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<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="en"><head><meta charset="utf-8" /><title>Saxon - History of the Saxon kings and Queens</title><meta name="description" content="The house of Saxons, this history covers all England's early Anglo-Saxon and Danish kings, including Alfred." /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><meta name="theme-color" content="#960c17" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="assets/bootstrap-grid.min.css" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="assets/global.css" /></head><body><nav class="fixed-nav-bar" aria-label="fixed navigation bar"><div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-12"><i class="nav-s nav-s-smr"><a href="http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=&title=" aria-label="reddit" title="Submit to Reddit" onclick="window.open('http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL) + '&title=' + encodeURIComponent(document.title)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i><i class="nav-s nav-s-smt"><a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?" aria-label="twitter" title="Tweet" onclick="window.open('https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%20Check%20out%20this%20awesome%20website%20' + encodeURIComponent(document.title) + ':%20 ' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i><i class="nav-s nav-s-smf"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=&t=" aria-label="facebook" onclick="window.open('https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL) + '&t=' + encodeURIComponent(document.URL)); return false;" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a></i><div id="menu" class="menu"><a class="burger show" href="#menu" aria-label="Show Link Menu"><i class="menu"> </i></a><a class="burger hide" href="#hidemenu" aria-label="Hide Menu"><i class="menu"> </i></a><ul class="menu-items"><li class="current"><a href="index.htm" aria-label="dynasties">DYNASTIES</a><ul class="dropdown"><li><a href="celts_1.html" aria-label="The Celts">The Celts</a></li><li><a href="saxon_21.htm">Saxon</a></li><li><a href="vikings_6.html">Viking</a></li><li><a href="normans_5.htm">Norman</a></li><li><a href="plantagenet_18.htm">Plantagenet</a></li><li><a href="plantagenet_49.html">Lancaster</a></li><li><a href="plantagenet_48.html">York</a></li><li><a href="tudor_21.htm">Tudor</a></li><li><a href="stuart_15.htm">Stuart</a></li><li><a href="hanover_11.html">Hanover</a></li><li><a href="saxe_coburg_gotha_5.html">Saxe-Coburg-Gotha</a></li><li><a href="windsor_30.htm">Windsor</a></li><li><a href="genealogical_tables.htm">Genealogical Tables</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="gwynedd.html" aria-label="Princes of wales">PRINCES OF WALES</a></li><li><a href="tower_index.html" aria-label="Tower of London">TOWER OF LONDON</a><ul class="dropdown"><li><a href="tower_london.htm">Middle Ages</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_2.htm">Tudor Era</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_3.htm">Stuart Era</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_6.html">Bloody Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_7.html">White Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_17.html">Chapel of St. John</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_8.html">Chapel of St. Peter</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_9.html">Medieval Palace</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_10.html">Beauchamp Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_12.html">Byward Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_11.html">Queen's House</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_13.html">Bowyer Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_14.html">Bell Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_15.html">Traitor's Gate</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_16.html">Salt Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_18.html">Devereux Tower</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_4.htm">Recent History</a></li><li><a href="tower_london_5.html">Theft of the Jewels</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="crown_jewels.htm" aria-label="Crown Jewels">CROWN JEWELS</a><ul class="dropdown"><li><a href="crown_jewels.htm">The Regalia</a></li><li><a href="crown_jewels_2.htm">The Theft Of The Crown Jewels</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="royal_residences.html" aria-label="Royal Residences">ROYAL RESIDENCES</a></li><li><a href="battles.html" aria-label="Battles">HISTORIC BATTLES</a></li><li><a href="scottish_kings.htm" aria-label="Scottish Monarchs">SCOTTISH MONARCHS</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div></nav><section class="title-bar"><div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-12"><div class="page-title-container"><form