Editing Hwicce (section)

==History==
{{See also|History of Worcestershire#Anglo-Saxon}}
The territory of the Hwicce may roughly have corresponded to the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] ''[[civitas]]'' of the [[Dobunni]].<ref>J. Manco, [http://www.buildinghistory.org/bath/saxon/dobunni.shtml Dobunni to Hwicce], ''Bath History'', vol. 7 (1998).</ref> The area appears to have remained largely [[Britons (historical)|British]] in the first century or so after [[Roman Britain|Britain]] left the Roman Empire, but pagan burials and place names in its north-eastern sector suggest an inflow of [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]] along the [[River Avon, Warwickshire|Warwickshire Avon]] and perhaps by other routes;<ref>D.Hooke, ''The Anglo-Saxon Landscape: The Kingdom of the Hwicce'' (Manchester, 1985), pp.8–10; Sims-Williams, 'St Wilfred and two charters dated AD 676 and 680', ''Journal of Ecclesiastical History'', Vol. 39, part 2 (1988), p.169.</ref> they may have exacted [[tribute]] from British rulers.<ref>N.Higham, ''The English Conquest: Gildas and Britain in the fifth century'' (Manchester, 1994), chaps. 2, 5.</ref>

According to the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'', there was a [[Battle of Deorham]] in 577 in which the [[Gewisse]] ([[Wessex|West Saxons]]) under [[Ceawlin of Wessex|Ceawlin]] killed three British kings and captured [[Gloucester]], [[Cirencester]] and [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]]. West Saxon occupation of the area did not last long,{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} however, and may have ended as early as 584, the date (according to the ''Chronicle'') of the [[battle of Fethanleag]], in which [[Cutha]] was killed and Ceawlin returned home in anger; and certainly by 603 when, according to [[Bede]], [[Augustine of Canterbury|Saint Augustine]] held a conference with British bishops at Augustine's Oak on the border of the Hwicce and the West Saxons.

The Angles strengthened their influence over the area in 628, when (says the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'') the West Saxons fought (the Anglian) [[Penda of Mercia]] at Cirencester and afterwards came to terms. Penda had evidently won, but had probably forged an alliance with local leaders, since the former Dobunnic polity did not immediately become part of [[Mercia]] but instead became an allied or client kingdom of the Hwicce.

The Hwicce sub-kingdom included a number of distinct tribal groups, including the [[Husmerae]], the [[Stoppingas]] and the [[Weorgoran]].<ref>David P. Kirby, ''The earliest English Kings'' (Routledge, 1990, 2000)</ref>

The first probable kings of whom we read were two brothers, [[Eanhere]] and [[Eanfrith of Hwicce|Eanfrith]]. Bede notes that Queen [[Eafe]] "had been baptised in her own country, the kingdom of the Hwicce. She was the daughter of Eanfrith, Eanhere's brother, both of whom were Christians, as were their people."<ref>Bede, ''The Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' ed. J.McClure and R.Collins (Oxford, 1994), p.193.</ref> From this, we deduce that Eanfrith and Eanhere were of the royal family and that theirs was a Christian kingdom.

It is likely that the Hwicce were converted to Christianity by [[Celtic Christianity|Celtic Christians]] rather than by the [[Gregorian mission|mission]] from [[Pope Gregory I]], since Bede was well informed on the latter yet does not mention the conversion of the Hwicce.<ref>J. Manco, [http://www.buildinghistory.org/bath/saxon/dobunni.shtml Saxon Bath: The Legacy of Rome and the Saxon Rebirth], ''Bath History'', vol. 7 (1998).</ref> Though place-names show that Anglo-Saxon settlement was widespread in the territory, the limited spread of pagan burials, along with two ''eccles'' place-names that invariably identify Roman-British churches, suggests that Christianity survived the influx. There are also probable Christian burials beneath [[Worcester Cathedral]] and [[St Mary de Lode Church]], Gloucester.<ref>C. Thomas, ''Christianity in Roman Britain to AD 500'' (1981), pp.253–71; Hooke, p.10; C. Heighway, 'Saxon Gloucester' in J. Haslam ed., ''Anglo-Saxon Towns in Southern England'' (Chichester, 1984), p.375.</ref> So it seems that incoming Anglo-Saxons were absorbed into the existing church. The ruling dynasty of the Hwicce were probably key figures in the process. Perhaps they sprang from intermarriage between Anglian and British leading families.

By a complex chain of reasoning, one can deduce that Eanhere married [[Osthryth]], daughter of [[Oswiu of Northumbria]], and had sons by her named [[Osric of the Hwicce|Osric]], Oswald and [[Oshere]]. Osthryth is recorded as the wife of [[Æthelred of Mercia]]. An earlier marriage to Eanhere would explain why Osric and Oswald are described as Æthelred's ''nepotes''&nbsp;— usually meaning "nephews" or "grandsons" but here probably "stepsons".<ref>John Leland, ''Collectanea'', vol. 1, p. 240.</ref>

Osric was anxious for the Hwicce to gain their own bishop,<ref>Charter ''S 51'', MS Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, 111, pp. 59-60 (s. xii2)[http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=get&type=charter&id=51 S51]</ref> but it was Oshere whose influence was seen behind the creation of the [[Anglican Diocese of Worcester|see of Worcester]] in 679–680. Presumably Osric was dead by that time. [[Tatfrid]] of [[Whitby]] was chosen as the first bishop of the Hwicce, but he died before ordination and was replaced by Bosel.<ref>Bede, ''The Eccesiastical History of the English People'', ed. J. McClure and R. Collins (1994), p. 212; ''Chronicle of John of Worcester'' ed. and trans. R.R. Darlington, J. Bray and P. McGurk (Oxford 1995), 136–8.</ref> A 12th-century chronicler of Worcester comments that Worcester was selected as the seat of the bishop because it was the capital of the Hwicce.<ref>"The Chronicle of Florence of Worcester" in ''The Church Historians of England'' ed. and trans. J. Stevenson, vol. 2, p.379.</ref>

Oshere was succeeded by his sons [[Æthelheard of the Hwicce|Æthelheard]], [[Æthelweard of the Hwicce|Æthelweard]] and [[Æthelric of the Hwicce|Æthelric]]. At the beginning of [[Offa]]'s reign, we find the kingdom ruled by three brothers, named [[Eanberht]], [[Uhtred of Hwicce|Uhtred]] and Aldred, the two last of whom lived until about 780. After them, the title of king seems to have been given up. Their successor [[Æthelmund]], who was killed in a campaign against Wessex in 802, is described only as an earl.

The district remained in possession of the rulers of Mercia until the fall of that kingdom. Together with the rest of English Mercia, it submitted to [[Alfred the Great|King Alfred]] about 877–883 under [[Earl Aethelred of Mercia|Earl Æthelred]], who possibly himself belonged to the Hwicce.