 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...
and the Meonwara
Meonwara
Meonwara or Meonsæte is the name of a people of probable Jutish origin who colonised what is now known as the Meon Valley, an area in southern Hampshire, England, during the late 5th century and early 6th century.-Area of settlement:...
.
There had been a famine in the land of the South Saxons when Wilfrid arrived. Wilfrid taught the locals to fish, and they were impressed with Wilfrid's teachings and agreed to be baptised en masse. On the day of the baptisms the rain fell on the "thirsty earth", so ending the famine.
Æðelwealh gave 87 hides (an area of land) and a royal vill
Vill
Vill is a term used in English history to describe a land unit which might otherwise be described as a parish, manor or tithing.The term is used in the period immediately after the Norman conquest and into the late medieval. Land units in Domesday are frequently referred to as vills, although the...
to Wilfrid to enable him to found Selsey Abbey. The abbey eventually became the seat of the South Saxon bishopric
Bishop of Chichester
The Bishop of Chichester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the Counties of East and West Sussex. The see is in the City of Chichester where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity...
, where it remained until after the Norman Conquest, when it was moved to Chichester
Chichester Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, otherwise called Chichester Cathedral, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in Sussex, England...
by decree of the Council of London
Council of London (1075)
The Council of London in 1075 AD was a council of the Roman Catholic church in England held by the new Norman archbishop of Canterbury Lanfranc five years after his installation. Other attendees included Gisa and William the Norman...
of 1075.
Shortly after the arrival of St Wilfrid, the kingdom was ravaged and Æðelwealh slain by an exiled West Saxon prince 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...
. The latter was eventually expelled, by Æðelwealh's successors, two Ealdormen named Berhthun
Berhthun
Berhthun is an Anglo-Saxon name that can refer to:* Berthun of Sussex - a 7th century Sussex nobleman* Berhthun - an 8th century Bishop of Lichfield...
and Andhun. In 686 the South Saxons attacked Hlothhere, 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...
, in support of his nephew Eadric
Eadric of Kent
Eadric was a King of Kent . He was the son of Ecgberht I.Eadric was for a time co-ruler alongside his uncle Hlothhere, and a code of laws issued in both their names has survived. However, Eadric eventually revolted and defeated Hlothhere with the aid of the South Saxons...
, but soon afterwards Berhthun was killed and the kingdom subjugated for a time by Ceadwalla, who had now become king 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...
.
Of the later South Saxon kings we have little knowledge except from occasional charters
Anglo-Saxon Charters
Anglo-Saxon charters are documents from the early medieval period in Britain which typically make a grant of land or record a privilege. The earliest surviving charters were drawn up in the 670s; the oldest surviving charters granted land to the Church, but from the eighth century surviving...
.
In 692 a grant is made by a king called Noðhelm
Nothelm of Sussex
Noðhelm, or Nunna for short, was King of Sussex, apparently reigning jointly with Watt, Osric, and Æðelstan.-Life:Kelly noted the names of rulers in Sussex starting with Aethel- and Os- and suggested they might have been relatives. She also referred to the King list of Hwicce in this respect and...
(or Nunna) to his sister, which is witnessed by another king called Watt
Watt of Sussex
Watt was a South Saxon whose existence is attested by three charters that he witnessed, in the reign of Noðhelm, as Wattus Rex. He probably would have ruled between about AD 692 and 725 and there is some suggestion that he may have been King of the Hæstingas.-Charter evidence:He witnessed a charter...
.
Nunna is described in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as the kinsman of Ine of Wessex
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...
who fought with him against Geraint
Geraint of Dumnonia
Geraint was a King of Dumnonia who ruled in the early 8th century. During his reign, it is believed that Dumnonia came repeatedly into conflict with neighbouring Anglo-Saxon Wessex. Geraint was the last recorded king of a unified Dumnonia, and was called King of the Welsh by the Anglo-Saxon...
