Cdwalla

Imaginary Portrait of Cdwalla (XVI ^century)

Cdwalla (c. 659 - April 20, 689) was king of Wessex from 685 or 686 to 688 , the year of his abdication. During his youth in exile, he attacked the kingdom of Sussex , killing the king thelwalh , but he could not stay there and was driven by ealdormen of the deceased king. After his accession to the throne of Wessex, Sussex and regained Cdwalla also captured the Isle of Wight , ending a dynasty that reigned there. It also extended its dominance over the Surrey and the kingdom of Kent , placing his brother Mul as head of that kingdom in 686. Mul was burned the following year in a revolt, leading to the return of Cdwalla in Kent, where he reigned perhaps directly for some time.

Cdwalla was wounded during the conquest of the Isle of Wight, and perhaps for this reason he abdicated in 688 to go on pilgrimage to Rome and received baptism. He arrived in Rome in April 689, was baptized on the Sunday before Easter and died ten days later, on April 20 689. Ina succeeded him.

A major source for the history of Wessex is the Ecclesiastical History of the English People , written around 731 by the Venerable Bede , a monk and chronicler Northumbrian. Bishop Daniel of Winchester provides a wealth of information about Cdwalla to Bede, it was primarily interested in the Christianization of the West Saxons, but his account of the history of the church also contains items on Cdwalla . Another important source is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , a set of annals assembled in Wessex in the late ^ninth century, probably on the order of Alfred the Great. A list of kings is associated with the Chronicle: The West Saxon Genealogical regnal List .

The Wessex in the 680s

Britain in the late seventh ^century

In the late ^seventh century , the Saxons of the West occupied a region of south-west England border difficult to define . It was bordered on the west by the kingdom Breton of Domnone (current Devon and Cornwall ) and north by the Mercians , whose king Wulfhere had dominated the south of England. His brother and successor Ethelred was less active than him on the border of Wessex, but the West Saxons were unable to regain all the territories conquered by Wulfhere . Southeast of Wessex was the kingdom of the South Saxons , in what is now Sussex, and lived to the east of the East Saxons , who controlled London .

It is impossible to identify all the places mentioned in the Chronicle, but it seems that the South Saxons have fought in North Somerset , in south Gloucestershire and north of Wiltshire , both against the Britons and Mercian. The extent of the influence of Wessex to the west and south is visible by the fact that Cenwalh , who reigned from 642 to 673, was the first patron of the Saxon Abbey Sherborne, Dorset, in the same way Centwine (676-685) was the first protector Saxon Glastonbury , Somerset. It is obvious that these monasteries were located in territory of Wessex on those dates. In Devon, Exeter was passed to the West Saxons in 680, as Boniface received her education at the same time .

Ancestry

According to Bede, Cdwalla was a "daring young man from the royal house of Gewissae" and he died at the age of thirty years, which would place his birth about 659 Bede uses the name of tribe Gewissae as a synonym for the West Saxons "genealogies of Wessex Gewis back to some, perhaps a legendary . According to the Chronicle, was the son of Cdwalla Cenberht , and descended by Ceawlin of Cerdic , the first of Gewissae to land in England ^, . However, many difficulties and contradictions of the list of kings seem partly caused by the attempts of subsequent chroniclers relate every king Cerdic of the list: the genealogy of Cdwalla must therefore be considered with caution . His name is an anglicized form of the Breton name Cadwallon , implying perhaps that it was Breton ancestry .

First campaign in Sussex

The first mention of Cdwalla is in the Life of St. Wilfrid, where he is described as a noble exile in the forests of Chiltern and Andred . It was not uncommon in the seventh ^century, as kings have known exile before ascending the throne, as the example of Oswald of Northumbria . According to the Chronicle, is that in 685 Cdwalla "began to claim the kingdom" . Despite his exile, he managed to gather enough force to defeat and kill King thelwalh Sussex. However, it was quickly removed by Berthun and Andhun , the ealdormen of thelwalh, "who governed the country since, perhaps as kings .