action="/ssep/index.php" id="demo-2" method="post"><input type="search" aria-label="search" name="sr" placeholder="Search" /></form><h1>The Saxons</h1></div></div></div></div></section><section class="content-bg"><div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-12 col-lg-12 col-xl-9"><div class="well"><div class="dynasties"><div class="row"><div class="col"><h2>The House of Wessex</h2><p> Eighth century England consisted of seven Anglo-Saxon sub-kingdoms that existed in a state of internecine warfare. Occasionally a king of one of the larger three kingdoms, Wessex, Mercia and Northumbria, would emerge from the dynastic turmoil to be accepted as Bretwalda (Bretanwealda in Old English) or overlord by the others. One such was Egbert, of the House of Wessex. Cerdic of Wessex ((519-534), the founder of the Wessex line, claimed a mythical descent from the great Woden himself. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Cerdic was a Saxon Ealdorman who landed in Hampshire in 495 with his son Cynric and fought with the Britons becoming the first King of Wessex. The dynasty he founded was to rule England for over two hundred years and produced such varying characters as Alfred (871-899), the only English monarch ever to be bestowed with the epithet the Great, who amongst varied achievements, established peace with the invading Vikings and founded the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the ineffectual Ethelred the Redeless (978-1016) and his pious son, Edward the Confessor (1042-1066) who was later canonized in 1161. </p><p> The Anglo-Saxon line was interrupted for two decades by Viking conquerors but was re-established by Edward the Confessor. The Confessor is said to have willed his throne to his brother-in-law, King Harold II Godwineson (reigned- January-October, 1066), who was killed at the Battle at Hastings, when the native Saxon House of Wessex was displaced by the Normans in the person of William I, thereafter known as the Conqueror. </p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col"><h3>Monarch</h3></div><div class="col"><h3>Born</h3></div><div class="col"><h3>Reign</h3></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col"><a href="saxon.htm">Egbert</a></div><div class="col"><p>circa 780 son of Ealhmund of Kent</p></div><div class="col"><p>827-839</p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col"><a href="saxon_2.htm">Ethelwulf</a></div><div class="col"><p>son of Egbert and Redburga</p></div><div class="col"><p>839-856</p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col"><a href="saxon_3.htm">Ethelbald</a></div><div class="col"><p>circa 831 son of Ethelwulf and Osburga</p></div><div class="col"><p>856-860</p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col"><a href="saxon_4.htm">Ethelbert</a></div><div class="col"><p>circa 831 son of Ethelwulf and Osburga</p></div><div class="col"><p>860-865</p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col"><a href="saxon_5.htm">Ethelred I</a></div><div class="col"><p>circa 837 son of Ethelwulf and Osburga</p></div><div class="col"><p>865-871</p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col"><a href="saxon_6.htm">Alfred the Great</a></div><div class="col"><p>circa 849son of Ethelwulf Osburga</p></div><div class="col"><p>871-899</p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col"><a href="saxon_7.htm">Edward the Elder</a></div><div class="col"><p>871-877 son of Alfred the Great Ealhswith</p></div><div class="col"><p>899-924</p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col">Ælfweard</div><div class="col"><p>904 son of Edward the Elder and Elfleda</p></div><div class="col"><p>924</p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col"><a href="saxon_8.htm">Athelstan</a></div><div class="col"><p>895 son of Edward the Elder & Ecgwynn</p></div><div class="col"><p>924-939</p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col"><a href="saxon_9.htm">Edmund I</a></div><div class="col"><p>c.921 son of Edward the Elder and Edgiva of Kent</p></div><div class="col"><p>939-946</p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col"><a href="saxon_10.htm">Edred</a></div><div class="col"><p>c.923 son of Edward the Elder & Edgiva of Kent</p></div><div class="col"><p>946-955</p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col"><a href="saxon_11.htm">Edwy the Fair</a></div><div class="col"><p>c.940 son of Edmund I & Elgiva</p></div><div class="col"><p>955-959</p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col"><a href="saxon_12.htm">Edgar the Peaceful</a></div><div class="col"><p>c.943 son of Edmund I and Elgiva</p></div><div class="col"><p>959-975</p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col"><a href="saxon_13.htm">Edward the Martyr</a></div><div class="col"><p>c.962 son of Edgar the Peaceful & Ethelflaed</p></div><div class="col"><p>975-978</p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col"><a