, King of the Britons, in 710. According to Bede, Sussex was subject to Ine for a number of years.
8th century
According to a charter dated 775, the former abbot of SelseySelsey Abbey
Selsey Abbey was almost certainly built at Church Norton, Selsey, Sussex, England. It was founded in 683AD, and became the seat of the Sussex bishopric, until it was moved in 1075AD to Chichester.-Historical Context :...
, Bishop Eadberht
Eadberht of Selsey
Eadberht of Selsey was an abbot of Selsey Abbey, later promoted to become the first Bishop of Selsey, though neither the date of his consecration nor of his death are known. He was consecrated sometime between 709 and 716, and died between 716 and 731...
of Selsey (c.705 x?709) - (716 x?), was given a grant of land by King Nunna; the document included King Watt
Watt of Sussex
Watt was a South Saxon whose existence is attested by three charters that he witnessed, in the reign of Noðhelm, as Wattus Rex. He probably would have ruled between about AD 692 and 725 and there is some suggestion that he may have been King of the Hæstingas.-Charter evidence:He witnessed a charter...
as a witness. However, the charter is now believed to have been a 10th or early 11th century forgery.
There is another charter, that is thought to be genuine, that records a series of transactions of a piece of land near modern day Burpham
Burpham
Burpham is a village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. The village is on an arm of the River Arun slightly less than northeast of Arundel.The civil parish has an area of...
in the Arun Valley
River Arun
The Arun is a river in the English county of West Sussex. Its source is a series of small streams in the St Leonard's Forest area, to the east of Horsham...
.
It starts off with a grant of land, at Peppering, by Nunna to Berhfrith probably for the foundation of a minster.
Berhfrith transferred the land to Eolla, who in turn sold it to Wulfhere. The land then went to Beoba who passed it on to Beorra and Ecca. Finally King Osmund bought the land from his comes
Comes
Comes , plural comites , is the Latin word for companion, either individually or as a member of a collective known as comitatus, especially the suite of a magnate, in some cases large and/or formal enough to have a specific name, such as a cohors amicorum. The word comes derives from com- "with" +...
Erra and granted it to a religious woman known as Tidburgh.
The charter is undated but it has been possible to date the various transactions approximately, by cross referencing people who appear both on this charter and on other charters that do provide dates.
On the transaction, where Eolla has acquired the land from Berhfrith and sells it to Wulfhere [c. AD 705 x(716x?)], Nunna's subscription is followed by a certain Osric
Osric of Sussex
Osric was possibly a King of Sussex, reigning jointly with Noðhelm.There is an undated charter of Noðhelm that is witnessed by Osric, as Osricus, without indication of rank or territory, but listed before, and therefore ranked higher than, Eadberht, Bishop of Selsey, whose rank and see are also...
who was possibly Nunna's co-ruler. The other witnesses who followed Osric were Eadberht and Eolla, both who can be identified as ecclesiastics.
Nunna's last surviving charter, which is dated 714 in error for 717, is witnessed by a King Æðelstan
Aethelstan of Sussex
Æðelstan was a King, presumably of Sussex, reigning jointly with Noðhelm.He witnessed Noðhelm’s last surviving charter, which is dated 714 in error for 717, as Athelstan rex. There is no indication of his kingdom. The same charter was also witnessed by Queen Æðelðryð, as Edeldrið regina,...
.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that "In 722 Ealdberht fled into Surrey and Sussex, and Ine fought against the South Saxons".
A little later, Æðelberht
Aethelbert of Sussex
Aethelbert, or, more correctly, Æðelberht, was King of Sussex, but is known only from charters. The dates of Æðelberht’s reign are unknown beyond the fact that it overlapped at least in part with the bishopship of Sigeferth of Selsey, as Sigeferth witnessed an undated charter of Æðelberht in which...
was King of Sussex, but he is known only from charters. The dates of Æðelberht's reign are unknown beyond the fact that he was a contemporary of Sigeferth
Sigeferth of Selsey
Sigeferth or Sigefirth or Sicgga, was the third Bishop of Selsey, consecrated in 733 by Tatwine, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Sigeferth was still bishop in 747, when he attended the Synod of Clofesho. His date of death was sometime between 747 and 765.-External links:*...
