KINGS, QUEENS, KNAVES 1

Whose bum has been on the throne for the past 1500 years? This set of pages lists all our monarchs from 519, with my own personal rating as to their performance. Dates and details of many are uncertain (that's history for you), so if you want to disagree, go somewhere else.

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The founding of our kingdom, and the first four centuries spent pulling it all together.

No.	Monarch	Reign	Major event	Death	Rate
HOUSE OF CERDIC
1	Cerdic	519-34	Founding of Gewissan Kingdom	Battle	4*
2	Cynric	534-60	Expansion into Wiltshire	Old age	3*
3	Ceawlin	560-92	Defeat at Stoke Lyne	Exile	3*
4	Ceol	591-7	---	Old age?	3*
5	Ceolwulf	597-611	Defeated South Saxons	Old age	3*
6	Cynegils	611-42	Introduced Christianity	Old age	2*
7	Cenwealh	642-5	Driven out by Penda of Mercia	---	--
The First Interregnum: Gewissan resistance to Mercian rule
	Cenwealh	648-72	Expansion into Somerset	Old age	2*
HOUSE OF ????
8	Seaxburh	672-4	First female ruler	Deposed	4*
HOUSE OF CERDIC
9	Cenfus	674	---	Deposed	3*
10	Æscwine	674-6	Repelled Mercian invasion	Old age?	3*
11	Centwine	676-85	More westwards expansion	Abdicated	3*
12	Cadwalla	685-8	First Wessex interest in south-east	Battle wounds	4*
13	Ine	688-726	Strengthened Wessex internally	Abdicated	4*
14	Æthelheard	726-40	Defeated by Mercia at Somerton	Old age	2*
15	Cuthred	740-56	Defeated Mercians at Burford	Old age	4*
16	Sigeberht	756-7	---	Murdered in exile	1*
17	Cynewulf	757-86	Defeated by Mercia at Benson	Murdered	3*
18	Brihtric	786-802	Accidentally poisoned by wife!	Poisoned	1*
19	Egbert	802-39	Conquered Kent and Sussex	Old age	4*
20	Æthelwulf	839-58	Viking threat	Old age	2*
21	Æthelbald	856-60	Married his stepmother!	Illness	2*
22	Æthelbert	860-6	---	Illness	3*
23	Æthelred I	866-71	Fought against Great Army	Battle wounds	4*
24	Alfred	871-8	Fought against Great Army	---	--
The Second Interregnum: The Great Army invades Wessex
	Alfred	878-99	Treaty of Wedmore	Old age	5*
25	Edward the Elder	899-924	Reconquered the Five Boroughs	Old age	5*
26	Athelstan	924-27	First King of England!	---	--
Continue to the rest of Athelstan's reign

Almost a monarch?

Cuthred (I) (645-8). Resistance leader of Wessex who held the Mercians at bay whilst King Cenwealh was in exile. May possibly have been king at this time, as he received massive compensation on Cenwealh’s restoration in 648.

Ælfweard (924). Member of West Saxon dynasty who went into the Church, but was recalled south in 924. Was probably murdered by his rival Athelstan.