Cissa of Sussex

Cissa
King of Sussex

Artists impression of three Saxon ships
Reign 514–567
Predecessor Ælle
Successor Æðelwealh
Offspring Unknown
Not to be confused with Cissa (West Saxon).

Cissa is the name of a (possibly) mythical King of Sussex, and Chichester whose placename is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (ASC) of 895AD, is supposedly named after him.[1][2]

Contents

Historical attestation

In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Cissa is listed as one of the three sons of Ælle, who in the year 477 arrived in Britain, at a place called Cymenshore (traditionally thought to have been in the Selsey area of Sussex.[3]), in three ships with his three sons, and fought three battles.[4] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle were a series of documents that charted Anglo-Saxon history from the mid-fifth century till 1066 although one version extends till 1154.[5] The Chronicle was commissioned during the reign of Alfred the Great over 400 years after Cissa, and their accuracy particularly for the early dates are regarded as questionable.[5][6][7] There has been no archaeological evidence to support the existence of Ælle and his three son's in the Chichester or Selsey area.[8] The absence of early Anglo-Saxon burial grounds in the Chichester area suggests that they did not arrive there until more than a hundred years after Ælle’s time;[8][9] Some have suggested that Chichester had an independent region of Britons (known as Sub-Roman ) in the late fifth century, however there is also no archaeology or placename evidence to support that hypothesis either.[10][11][12][13][14]

The earliest Anglo-Saxon object in the area is a brooch found in the Roman cemetery, in the St. Pancras area of Chichester, that dates to the time of Ælle’s grandchildren.[15] Its isolation suggests a Saxon woman who lived and died in a British community rather than a Saxon settlement.[16] None of this excludes the possibility of Saxon overlords. Some historians have suggested that it is very likely that large numbers of the Romano-British population welcomed the new Germanic culture as a release from an outmoded Roman world.[17]

The reign of Cissa is not mentioned by any source earlier than Henry of Huntingdon, who wrote between 1130 to 1154, and clearly used his imagination to fill out gaps in the historical record.[18] One of Henry's main sources was the Venerable Bede and the 13th century chronicler, Roger of Wendovers main source was Henry, although it is probable that he had access to information from manuscripts and oral sources now lost in history.[16][19][20] Both Henry of Huntingdon and Roger of Wendover provide extended versions of the three ASC entries relating to Ælle.[20][21][22] It is assumed by both authors that Ælle was succeeded by his 'son' Cissa as is the alleged date of this 'succession'.[18][23][24] Roger of Wendover even went so far as to provide a death date for Cissa, that had previously been absent.[24] The date he gave was 590, which, given that Cissa is supposed to have arrived in Britain in 477 (means that he must have been 123 when he died.). An emendation from 'died in 590, to 'died aged 90' would resolve this inconsistency. As Kirby & Williams observed "It seems very unlikely that these annals in later medieval chronicles will provide a certain basis for historical reconstruction".[25]

Evidence from place names

Chichester is not called Elchester from Ælle, but bears the name of one of his three ‘sons’, it may have been named after Cissa just as Lancing has been thought to derive from Wlencing.[8] "All three of Ælle's 'sons' have names which conveniently link to ancient or surviving place-names".[23] "Conceivably the names of Ælle's sons were derived from the place-names as the legends of the origins of the South Saxons evolved; or perhaps the legends themselves gave rise to the place-names".[2][3] Another place name potentially associated with Cissa (pronounced 'Chissa') is the Iron Age hill fort Cissbury Ring, near Cissbury, which William Camden said "plainly bespeaks it the work of king Cissa".[26] Yet its real date precludes any such connexion, and furthermore there is a record from 1663 in which it was called "Cesars Bury".[27] It seems that ties between Cissbury and Cesars Bury and Cissa are nothing more than back-formations: Cissbury has been identified with a Saxon mint, “the implied Sith(m)esteburh of Saxon coinage, ‘the last built burh’." Indeed, "[e]very association of the original name with Cissa son of Ælle is fanciful.”[28]