, Bishop of Selsey from 733, as Sigeferth witnessed an undated charter of Æðelberht in which Æðelberht is styled Ethelbertus rex Sussaxonum.
After this we hear nothing more until about 765, when a grant of land is made by a king named Ealdwulf
Ealdwulf of Sussex
Ealdwulf was a King of Sussex, but is known only from his charters. He reigned jointly with Ælfwald and Oslac.Ealdwulf issued an undated charter, believed to be from about 765, as Alduulf rex ....
, with two other kings, Ælfwald
Aelfwald of Sussex
Ælfwald was a King of Sussex, who reigned jointly with Ealdwulf and Oslac, and probably also with Oswald and Osmund.Ælfwald witnessed an undated charter of Ealdwulf, believed to be from about 765, with his name corruptly recorded as Ælhuuald rex....
and Oslac
Oslac of Sussex
Oslac was a King of Sussex. He reigned jointly with Ealdwulf and Ælfwald, and probably also Oswald and Osmund.Oslac witnessed an undated charter of Ealdwulf, believed to be from about 765, with his name corruptly recorded in the surviving revision as Osiai rex .After the conquest of Sussex by Offa,...
, as witnesses.
In 765 and 770 grants are made by a King Osmund
Osmund of Sussex
Osmund was a King of Sussex, apparently reigning jointly with Oswald, Ælfwald, and Oslac.According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, version D, Osmund was reigning in Sussex when Archbishop Cuðberht died in 760, so his rule commenced before that event.He issued a charter, dated 762 in error for 765,...
, the later of which was later confirmed by Offa of Mercia
Offa of Mercia
Offa was the King of Mercia from 757 until his death in July 796. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of Æthelbald after defeating the other claimant Beornred. In the early years of Offa's reign it is likely...
.
Offa also confirmed two charters of Æðelberht
Aethelbert of Sussex
Aethelbert, or, more correctly, Æðelberht, was King of Sussex, but is known only from charters. The dates of Æðelberht’s reign are unknown beyond the fact that it overlapped at least in part with the bishopship of Sigeferth of Selsey, as Sigeferth witnessed an undated charter of Æðelberht in which...
, and in 772 he grants land himself in Sussex, with Oswald
Oswald of Sussex
Oswald was an Ealdorman of Sussex, jointly with three former kings: Osmund, Ælfwald, and Oslac.He witnessed a charter of Offa, King of Mercia, dated 772 as Osuualdus dux Suðsax . He was listed ahead of the three former kings Osmund, Ælfwald, and Oslac, which implies that his rank was higher. It is...
, dux Suðsax, as a witness. It is probable that about this time Offa annexed the kingdom of Sussex, as several persons, Osmund
Osmund of Sussex
Osmund was a King of Sussex, apparently reigning jointly with Oswald, Ælfwald, and Oslac.According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, version D, Osmund was reigning in Sussex when Archbishop Cuðberht died in 760, so his rule commenced before that event.He issued a charter, dated 762 in error for 765,...
, Ælfwald
Aelfwald of Sussex
Ælfwald was a King of Sussex, who reigned jointly with Ealdwulf and Oslac, and probably also with Oswald and Osmund.Ælfwald witnessed an undated charter of Ealdwulf, believed to be from about 765, with his name corruptly recorded as Ælhuuald rex....
and Oslac
Oslac of Sussex
Oslac was a King of Sussex. He reigned jointly with Ealdwulf and Ælfwald, and probably also Oswald and Osmund.Oslac witnessed an undated charter of Ealdwulf, believed to be from about 765, with his name corruptly recorded in the surviving revision as Osiai rex .After the conquest of Sussex by Offa,...
