Dating the Wessex generations

Below is a table that dates the Wessex genealogies up to Alfred’s time.

Gen.	Reign	Obit	Gen. obit	Deviation
18	Alfred	899	889	10
17	Æthelwulf	858	862	-4
16	Egbert	839	836	3
12	Ine	728	729	-1
11	Cædwalla	688	702	-3
10	Centwine	685	676	-14
9	Cynegils	642	649	9
8	Ceolwulf	611	622	-11
7	Ceawlin	588	596	-8
6	Cynric	581	569	12
5	Creoda/Cerdic	554	542	12
4	Elesa/Esla		516
3	Giwis/Wig		489
2	Brond		462
1	Bældæg		436
0	Woden		409

The generations have been arrived at by using the following structure:

Yorke, B., 2003

Each generation has been dated using the obit of the individual ruler who died last in that particular generation. So, for example Alfred’s obit has been used rather than those of his brothers. With Saxon pedigrees, unlike Welsh ones where the crown generally passed down to the next generation, it was not unusual for it to go to a sibling. There are gaps in the generations, for example between Egbert of gen. 16 and Ine of gen. 12 as we do not have the obits of the intervening rulers. Note, the obits of Ceawlin, Cynric and Cerdic are not those indicated by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle but instead the values obtained by Dumville’s correction. The zero generation is that ascribed to Woden, unlike the tables for the British kings which uses Arthur’s generation. The two sets cannot be synchronised since they use differing step-sizes.

The analysis shows that for Wessex the generation step-size was 26.7 years. The deviation column shows how far the individuals obit differs from that ascribed to the generation to which he belongs. Most deviations should be less than half a step-size and indeed this is the case.

Cotton MS Tiberius B V 1 British Library

As Sisam noted Elesa/Esla and Giwis/Wig are alliterative pairs for the same individuals. To this list has been added another pair, namely Creoda/Cerdic. The generation obit values for Elesa to Woden are estimated values using the step-size given above. It will be noted that Esla was a contemporary of Arthur. This together with the similarity of names allows us to be fairly confident that he was Osla Gyllellfawr. Sisam points out that the name Esla is unknown in English.[1] This may indicate its British origin. He says Elesa is also unknown unless it is etymologically the same as Elsa in Widsith.[2]

The postulate that there were two Wessex dynasties resolves the paradox that although the ASC tells us Wessex originated from the South coast with Cerdic, the oldest Saxon sites are around the upper Thames valley and the founder was a Giwis.

[1] Stanley, E. G., 1990, 164.

[2] Sisam, K., 1953, 302.

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West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List

In the article The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Arthur’s death it was stated Dumville derived the same date for the start of Cerdic’s reign. The following table illustrates the derivation.

WSGRL	Reign	Start	ASC entries	Discrepancy
Cerdic	16	538	519	19
Cynric	27	554	534	20
Ceawlin	7	581	560	21
Ceol	6	588	591	-3
Ceolwulf	17	594	597	-3
Cynegils	31	611	611	0
Cenwalh	31	642	643	-1
Seaxburh	1	673	672	1
Æscwine	2	674	674	0
Centwine	9 (10)	676	676	0
Cædwalla	3 (2)	685	685	0
Ine	38	688	688	0
Æthelheard	14	726	728	-2
Cuthred	16	740	741	-1
Sigebert	1	756	754	2
Cynewulf	29	757	755	2
Beorhtric	16	786	784	2
Egbert	37	802	800	2
Æthelwulf	16 (19)	839	836	3
Æthelbald	5	855	855	0
Æthelbert	6	860	860	0
Æthelred	5	866	866	0
Alfred	28	871	871	0

It can be seen from the discrepancy column that the only significant differences arise in the dating of the start of the reigns of Cerdic, Cynric and Ceawlin providing evidence that these dates were shifted earlier by one Metonic cycle in order to hide a period of Saxon defeats.

Badbury Rings

Badbury is a strong candidate for the location of Arthur’s battle of Baddon. It is an Iron Age hillfort located at the intersection of Roman roads. The entries for Cerdic and Cynric in the AC suggest it would have been an area fought over by the emerging kingdom of Wessex. It is close to the Roman military base at Hod Hill which is next to the River Stour and used the port at Hengistbury Head.

An archaeological excavation took place at Badbury in 2004. Besides the expected material from the Iron Age, the finds included a late Roman bronze spiral ring on a chalk floor which had charcoal, all three samples of which were dated to the period 480 to 520.