Cerdic and his Ancestors

Abstract

King Cerdic of Wessex (more accurately, of the Gewissae) is perhaps the most enigmatic figure in the whole of British history. He appears as a chieftain with an Anglian pedigree but an indubitably Welsh name, having Jutish kinsfolk, with whose aid he establishes a Saxon kingdom, which nevertheless seems to remain archaeologically British (i.e. non-Teutonic) for a half-century or more after the supposed date of his conquests. Such a series of anomalies may be treated either as evidence of Cerdic's mythical origin, or as the hallmarks of a reality which is under no obligation to be lucid and uncomplicated. In either case, he symbolizes a chapter of half-forgotten history, obscure but crucial.