, who had previously used the royal title, now sign with that of dux.
Mercian power collapsed in the years following Offa's death in 796, and the South Saxons re-emerged as an independent political entity. This status was to be short-lived because the power of Wessex was rising and Sussex was to become the first kingdom of the old heptarchy
Heptarchy
The Heptarchy is a collective name applied to the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of south, east, and central Great Britain during late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, conventionally identified as seven: Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Sussex and Wessex...
to be annexed in a process that brought about the gradual unification of the Ænglecynne and the foundation of a united England.
9th century
In 825 the South Saxons submitted to Ecgberht of WessexEgbert of Wessex
Egbert was King of Wessex from 802 until his death in 839. His father was Ealhmund of Kent...
, and from this time they remained subject to the West Saxon dynasty. The earldom of Sussex seems later to have been sometimes combined with that of Kent.
From 895 Sussex suffered from constant raids by the Danes, till the accession of Canute, after which arose the two great forces of the house of Godwine
Godwin, Earl of Wessex
Godwin of Wessex , was one of the most powerful lords in England under the Danish king Cnut the Great and his successors. Cnut made him the first Earl of Wessex...
and of the Normans
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
. Godwine was probably a native of Sussex, and by the end of Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
's reign a third part of the county was in the hands of his family.
900–1066
It is thought that the Æellingi (the South Saxon royal house) continued to govern Sussex as eorldermen (earls) under West Saxon sovereignty until the Norman Conquest in 1066.The death of Eadwine
Eadwine of Sussex
Eadwine was a king of Sussex. His death was recorded in 982 and he was buried Abingdon Abbey in Berkshire, where one version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was compiled. According to the abbey’s records, in which he was called princeps Australium Saxonum, Eadwinus nomine, he bequeathed estates to...
, Ealdorman of Sussex, is recorded in 982, because he was buried at Abingdon Abbey
Abingdon Abbey
Abingdon Abbey was a Benedictine monastery also known as St Mary's Abbey located in Abingdon, historically in the county of Berkshire but now in Oxfordshire, England.-History:...
in Berkshire, where one version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was compiled. According to the abbey's records, in which he was called princeps Australium Saxonum, Eadwinus nomine (Eadwine leader of the South Saxons), he bequeathed estates to them in his will, although the document itself has not survived. Earlier in the same year he witnessed a charter of King Ethelred the Unready
Ethelred the Unready
Æthelred the Unready, or Æthelred II , was king of England . He was son of King Edgar and Queen Ælfthryth. Æthelred was only about 10 when his half-brother Edward was murdered...
as Eaduuine dux. His name was also added to a forged charter dated 956 (possibly an error for 976).
In the next generation, Wulfnoth Cild
Wulfnoth Cild
Wulfnoth Cild was a South Saxon thegn who is regarded by historians as the probable father of Godwin, Earl of Wessex, and thus the grandfather of King Harold Godwinson...
, Thegn of Sussex, played a prominent part in English politics. In 1009 his actions resulted in the destruction of the English fleet, and by 1011 Sussex, together with most of South East England, was in the hands of the Danes. In an early example of local government reform, the Anglo-Saxon ealdormanries were abolished by the Danish kings and replaced with a smaller number of larger earldoms. Wulfnoth Cild was the father of Godwin
Godwin, Earl of Wessex
Godwin of Wessex , was one of the most powerful lords in England under the Danish king Cnut the Great and his successors. Cnut made him the first Earl of Wessex...
, who was made Earl of Wessex in 1020. His earldom included Sussex. When he died in 1053, Godwin was succeeded as Earl of Wessex (including Sussex) by his son Harold
Harold Godwinson
Harold Godwinson was the last Anglo-Saxon King of England.It could be argued that Edgar the Atheling, who was proclaimed as king by the witan but never crowned, was really the last Anglo-Saxon king...
, who had previously been Earl of East Anglia.