Wulfhere had placed the Isle of Wight and the valley of the Meon , in the east of the current Hampshire , under the control of thelwalh . The Chronicle of the event date 661, but according to Bede, it took place "shortly before" the mission of Wilfrid to the South Saxons in the 680s, which implies a date a little later. Similarly, on the offensive Wulfhere Ashdown , the Chronicle also dates from 661, could take place later. If these events took place in the early 680 or shortly before, it could explain the attack Cdwalla cons thelwalh as a reaction to pressure Mercian .

Another possible indication of the political and military division in the years 660, the seat of the West Saxons, in Dorchester : a new headquarters was established in Winchester , close to the border with Sussex. Bede explains this division by the weariness of Cenwalh to hear him speak Frankish Bishop of Dorchester , but it is more likely that it was a reaction to the advance Mercian, which forced the expansion of Wessex (as illustrated by the activities of military Cdwalla) to head west, south or east instead of north .

It is possible that the military successes Cdwalla be the source of the replacement, in contemporary sources, the term Gewisse by "the West Saxons, this time marking the beginning of the domination of the West Saxons on other Anglo-Saxon peoples .

Accession and reign

In 685 or 686, Cdwalla became king of the West Saxons after his predecessor Centwine had retired to a monastery . For Bede, Cdwalla reigned two years until 688, but if his reign lasted less than three years, it is possible that he became king in 685. The West Saxon Genealogical regnal List gives him a reign of three years, with an alternative reading of two years .

According to Bede, before the reign of Cdwalla, Wessex was ruled by sub-kings, who were conquered and became king deposited when Cdwalla . We interpreted this passage as saying Cdwalla himself ended the reign of these sub-kings, although Bede does not say so explicitly. For him, the death of Cenwalh marks the beginning of the decade during which the West Saxons were ruled by these sub-king. It is estimated today that Cenwalh died about 673, which does not correspond perfectly with the dates of Cdwalla. It is possible that his predecessor Centwine has started his reign as king spouse, before becoming a full-time king ascended the throne Cdwalla ^, . It is also possible that the sub-kings come from another branch of the royal line of Wessex, struggling and cons Centwine Cdwalla for power and their description as "sub-kings" is might be due to a skewed view of the situation by Bishop Daniel of Winchester, the main source of Bede for the things of Wessex . It is still possible that all sub-kings have been deposited. Two donations of land, dated at 681 and 688, refer to a king Bealdred Somerset and West Wiltshire, but some historians believe that both documents are false ^, . Another charter, estimated authentic, further complicates things: it shows the father of Ina, Cenred, still reigning in Wessex after the advent of Ina .

Once on the throne, Cdwalla again attacked the South Saxons, killing Berthun, and "the province was reduced to a terrible state of subjection" . He also conquered the Isle of Wight , which was still an independent kingdom pagan, and began to exterminate its people to repopulate with its own subjects. Arwald , King of the Isle of Wight, left two younger brothers as heirs. They fled the island, but were discovered in Stoneham, Hampshire, and killed on the orders of Cdwalla, although a priest had succeeded in convincing him to be baptized before their execution. Bede also says that Bede was wounded, he was recovering from this injury when the priest came and asked permission to name the princes .

In a charter of 688, Cdwalla grants of land to a minister in Farnham : So he controlled Surrey on that date. He also invaded Kent in 686 and founded a monastery may be at Hoo, north-east of Rochester , between the Medway and Thames. He replaced the king of Kent Eadric by his own brother Mul. Following a revolt, Mul was "burned" with twelve other people, after the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Cdwalla retaliated by invading the country again, it devastated and reduced to chaos. It is possible that he ruled Kent directly after the second invasion .

Christianity

Cdwalla was not baptized at his coming, and it was not before the abdication, but it is often called a pagan, this is not necessarily an adequate description. It is possible that he deliberately delayed his baptism . Obviously he respected the church charters show multiple donations to churches and other religious buildings . When Cdwalla invaded for the first time Sussex, Wilfrid was in the court of thelwalh, and death of it, he attached himself to Cdwalla ; Life of St. Wilfrid says Cdwalla looking like Wilfrid spiritual father . Bede says that Cdwalla vowed to give a quarter of the Isle of Wight to the Church if he could conquer it, and the recipient was Wilfrid of this vow, and as noted above, also indicates that Bede Cdwalla agreed that Heirs Arwald be baptized before being executed . Cdwalla two charters are donations of lands to Wilfrid , and evidence suggests that Cdwalla also worked with Wilfred and Eorcenwald , a bishop of Essex, to establish ecclesiastical structure in Sussex . However, there is no evidence that Wilfrid had any influence on secular activities or campaigns Cdwalla .

