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The House of Wessex, also known as the House of Cerdic, refers to the family that ruled a kingdom
Monarchy

A monarchy is a form of government in which supreme power is absolutely or nominally lodged in an individual, who is the head of state, often for Life tenure or until abdication, and "is wholly set apart from all other members of the state." The person who heads a monarchy is called a monarch....
 in southwest England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 known as Wessex
Wessex

West Saxon redirects here. For other meanings of Wessex or West Saxon see Wessex .Wessex , from the Old English Westseaxe , was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of the English state in the 9th century, under the Wessex dynasty....
. This House was in power from the 6th century under Cerdic of Wessex
Cerdic of Wessex

Cerdic was the King of Wessex and is regarded as the ancestor of all subsequent Kings of Wessex ....
 to the unification of the Kingdoms of England
Heptarchy

Heptarchy is a collective name applied to the supposed seven Anglo-Saxons kingdoms of south, east, and central Great Britain during late antiquity and the early Middle Ages which eventually unified into England ....
.

The House, at this point, became rulers of all England (Bretwalda
Bretwalda

Bretwalda, also Brytenwalda, Bretenanwealda, is an Anglo-Saxon language term, the first record of which comes from the late ninth century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle....
) from Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great

Alfred the Great , also spelled ?lfred, was king of the southern Anglo-Saxons kingdom of Wessex from 871 to 899. Alfred is noted for his defence of the kingdom against the Danish people Vikings, becoming the only English people king to be awarded the epithet "the Great"....
 in 871 to Edmund II in 1016. This period of the British monarchy is known as the Saxon
Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading tribes in the south and east of Great Britain starting from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, lasting until the Norman conquest of England of 1066....
 period, though their rule was often contested, notably by the Danelaw
Danelaw

The Danelaw, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , is a historical name given to the part of Great Britain in which the laws of the "Danes" dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons....
 and later by the Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard who claimed the throne from 1013 to 1014, during Ethelred II's reign.






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The House of Wessex, also known as the House of Cerdic, refers to the family that ruled a kingdom
Monarchy

A monarchy is a form of government in which supreme power is absolutely or nominally lodged in an individual, who is the head of state, often for Life tenure or until abdication, and "is wholly set apart from all other members of the state." The person who heads a monarchy is called a monarch....
 in southwest England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 known as Wessex
Wessex

West Saxon redirects here. For other meanings of Wessex or West Saxon see Wessex .Wessex , from the Old English Westseaxe , was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of the English state in the 9th century, under the Wessex dynasty....
. This House was in power from the 6th century under Cerdic of Wessex
Cerdic of Wessex

Cerdic was the King of Wessex and is regarded as the ancestor of all subsequent Kings of Wessex ....
 to the unification of the Kingdoms of England
Heptarchy

Heptarchy is a collective name applied to the supposed seven Anglo-Saxons kingdoms of south, east, and central Great Britain during late antiquity and the early Middle Ages which eventually unified into England ....
.

The House, at this point, became rulers of all England (Bretwalda
Bretwalda

Bretwalda, also Brytenwalda, Bretenanwealda, is an Anglo-Saxon language term, the first record of which comes from the late ninth century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle....
) from Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great

Alfred the Great , also spelled ?lfred, was king of the southern Anglo-Saxons kingdom of Wessex from 871 to 899. Alfred is noted for his defence of the kingdom against the Danish people Vikings, becoming the only English people king to be awarded the epithet "the Great"....
 in 871 to Edmund II in 1016. This period of the British monarchy is known as the Saxon
Anglo-Saxons

Anglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading tribes in the south and east of Great Britain starting from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, lasting until the Norman conquest of England of 1066....
 period, though their rule was often contested, notably by the Danelaw
Danelaw

The Danelaw, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , is a historical name given to the part of Great Britain in which the laws of the "Danes" dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons....
 and later by the Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard who claimed the throne from 1013 to 1014, during Ethelred II's reign. Sweyn and his successors ruled until 1042
House of Denmark

The House of Denmark refers to the Denmark List of English monarchs, who ruled England from 1013 to 1014 and 1016 to 1042.In 1013 Sweyn Forkbeard, already the List of Danish monarchs and of Norway, overthrew King Ethelred the Unready of the House of Wessex....
. After Harthacanute
Harthacanute

Harthacanute was King of Denmark from 1035 to 1042 as well as King of England from 1040 to 1042. He came from Northmannia according to Adam of Bremen and was the only son of Canute the Great and Emma of Normandy....
, there was a brief Saxon Restoration between 1042 and 1066 under Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor

Saint Edward the Confessor , son of Ethelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was the penultimate Anglo-Saxons List of the monarchs of the Kingdom of England and the last of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 until his death....
 and Harold II, who was a member of the House of Godwin. After the Battle of Hastings
Battle of Hastings

The Battle of Hastings was the decisive Normans victory in the Norman Conquest of England. It was fought between the Norman army of William I of England, and the English people army led by Harold Godwinson....
, a decisive point in British history, William of Normandy
William I of England

William I , better known as William the Conqueror , was Duke of Normandy from 1035 and English monarchy from later 1066 to his death. William is sometimes also referred to as "William II" in relation to his position as the second Duke of Normandy of that name....
 became king of England. Anglo-Saxon attempts to restore native rule in the person of Edgar the Aetheling, a grandson of Edmund II who had originally been passed over in favour of Harold, were unsuccessful and William's descendants secured their rule. Edgar's niece Matilda of Scotland later married William's son Henry I
Henry I of England

Henry I was the fourth son of William I the Conqueror. He succeeded his elder brother William II of England as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106....
, forming a link between the two dynasties.

Please see House of Wessex family tree
House of Wessex family tree

The following chart is a family tree of the kings of the House of Wessex, a dynasty whose members were Kings of Wessex, and then, from Athelstan onwards, King of England....
 which also contains a list of all the members of the house.

Timeline of Wessex Rulers


Sources


See also

  • List of monarchs of Wessex
    List of monarchs of Wessex

    This is a list of monarchs of Wessex until 924. For later monarchs, see the List of monarchs in the British Isles. While the details of the later monarchs are confirmed by a number of sources, the earlier ones are in many cases obscure....
  • Wessex
    Wessex

    West Saxon redirects here. For other meanings of Wessex or West Saxon see Wessex .Wessex , from the Old English Westseaxe , was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of the English state in the 9th century, under the Wessex dynasty....
  • List of British monarchs
    List of British monarchs

    This is a list of the monarchs of Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom. The Kingdom of Great Britain was formed on 1 May 1707 with the merger of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, which had been in personal union under the House of Stuart since 24 March 1603....