Editing Cynric

{{Short description|King of Wessex from 534 to 560}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{infobox royalty
| name         = Cynric
| image        = King-Cynric-of-Wessex-Coin.webp
| alt          = coin of a king
| caption      = Portrait on a [[Penny]]
| succession   = [[King of Wessex]]
| reign        = 534–560
| birth_date   = 
| death_date   = 560
| predecessor  = [[Cerdic]], possibly [[Creoda of Wessex|Creoda]]
| successor    = [[Ceawlin of Wessex|Ceawlin]]
| house        = [[House of Wessex|Wessex]]
| father       = [[Cerdic]] or [[Creoda of Wessex|Creoda]]
| issue        = [[Ceawlin of Wessex|Ceawlin]]<br/>Cutha or Cuthwulf<ref>According to the Online DNB article on [[Ceol]], he was the son of Cutha (probably Cuthwulf) and grandson of Cynric</ref>
}}

'''Cynric''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɪ|n|ˌ|r|ɪ|tʃ}}) was [[King of Wessex]] from 534 to 560. Everything known about him comes from the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]''. There, he is stated to have been the son of [[Cerdic of Wessex|Cerdic]], who is considered the founder of the kingdom of Wessex.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare |last=Bradbury |first=Jim |publisher=Routledge |year=2004 |isbn=9781134598472 |location=London |page=20}}</ref> However, the [[Anglian King-list]] and parts of the [[West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List]] (which may partly derive from the Anglian King-list and was a source for the ''Chronicle''), instead says that Cynric was the son of Cerdic's son [[Creoda of Wessex|Creoda]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Arthurian Figures of History and Legend: A Biographical Dictionary |last=Reno |first=Frank |publisher=McFarland |year=2011 |isbn=9780786444205 |location=Jefferson, NC |page=83}}</ref> Similarly, the paternal genealogy of Alfred the Great given in Asser's ''The Life of King Alfred'', includes the name Creoda, while the account of the king's maternal ancestry in the same work calls Cynric son of Cerdic.<ref>David N. Dumville, "The West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List and the Chronology of Early Wessex", ''Peritia'', 4 (1985), 21–66 (esp. pp. 59–60).</ref>

== Name ==
The name ''Cynric'' has an ostensibly straightforward [[Old English]] etymology meaning "Kin-ruler". However, this name's normal Old English form is ''Cyneric''. As some scholars have proposed that both his predecessor, Cerdic, and successor, Ceawlin, had Celtic names,<ref name=":2" /> an alternative etymology has been postulated, deriving the name from [[Common Brittonic|Brittonic]] "Cunorix", meaning "Hound-king" (which developed into ''Cinir'' in [[Old Welsh]], ''Kynyr'' in [[Middle Welsh]]).<ref>Whittock, p. 193</ref><ref>Sims-Williams, p. 30</ref>

== Conquest ==
The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' describes Cerdic and Cynric with five ships landing in the area around [[Southampton]] in 495.<ref>A theory specifically identifies the site of the landing, at Cerdicesora, as Christchurch Harbour so that the axis of penetration was along the Avon.</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |title=Wessex to 1000 AD |last=Cunliffe |first=Barry |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 |isbn=9780582492806 |location=Oxon |page=279}}</ref> According to the chronicle, the two are described as aristocratic "[[Alderman|aldormen]]" but only assumed rule over the [[Gewissae]] (as the West Saxons were known before the late 7th century) in 519.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Kleinschmidt |first=Harald |title=People on the Move: Attitudes Toward and Perceptions of Migration in Medieval and Modern Europe |publisher=Praeger Publishers |year=2003 |isbn=9780275974176 |location=[[Westport, Connecticut]] |page=92 |language=en}}</ref> This implies that Cynric was not a royal leader. He and his father were only elevated to kingship when they allegedly conquered the heartlands of the future Wessex.

== Rule ==
During his reign, as described in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', the Saxons expanded into [[Wiltshire]] against strong resistance and captured ''Searobyrig'', or [[Old Sarum]], near [[Salisbury, England |Salisbury]], in 552. In 556, he and his son [[Ceawlin of Wessex|Ceawlin]] won a battle against the [[Britons (historic)|Britons]] at ''Beranburh'', now identified as [[Barbury Castle]].{{Sfn|Myres|1989 |p=162}} If these dates are accurate, then it is unlikely that the earlier entries in the ''Chronicle'', starting with his arrival in [[Great Britain|Britain]] with his father Cerdic in 495, are correct. [[David Dumville]] has suggested that his true regnal dates are 554–581.<ref name="babs133">Barbara Yorke: ''Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England'', Routledge, London-New York 2002, {{ISBN|978-0-415-16639-3}}, p. 133.</ref> Some note that Ceawlin's origin and relationship with Cynric are obscure. Chroniclers merely suggested that they were relatives or that he was Cynric's son to legitimize the later Wessex lineage.<ref name=":1" />

== In popular culture ==
In the 2004 film ''[[King Arthur (2004 film)|King Arthur]]'', Cerdic and Cynric were depicted as [[Saxons|Saxon]] invaders and were killed, respectively, by [[King Arthur]] and [[Lancelot]] at the [[Battle of Badon Hill]] (Mons Badonicus). Cynric was portrayed by [[Til Schweiger]].

== See also ==
* [[House of Wessex family tree]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
* Laing, L.R. (1975), ''The archaeology of late Celtic Britain and Ireland, c. 400-1200 AD,'' Taylor & Francis. {{ISBN|0-416-82360-2}}
* {{Cite book |last=Myres |first=John Nowell Linton |title=The English Settlements |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-19-282235-2 |language=en}}
* Sims-Williams, P. (1983), ''The settlement of England in Bede and the "Chronicle"'' from ''Anglo-Saxon England, Vol. 12'', pp.&nbsp;1–41, Cambridge University Press.
* Whittock, M.J. (1986), ''The Origins of England 410-600'' Croom Helm.

== External links ==
* {{PASE|4950|Cynric 1}}

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{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Cerdic of Wessex|Cerdic]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of monarchs of Wessex|King of Wessex]]|years=534–560}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Ceawlin of Wessex]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Kings of Wessex}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cynric Of Wessex}}

[[Category:560 deaths]]
[[Category:Arthurian characters]]
[[Category:English heroic legends]]
[[Category:Anglo-Saxon warriors]]
[[Category:Sub-Roman monarchs]]
[[Category:West Saxon monarchs]]
[[Category:6th-century English monarchs]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:House of Wessex]]