The association of Wilfrid Cdwalla him with advantage may be another way: the Life of St Wilfrid says the Archbishop of Canterbury, Theodore Wilfred expressed the wish to succeed him on the seat. This, if true, reflects the relationship with Wilfrid Cdwalla dominance over southern England .

Abdication, baptism and death

Cdwalla abdicated in 688 to make a pilgrimage to Rome, perhaps because the injuries he received in the Isle of Wight were fatal . He had never been baptized, and Bede says he wanted "to get the special privilege to receive the cleansing of baptism in the chapel of the Holy Apostles." We know he did step in Francie Samer , near Calais , where he made a donation for the construction of a church, there are also traces of his passage to the court of Cunipert , king of the Lombards . In Rome, he was baptized by Pope Sergius ^I. Sunday before Easter (according to Bede), took the name of Peter, and died shortly after, "always in his raiment of white." He was buried in St. Peter's Basilica. Bede and the Anglo-Saxon agree to date the death of Cdwalla April 20, but the second indicates that he died seven days after his baptism when Easter fell on April 10 that year. The epitaph on his tomb described him as "King of the Saxons" ^, .

The departure of Cdwalla in 688 seems to have led to unrest in southern England. Ina 's successor Cdwalla, abdicated in 726, and the West Saxon Genealogical regnal List indicates he reigned thirty-seven years, placing the beginning of his reign in 689 and not 688. This perhaps implies a chaotic period between the abdication of Cdwalla and the advent of Ina. The same year, a new king, Oswine apparently client Mercia ascended the throne of Kent, who was also under the influence of the East Saxons in the years following the abdication of Cdwalla .

In 694, Ina got the people of Kent compensation 30 000 pence for the death of Mul, which amount represented the value of the life of a theling. Ina seems to have maintained its grip on Surrey, but he could not return to Kent . No king of Wessex did venture as far east before Egbert , more than a century later .

See also

References

Sources

• (In) This article is partially or entirely from the article in English entitled " Cdwalla of Wessex (see the list of authors )

• (En) Bede (trans. Leo Sherley-Price, rev. RE Latham, ed. DH Farmer), Ecclesiastical History of the People Franais , Penguin, London, 1991 ( ISBN 0-14-044565-X )
• (In) Michael Swanton, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , Routledge, New York, 1996 ( ISBN 0-415-92129-5 )
• (In) James Campbell, Eric John, Patrick Wormald, The Anglo-Saxons, Penguin Books, London, 1991 ( ISBN 0-14-014395-5 )
• (In) Peter Hunter Blair, Roman Britain and Early England: 55 BC - AD 871, WW Norton & Company, New York, 1966 ( ISBN 0-393-00361-2 )
• (En) DP Kirby, The Earliest Kings Franais, Routledge, London, 1992 ( ISBN 0-415-09086-5 )
• (In) Michael Lapidge, The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, 1999 ( ISBN 0-631-22492-0 )
• (In) Frank M. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England: Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1971 ( ISBN 0-19-821716-1 )
• (In) Barbara Yorke, Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England, Seaby, London, 1990 ( ISBN 1-85264-027-8 )

Rulers of Wessex
Sixth century	Cerdic Cynric Ceawlin Ceol Ceolwulf
VII century	Cynegils Cwichelm Cenwalh Penda of Mercia Cenwalh (restored) Seaxburh Cenfus scwine Centwine Cdwalla Ina
Eighth century	thelheard Cuthred Sigeberht Cynewulf Beorhtric
IX century	Egbert thelwulf thelbald thelberht thelred Alfred the Great Edward the Elder lfweard
Individuals in italics were perhaps not kings.

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