Æscwine of Wessex

Æscwine
Æscwine
King of Wessex
Reign	674–676
Predecessor	Seaxburh
Successor	Centwine
Died	After 676
House	Wessex
Father	Cenfus

Æscwine was a King of Wessex from about 674 to 676, but was probably not the only king in Wessex at the time.

Bede writes that after the death of King Cenwalh in 672: "his under-rulers took upon them the kingdom of the people, and dividing it among themselves, held it ten years".^[1] According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Cenwalh was succeeded as ruler for about one year by his wife Seaxburh.^[2] Æscwine reigned from about 674 to 676.^[3] Another source claims that Æscwine's father, Cenfus (Old English: Cēnfūs), ruled for two years after Seaxburh.^[4]^[5]

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 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 of Wessex, whose family ruled Wessex in Bede's time,^[6] as Ine's family were bona fide descendants of Cynric through Ceawlin's son Cuthwine.

In 675, Æscwine defeated an invasion of Wessex led by the Mercian King Wulfhere at Biedanheafde,^[4] a location which has not been certainly identified.

Æscwine was succeeded by Centwine of Wessex.

References

^ Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Book IV, chapter 12.
^ Yorke, Barbara (23 September 2004). "Cenwalh (d. 672), king of the Gewisse". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/4996. Retrieved 13 May 2023. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.) (Subscription or UK public library membership required)
^ "Rulers of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (5th cent.–924)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 26 May 2005. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/93213. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 13 May 2023. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
^ ^a ^b Kirby 1992, 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 1992, pp. 52–53.

External links and bibliography

Kirby, D. P (1992). The Earliest English Kings (Reprint ed.). London: Routledge. ISBN 9780415090865.
Æscwine 2 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England

[1] Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Book IV, chapter 12.

[2] Yorke, Barbara (23 September 2004). "Cenwalh (d. 672), king of the Gewisse". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/4996. Retrieved 13 May 2023. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.) (Subscription or UK public library membership required)

[3] "Rulers of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (5th cent.–924)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 26 May 2005. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/93213. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 13 May 2023. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)

[FOOTNOTEKirby199252-4] Kirby 1992, p. 52.

[5] Cenfus is not listed in modern king lists, e.g. Yorke, Barbara, Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 133–134.

[FOOTNOTEKirby199252–53-6] Kirby 1992, pp. 52–53.

[7] Rulers with names in italics are considered fictional

[8] Mackenzie, E; Ross, M (1834). An Historical, Topographical, and Descriptive View of the County Palatine of Durham. Vol. I. Newcastle upon Tyne: Mackenzie and Dent. p. xi. Retrieved 28 February 2012.

[9] Downham, Clare (2007), Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: The Dynasty of Ívarr to A.D. 1014, Edinburgh: Dunedin, ISBN 978-1-903765-89-0, OCLC 163618313

[10] Woolf, Alex (2007), From Pictland to Alba, 789–1070, The New Edinburgh History of Scotland, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 978-0-7486-1234-5, OCLC 123113911

[11] Zaluckyj, Sarah & Feryok, Marge. Mercia: The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Central England (2001) ISBN 1-873827-62-8

[12] Barbara Yorke (1995), Wessex in the early Middle Ages, A & C Black, ISBN 071851856X; pp 79-83; table p. 81

[13] Kelly, S. E. (2004). "Kings of the South Saxons (act. 477–772)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/52344. Retrieved 3 February 2017. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)

[14] Keynes, Simon (2014). "Appendix I: Rulers of the English, c.450–1066". In Lapidge, Michael (ed.). The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-65632-7.

[15] Kirby, D. P. The Earliest English Kings. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-4152-4211-0.

[16] Lapidge, M.; et al., eds. (1999). "Kings of the East Angles". The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. London: Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-6312-2492-1.

[17] Searle, W. G. 1899. Anglo-Saxon Bishops, Kings and Nobles.

[18] Yorke, B. 1990. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England.

[19] Carpenter, Clive. Kings, Rulers and Statesmen. Guinness Superlatives, Ltd.

[20] Ross, Martha. Rulers and Governments of the World, Vol. 1. Earliest Times to 1491.

[21] Ashley, Michael (1998). British Monarchs: the Complete Genealogy, Gazetteer, and Biographical Encyclopedia of the Kings & Queens of Britain. London: Robinson. ISBN 978-1-8548-7504-4.

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