Ceol of Wessex

Ceol
Ceol
King of Wessex
Reign	592–597
Predecessor	Ceawlin
Successor	Ceolwulf
Died	597
Issue	Cynegils
House	Wessex
Father	Cutha (or Cuthwulf)

Ceol ([t͡ʃe͜oːl] chey-ol; also known as Ceola or Ceolric) is portrayed by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List as King of Wessex for five to six years around 592 to 597 (the Chronicle) or 588 to 594 (the List).

Historicity

David Dumville has emphasized how shaky the evidence for Ceol is. Neither the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle nor the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List seems to be a contemporary record for the seventh century, and it is possible that Ceol was added through scribal confusion:

The monothematic name Ceol, meaning simply "ship", seems extremely implausible; in one genealogy he appears as Ceola, an apparent hypocoristic [...] implying a dithematic Ceol-name; while the Genealogical Regnal List declares Ceolwulf to be his brother, Cynegils is merely the 'son of Ceolwulf's brother', perhaps implying some uncertainty as to identity and family relationships.^[1]^: 58

Portrayal in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

Ceol is portrayed as the son of Cutha (or Cuthwulf), the son of Cynric of Wessex, beginning his reign in 591. The Chronicle states that the following year Ceol's uncle Ceawlin was 'driven out' in a battle at "Woddesbeorg", thought to be in Wiltshire, and modern scholars have inferred that this battle was between Cealwin and Ceol,^[2]^[3] with Ceol denying the throne to Ceawlin's son Cuthwine.

Upon Ceol's death in 597, the throne is said to pass to his brother Ceolwulf. Because his son Cynegils was presumably too young to inherit the throne, it was given to the brother, as was probably the custom among the Saxons.

The Ceolian line

Ceol is portrayed as the founding member of a sub-house of the House of Wessex which would rule Wessex from 591–645, 648–674 and from 676–685, comprising Ceol, Ceolwulf, Cynegils, Cenwalh, Seaxburh and Centwine. Coenwulf and Ceolwulf I of Mercia are also claimed to be descendants of Ceol, meaning that the Ceolian line flourished for at least three centuries after its founder's death, and possibly longer. (See House of Wessex family tree.)

References

^ David N. Dumville, "The West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List and the Chronology of Early Wessex", Peritia, 4 (1985), 21–66.
^ Yorke, Barbara (2004). "Ceol (Ceola, Ceolric) (d. 597)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5001. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
^ According to Frank Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, Oxford University Press, 3rd Edition, 1971, p. 30, the battle was fought at Woddesbeorg or Wodnesbeorg, probably the tumulus now called Adam's Grave, overlooking the Vale of Pewsey.

External links

Ceol 1 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England

[1] David N. Dumville, "The West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List and the Chronology of Early Wessex", Peritia, 4 (1985), 21–66.

[2] Yorke, Barbara (2004). "Ceol (Ceola, Ceolric) (d. 597)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5001. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)

[3] According to Frank Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, Oxford University Press, 3rd Edition, 1971, p. 30, the battle was fought at Woddesbeorg or Wodnesbeorg, probably the tumulus now called Adam's Grave, overlooking the Vale of Pewsey.

[4] Rulers with names in italics are considered fictional

[5] Mackenzie, E; Ross, M (1834). An Historical, Topographical, and Descriptive View of the County Palatine of Durham. Vol. I. Newcastle upon Tyne: Mackenzie and Dent. p. xi. Retrieved 28 February 2012.

[6] Downham, Clare (2007), Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: The Dynasty of Ívarr to A.D. 1014, Edinburgh: Dunedin, ISBN 978-1-903765-89-0, OCLC 163618313

[7] Woolf, Alex (2007), From Pictland to Alba, 789–1070, The New Edinburgh History of Scotland, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 978-0-7486-1234-5, OCLC 123113911

[8] Zaluckyj, Sarah & Feryok, Marge. Mercia: The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Central England (2001) ISBN 1-873827-62-8

[9] Barbara Yorke (1995), Wessex in the early Middle Ages, A & C Black, ISBN 071851856X; pp 79-83; table p. 81

[10] Kelly, S. E. (2004). "Kings of the South Saxons (act. 477–772)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/52344. Retrieved 3 February 2017. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)

[11] Keynes, Simon (2014). "Appendix I: Rulers of the English, c.450–1066". In Lapidge, Michael (ed.). The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-65632-7.

[12] Kirby, D. P. The Earliest English Kings. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-4152-4211-0.

[13] Lapidge, M.; et al., eds. (1999). "Kings of the East Angles". The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. London: Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-6312-2492-1.

[14] Searle, W. G. 1899. Anglo-Saxon Bishops, Kings and Nobles.

[15] Yorke, B. 1990. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England.

[16] Carpenter, Clive. Kings, Rulers and Statesmen. Guinness Superlatives, Ltd.

[17] Ross, Martha. Rulers and Governments of the World, Vol. 1. Earliest Times to 1491.

[18] Ashley, Michael (1998). British Monarchs: the Complete Genealogy, Gazetteer, and Biographical Encyclopedia of the Kings & Queens of Britain. London: Robinson. ISBN 978-1-8548-7504-4.

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