List of monarchs of Wessex

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This is a list of monarchs of Wessex until 924. For later monarchs, see the List of monarchs in the British Isles. While the details of the later monarchs are confirmed by a number of sources, the earlier ones are in many cases obscure.

The names are given in modern English form followed by the names and titles (as far as is known) in contemporary Anglo-Saxon English and Latin, being the prevalent 'official' languages of the time.

This was a time when spellings varied widely, even within a document. A number of variations of the details below exist. Amongst these are the preference between þ [thorn] and ð [eth/thet] (modern 'th'). They were used indiscriminately for voiced and unvoiced sounds, unlike in modern Icelandic. Thorn tended to be more used in the south [Wessex] and thet in the North [Mercia and Northumbria i.e. in Engel-lond]. "Th" was preferred in the earliest period in Northern texts.

The character '7' was used as the ampersand '&' in contemporary Anglo-Saxon writings. The era pre-dates the emergence of forms of writing accepted today, notably minuscule, and the letters 'W' and 'U'. Where W was followed by U this was generally rendered as 'V V' (which was also used for 'W' alone). A letter based on the rune "wynn" was normally used for 'w'. Again, in the earliest period, the Angles/Engle preferred "v v", whilst the West Saxons preferred the letter derived from a rune.( compare "thorn" and "eth" [ this is a modern name. The early name was "thet" it was probably derived from the Greek letter "theta" ])

Except in manuscripts, runic letters were an Anglian phenomenon. [The early Engle restricted the use runes to monuments, whereas the Saxons adopted wynn and thorn for sounds which did not have a Latin equivalent. Otherwise thay were not used in Wessex].

[edit] Monarchs of the West Saxons (Wessex)

Reign	Incumbent		Notes
The Kingdom of the Gewissae
Cerdic Dynasty
519 to 534	Cerdic	CERDIC ELESING GEVVISSÆ CYNING CERDIC REX GEVVISSÆ
534 to 560	Cynric	CYNRIC CERDICING GEVVISSÆ CYNING CYNRIC REX GEVVISSÆ
560 to 591	Ceawlin	CEAVVLIN CYNRICING GEVVISSÆ CYNING CEAVVLIN REX GEVVISSÆ
591 to 597	Ceol	CEOL CVÞING GEVVISSÆ CYNING CEOL REX GEVVISSÆ
597 to 611	Ceolwulf	CEOLVVLF CVÞING GEVVISSÆ CYNING CEOLVVLF REX GEVVISSÆ
611 to 643	Cynegils	CYNEGILS CEOLING GEVVISSÆ CYNING CYNEGILS REX GEVVISSÆ
c.626 to 636	Cwichelm	CVVICHELM CYNEGILSING GEVVISSÆ CYNING CVVICHELM REX GEVVISSÆ
643 to 645	Cenwalh	CENVVALH CYNEGILSING GEVVISSÆ CYNING CENVVALH REX GEVVISSÆ	Deposed
Mercian Dynasty
645 to 648	Penda	PENDA PYBBING MIERCNA 7 GEVVISSÆ CYNING PENDA REX MIERCNA ET GEVVISSÆ
The Kingdom of the West Saxons
fl. 571	Cuthwulf	CVÞVVULF VVESTSEAXNA CYNING CVÞVVULF REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM	invaded Midland Britain and conquered the Britons in 571 at the Battle of Bedford (see also Bedford Castle and Bedford), probably under King Cadrod of Calchfynedd. Probably an associate of Ceawlin.
Cerdic Dynasty
648 to 674	Cenwalh	CENVVALH CYNEGILSING VVESTSEAXNA CYNING CENVVALH REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM	Restored; reigned jointly with his wife Queen Seaxburh 672 to 674
672 to 674	Queen Seaxburh	SEAXBVRG VVESTSEAXNA CVEN SEAXBVRH REGINA SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM	Reigned jointly with her husband Cenwalh until his death 674
674 to 674	Cenfus	CENFVS CENFERÞING VVESTSEAXNA CYNING CENFVS REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM
674 to 676	Aescwine	ÆSCVVINE CENFVSING VVESTSEAXNA CYNING ÆSCVVINE REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM
676 to 685	Centwine	CENTVVINE CYNEGILSING VVESTSEAXNA CYNING CENTVVINE REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM	Deposed by Caedwalla
685 to 688	Caedwalla	CÆDVVALLA CENBRYHTING VVESTSEAXNA CYNING CÆDVVALLA REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM	Usurper; abdicated
688 to 726	Ine (Ina)	INE CENREDING VVESTSEAXNA CYNING INE REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM	Abdicated
726 to 740	Aethelheard	ÆÞELHEARD VVESTSEAXNA CYNING ÆÞELHEARD REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM
740 to 756	Cuthred	CVÞRED VVESTSEAXNA CYNING CVÞRED REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM
756 to 757	Sigeberht	SIGEBRYHT VVESTSEAXNA CYNING SIGEBRYHT REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM	Deposed (and killed?) by Cynewulf
757 to 786	Cynewulf	CYNEVVLF VVESTSEAXNA CYNING CYNEVVLF REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM	Assassinated by Cyneheard, brother of Sigeberht
786 to 802	Beorhtric	BEORHTRIC VVESTSEAXNA CYNING BEORHTRIC REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM
802 to 839	Egbert	ECGBRYHT EALHMVNDING VVESTSEAXNA CYNING ECGBRYHT REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM	Recognized as the First King of England
839 to 856	Ethelwulf	ÆÞELVVLF ECGBRYHTING VVESTSEAXNA CYNING ÆÞELVVLF REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM
856 to 860	Ethelbald	ÆÞELBALD ÆÞELVVLFING VVESTSEAXNA CYNING ÆÞELBALD REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM
860 to 865	Ethelbert	ÆÞELBRYHT ÆÞELVVLFING VVESTSEAXNA CYNING ÆÞELBRYHT REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM
865 to 871	Ethelred	ÆÞELRED ÆÞELVVLFING VVESTSEAXNA CYNING ÆÞELRED REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM
871 to 899	Ælfred the Great	ÆLFRED ÆÞELVVLFING ÐE GREAT VVESTSEAXNA CYNING ÆLFRED MAGNVS REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM	The only English monarch to be given the nickname "The Great"
899 to 925	Edward the Elder	EADVVEARD ÆLFREDING ÐE ELDRA WESTSEAXNA CYNING EADVVEARD REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM
925 to 927	Athelstan	ÆÞELSTAN EADVVEARDING WESTSEAXNA CYNNING ÆÞELSTAN REX SAXONVM OCCIDENTALIVM	Incorrectly Identified by some as the first King of England. (see Encyclopaedia Britannica)

The Heptarchy
East Anglia | Essex | Kent | Mercia | Northumbria | Sussex | Wessex