href="saxon_14.htm">Ethelred II the Redeless</a></div><div class="col"><p>c.968 son of Edgar the Peaceful & Ælfthryth</p></div><div class="col"><p>978-1016</p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col"><a href="saxon_15.htm">Edmund II Ironside</a></div><div class="col"><p>c. 993 son of Ethelred II & Ælla of Northumbria</p></div><div class="col"><p>1016</p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col"><a href="saxon_16.htm">Edward the Confessor</a></div><div class="col"><p>c. 1005 son of Ethelred II & Emma of Normandy</p></div><div class="col"><p>1042-1066</p></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col"><a href="saxon_17.htm">Harold Godwineson</a></div><div class="col"><p>c. 1020 son of Godwine, Earl of Wessex & Gytha Thorkelsdótti</p></div><div class="col"><p>1066</p></div></div><p> </p><h3>Additional Information on the era</h3><div class="row"><div class="col-md"><a href="saxon_18.htm">The Anglo-Saxons</a></div><div class="col-md"><a href="vikings_5.htm">The Vikings</a></div><div class="col-md"><a href="saxon_25.html">The Anglo-Saxon Tribal Kingdoms</a></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-md"><a href="saxon_28.html">The Sutton Hoo Ship Burial</a></div><div class="col-md"><a href="beowulf.htm">Beowulf</a></div><div class="col-md"><a href="saxon_23.html">The Staffordshire Hoard</a></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-md"><a href="saxon_34.html">Hengist and Horsa</a></div><div class="col-md"><a href="saxon_33.html">Offa of Mercia</a></div><div class="col-md"><a href="saxon_22.html">Cerdic of Wessex</a></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-md"><a href="saxon_20.htm">The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle</a></div><div class="col-md"><a href="battle_ashdown.html">Battle of Ashdown</a></div><div class="col-md"><a href="vikings_16.html">Battle of Edington</a></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-md"><a href="brunanburh.html">Battle of Brunanburh</a></div><div class="col-md"><a href="vikings_15.html">Battle of Maldon</a></div><div class="col-md"><a href="saxon_24.html">Aethelflaed, Lady of Mercia</a></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-md"><a href="saxon_38.html">Edric Streona</a></div><div class="col-md"><a href="saxon_32.html">Edith of Wessex</a></div><div class="col-md"><a href="saxon_39.html">Thurbrand the Hold</a></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-md"><a href="saxon_27.html">Alfred the Atheling</a></div><div class="col-md"><a href="saxon_26.html">Edgar Atheling</a></div><div class="col-md"><a href="saxon_30.html">Godwine Earl of Wessex</a></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-md"><a href="saxon_31.html">Tostig GodwinsonEarl of Northumbria</a></div><div class="col-md"><a href="saxon_36.html">Edith Swanneschals</a></div><div class="col-md"><a href="battle_stamford_bridge.html">Battle of Stamford Bridge</a></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-md"><a href="battle_of_hastings.htm">Battle of Hastings</a></div><div class="col-md"><a href="battle_of_hastings_2.html">A Tour of HastingsBattlefield and Battle Abbey</a></div><div class="col-md"><a href="normans_14.html">Hereward the Wake</a></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-md"><a href="normans_15.html">Morcar of Northumbria</a></div><div class="col-md"><a href="normans_13.html">Waltheof of Northumbria</a></div><div class="col-md"><a href="saxon_40.html">Uhtred the Bold</a></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-md"><a href="battle_carham.html">The Battle of Carham</a></div><div class="col-md"><a href="saxon_35.html">The Winchester Mortuary Chests</a></div><div class="col-md"><a href="saxon_29.html">Cynegils, King of Wessex</a></div></div><div class="row"><div class="col-md"><a href="genealogical_tables.htm">Genealogical Tables</a></div><div class="col-md"></div><div class="col-md"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="social"><ul id="sprite"><li id="sprite_s"><i 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href="saxon_5.htm" aria-label="Ethelred I"><b>Ethelred I</b></a><picture><source media="(min-width: 1200px)" srcset="images/sidebar/saxon/red2.jpg" /><source media="(min-width: 1199px)" srcset="images/sidebar/small.png" /><img src="images/sidebar/small.png" alt="Ethelred I" /></picture></div></div></div></div></div></section></div></div></section><footer class="footer"><div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-lg-12 col-xl-9"><p><span>Copyright © 2004 - 2022 www.englishmonarchs.co.uk All rights reserved All rights reserved ®</span></p></div></div></div></footer><script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-89969642-1"></script><script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag() { dataLayer.push(arguments); } gtag("js", new Date()); gtag("config", "UA-89969642-1"); </script></body></html>