Notes

  1. ^ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 894. (In the Parker MS the annal number has been change to 895 in another hand). Referring to a Danish raiding party that on its way homeward: "hamweard wende þe Exanceaster beseten hæfde, þa hergodon hie up on Suðseaxum neah Cisseceastre"-" homeward that had beset Exeter, they went up plundering in Sussex nigh Chichester".
  2. ^ a b EPNS.'Cissa's Roman town'. Chichester was Noviomagus Reg(i)norum, capital of Civitas Reg(i)norum. According to the ASC, in 477, Cisse, son of Aelle, led an invasion of Sussex. There seems to be some confusion over whether personal name was derived from the place-name or vice-versa.
  3. ^ a b "S. E. Kelly, Charters of the Selsey, Anglo-Saxon Charters Volume VI. p. 12
  4. ^ Jones.The End of Roman Britain. p.71. - ..the repetitious entries for invading ships in the Chronicle (three ships of Hengest and Horsa; three ships of Aella; five ships of Cerdic and Cynric; two ships of Port; three ships of Stuf and Wihtgar), drawn from preliterate traditions including bogus eponyms and duplications, might be considered a poetic convention.
  5. ^ a b Alfred the Great. Asser.(2004) pp.275 - 281. - Discussion of sources, authors, dates and accuracy
  6. ^ Dark Age Dates. Morris.p.153 - Morris compares a list of known dates with Gildas and Bede's record, he explains that Gildas date was about 20 years later than the actual date on a lot of the events. Bede took the Gildas date for his reference.
  7. ^ Garmonsway. (1953). Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
  8. ^ a b c Welch.(1978) Early Anglo-Saxons - discussion of the Anglo-Saxons in 5th century Sussex.
  9. ^ D J Freke. (1980) Excavations in the Parish Church of St Thomas the Martyr, Pagham, SAC 118 pp245-56 - A late 6th c. early 7th c. cremation urn was found near the church in Pagham Harbour
  10. ^ Down. Archaeology in Sussex to AD1500. p.56 - The absence of any early Saxon cemeteries or artefacts in or near Chichester, as far as present knowledge goes, is another piece of negative evidence which may lead in the end to the conclusion that, for whatever reason, a sub-Roman enclave existed in and around the old civitas, possibly as late as the early 7th century.
  11. ^ Bell.(1978) p.64. - This has led some writers to suggest that an area centred on Chichester remained in sub-Roman hands, throughout the 5th century and perhaps longer. Equally, however, there is no archaeological evidence from Chichester or its surroundings of a sub-Roman population.
  12. ^ Place-Names in Sussex. pp54 - 88.No placenames of Romano-British origin in the Chichester area.
  13. ^ Landscape of Place-Names p.236. Chithurst is possibly a hybrid of the British Chit and OE hyrst
  14. ^ Slaughter.(2009) in his Rulers of the South Saxons before 825, raises the point of negative evidence in terms of any possible sub-Roman presence and is aware of a dearth of fifth century archaeology in and around Chichester, although he claims that Birdham, earlier Bridenham, might derive from Britwend + ham. during this period.
  15. ^ Welch(1978).Early Anglo-Saxons (1978). p.27 description of brooch and picture on p.151 (Plate 1.1)
  16. ^ a b Morris. (1973.)The Age of Arthur p.94 - Morris cross references British sources and Anglo-Saxon Archaeology as well as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to produce his conclusions.
  17. ^ Guy Halsall. The Barbarian Invasion in Fouracre. The New Cambridge Medieval History. p. 35
  18. ^ a b Greenway. Sources section p.lxxxvi. Henry was one of the 'weaver' compilers of whom Bernard Guenee has written. Taking a phrase from here and a phrase from there, connecting with one there, he wove together a continuous narrative which, deriviative though it mostly is, is still very much his own creation,...
  19. ^ Greenway. Sources.Historia Anglorum: II:Writings: Analysis of sources that survive and sources that are now lost.
  20. ^ a b Greenway. Lost Sources p.ciii. Greenway suggests that Roger of Wendover took his account from Henry (of Huntingdon) and Matthew Paris took his from Roger (of Wendover). The evidence for this is that that Roger sometimes used Henry's words verbatim and sometimes paraphrased them.
  21. ^ Greenway. Henry of Huntingdon. p.91 - And so Duke Ælle with his sons and a fleet that was well equipped with fighting men, landed in Britain at Cymenes ore, When the Saxons disembarked, however, the Britons raised the alarm and a great number rushed from the surrounding districts and immediately gave battle. But the Saxons, who were much taller and stronger, received their disorganized attacks with disdain. For coming in small groups at intervals, they were slaughtered by the Saxons' cohesive force, and as each wave returned in shock, they heard the unexpectedly bad news. So the Britons were driven to the nearest forest, which is called Andresleigh.
  22. ^ Wendover. Flowers of History,p.19.-..In the same year Duke Ælle, the chief, and his three sons , Cymen, Plenting, and Cissa landed in Britain at a place that was after called from Cymen, Cymenshore, which means Cymen's Port. On their landing, then Britains assembled in great numbers and attacked them, but were driven from the field, and obliged to shelter in a neighbouring wood , called Andreswode.
  23. ^ a b Welch.(1983). Early Anglo-Saxon Sussex
  24. ^ a b Greenway. p.97. Footnote57.No genealogy of the South Saxon royal house survives and none seem to have been available to Henry. The death of Aella and the succession of Cissa are probably deduced from ASC 477 and 491..
  25. ^ Kirkby-Williams (1976).Review of The Age of Arthur. pp.454–486
  26. ^ Camden. Britannia. p.312 - But Cisburie the name of the place doth plainely shew and testifie that it was the worke of Cissa: who beeing of the Saxons line the second king of this pety kingdom, after his father Ælle , accompanied with his brother Cimen and no small power of the Saxons, at this shore arrived and landed at Cimenshore, a place so called of the said Cimen, which now hath lost the name; but that it was neere unto Wittering..
  27. ^ Hudson. (1982).The place-name '‘Cissbury. p.231
  28. ^ Coates.(1980). Studies and Observations on Sussex Place-Names. pp.309–329

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