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Name: Kingdom of Wessex

Type: Polity

Start: 520 AD

End: 927 AD

Nation: kingdom of wessex

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Kingdom of Wessex

This article is about the specific polity Kingdom of Wessex and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.

If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics

Was one of the an Anglo-Saxon kingdoms created after the Romans left Britain. Initially located in the south of England, it created the Kingdom of England in 927 after conquering the other small polities of the region and defeating the Danes.

Summary

The Kingdom of Wessex was one of the most important Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in England during the early medieval period. It emerged in the 6th century and would eventually become the dominant power in southern England before the unification of England under the House of Wessex.

The origins of Wessex can be traced back to 519 AD when a group of Saxons led by Cerdic landed in what is now Hampshire and established a small kingdom. Over the next century, the kings of Wessex gradually expanded their territory, conquering parts of modern-day Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset, and Devon.

One of the earliest notable kings of Wessex was Ceawlin, who ruled from around 560-590 AD. Ceawlin defeated the native British kingdoms of the west and expanded Wessex to its largest extent yet, reaching as far west as the River Severn. However, he was later defeated by the rival kingdom of Mercia and forced to abdicate.

In the 7th century, Wessex experienced a period of decline as it came under pressure from Mercia to the north. But the kingdom was revived in the early 9th century under the rule of Egbert, who defeated the Mercians and consolidated control over southern England. Egbert was the first king to use the title "King of the West Saxons and the English", marking an important step towards the unification of England.

Egbert's grandson, Alfred the Great, is considered one of the most significant English monarchs. Ascending the throne in 871 AD, Alfred faced a major threat from the invading Danes, who had conquered much of northern and eastern England. After initial defeats, Alfred was able to rally his forces and push the Danes back, establishing the border of Wessex at the River Thames. Alfred's military victories, legal reforms, and promotion of education laid the foundations for the later rise of a unified English kingdom.

Under Alfred's descendants, the Kingdom of Wessex continued to expand, eventually absorbing the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms one by one. Athelstan, Alfred's grandson, became the first king to rule over a united England in 927 AD. The Kingdom of Wessex had thus evolved into the Kingdom of England, marking a critical juncture in the island's political unification.

Establishment

January 520: The Kingdom of Wessex was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from 519.

Chronology

Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation

1. Battle of Deorham

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, it was a battle between Wessex and the Britons.

January 578: The Kingdom of the Hwicce was established in 577 after the Battle of Deorham, where the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia defeated the Britons.

2. Conquests of Ecgberth of Wessex

Were the conquests by king Ecgberth of Wessex in England.

January 826: The last king of Essex was Sigered of Essex and in 825. He ceded the kingdom to Ecgberht, King of Wessex.

January 826: In 825 a battle was fought between the "Welsh", presumably those of Dumnonia, and the Anglo-Saxons. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states: "We fought the Wealas (Cornish) and the Defnas (Devonians) at Gafulforda" (perhaps Galford in west Devon). However, there is no mention of who won or who lost. A further rebellion in 838, when the "West Welsh" were supported by Danish forces, was crushed by Egbert at the battle of Hingston Down.

3. Viking invasion of the British isles

Was the Viking invasion of the British Isles that started with the arrival of the Great Heathen Army in 865 and resulted in the establishment of the Danelaw, the part of England dominated by the Danes.

January 871: In 870, the Anglo-Saxon King Edmund was martyred by the invading Danish army led by Guthrum. The Danes then took control of Reading, an important town on the Thames River, as part of their conquest of the region known as Danelaw.

January 872: The Vikings retreated to London after a truce wit the king of Wessex.

January 872: A new Danish fleet entering the Thames in 871 reinforced the Great Army at Reading. Alfred, who had taken over the regency of Wessex from his brother Æthelred, who died in 871, was unable to gain a decisive advantage despite nine further battles, and the exhausted opponents concluded a truce.

November 874: The main army moved to Cambridge in 874. From there another attempt was made in 875 to conquer the last remaining Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex. Unopposed, the army made it as far as Wareham on the Channel coast, where it spent the following winter.

January 877: The Danish army moves to Exteter.

January 878: After negotiations, the Danes withdrew to Gloucester in Mercia in 877.

April 878: In 878 the Danes invaded Wessex again, using Chippenham as a base and taking control of much of Wessex.

November 878: In the spring of 878, Alfred and his now assembled army defeated the Vikings at Edington so badly that after the subsequent siege of their Chippenham headquarters, they agreed to negotiations that led to the Treaty of Wedmore. The Viking leader, Guthrum, was baptized with thirty of his followers, provided hostages and moved from Wessex to Cirencester in Mercia during the year.

January 885: In 884, Guthrum, a Viking leader of the Great Heathen Army, attacked Kent.

February 885: In 884, Guthrum, a Viking leader of the Great Heathen Army, attacked Kent but was ultimately defeated by the English forces led by King Alfred the Great of the Kingdom of Wessex.

January 903: 902: Essex submits to Æthelwald.

January 918: In return for peace and protection, the Kingdoms of Essex and East Anglia accept Edward the Elder of Wessex as their suzerain overlord.

4. Unification of England

Æthelstan the Glorious, King of Wessex, conquered Northumbria in 927, and England became a unified kingdom for the first time.

January 928: Edward's son, Æthelstan, conquered Northumbria in 927, and England became a unified kingdom for the first time.

5. Further events (Unrelated to Any War)

January 659: By 658 at the latest, Dumnonia lost control of the Somerset area north and east of the River Parrett.

January 687: Arwald was reportedly killed resisting an invasion in 686 by King Caedwalla of Wessex.

January 711: In 710 Dumnonia lost Somerset to Wessex.

January 731: At the latest 20 years later, the rest of Devon was also lost to the Kingdom of Wessex.

January 861: Full integration of Sussex into the crown of Wessex.

January 872: The Kingdom of Kent (Wessex) was fully absorbed into the Kingdom of Wessex in the late 9th century.

January 919: When Æthelflæd died in 918, Ælfwynn, her daughter by Æthelred, succeeded as 'Second Lady of the Mercians'. However within six months Edward had deprived her of all authority in Mercia and taken her into Wessex. Ælfwynn was the ruler of Mercia for a few months, from 12 June 918 to December 918.