Aescwine of Wessex

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Æscwine (died circa 676) was a King of Wessex, but probably not the only king in Wessex at the time.

Bede writes that after the death of King Cenwalh: "his under-rulers took upon them the kingdom of the people, and dividing it among themselves, held it ten years".^[1] West Saxon tradition has Cenwalh succeeded as ruler for one year by his wife Seaxburh, after which Æscwine appears. Another source claims that Æscwine's father, Cenfus, ruled for two years after Seaxburh.^[2]

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle places Æscwine's reign as beginning circa 674. The entry supplies a genealogy, making him a fifth-generation descendant of Cynric. Bede's dismissal of Æscwine as a mere sub-king may represent the views of the supporters of the King Ine, whose family ruled Wessex in Bede's time.^[3]

In 675, Æscwine defeated an invasion of Wessex led by the Mercian King Wulfhere at Biedanheafde, a location which has not been certainly identified.

Æscwine was succeeded by Centwine.

[edit] Notes

^ Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Book IV, chapter 12.
^ Kirby, D.P., The Earliest English Kings, p.52. Cenfus is not listed in modern king lists, e.g. Yorke, Barbara, Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 133–134.
^ Kirby, pp. 52–53.