Cynric () was King of Wessex from 534 to 560. Everything known about him comes from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. There, he is stated to have been the son of Cerdic, who is considered the founder of the kingdom of Wessex.[David N. Dumville, "The West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List and the Chronology of Early Wessex", Peritia, 4 (1985), 21–66 (esp. pp. 59–60).]
Name
The name
Cynric has an ostensibly straightforward
Old English etymology meaning "Kin-ruler". However, this name's normal Old English form is
Cyneric. As some scholars have proposed that both his predecessor, Cerdic, and successor, Ceawlin, had Celtic names,
an alternative etymology has been postulated, deriving the name from
Common Brittonic "Cunorix", meaning "Hound-king" (which developed into
Cinir in
Old Welsh,
Kynyr in
Middle Welsh).
[Whittock, p. 193][Sims-Williams, p. 30]
Conquest
The
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describes Cerdic and Cynric with five ships landing in the area around
Southampton in 495.
[A theory specifically identifies the site of the landing, at Cerdicesora, as Christchurch Harbour so that the axis of penetration was along the Avon.] According to the chronicle, the two are described as aristocratic "
Alderman" but only assumed rule over the
Gewissae (as the West Saxons were known before the late 7th century) in 519.
This implies that Cynric was not a royal leader. He and his father were only elevated to kingship when they allegedly conquered the heartlands of the future Wessex.
Rule
During his reign, as described in the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Saxons expanded into
Wiltshire against strong resistance and captured
Searobyrig, or
Old Sarum, near Salisbury, in 552. In 556, he and his son Ceawlin won a battle against the Britons at
Beranburh, now identified as
Barbury Castle. If these dates are accurate, then it is unlikely that the earlier entries in the
Chronicle, starting with his arrival in
Great Britain with his father Cerdic in 495, are correct.
David Dumville has suggested that his true regnal dates are 554–581.
[Barbara Yorke: Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England, Routledge, London-New York 2002, , p. 133.] Some note that Ceawlin's origin and relationship with Cynric are obscure. Chroniclers merely suggested that they were relatives or that he was Cynric's son to legitimize the later Wessex lineage.
In popular culture
In the 2004 film
King Arthur, Cerdic and Cynric were depicted as
Saxons invaders and were killed, respectively, by
King Arthur and
Lancelot at the Battle of Badon Hill (Mons Badonicus). Cynric was portrayed by
Til Schweiger.
See also
-
House of Wessex family tree
Notes
-
Laing, L.R. (1975), The archaeology of late Celtic Britain and Ireland, c. 400-1200 AD, Taylor & Francis.
-
-
Sims-Williams, P. (1983), The settlement of England in Bede and the "Chronicle" from Anglo-Saxon England, Vol. 12, pp. 1–41, Cambridge University Press.
-
Whittock, M.J. (1986), The Origins of England 410-600 Croom Helm.
External links
