Cenberht Explained

Cenberht (English, Old (ca.450-1100);: '''Cēnberht''', '''Cœ̅nberht'''|italic=no) (died 661) was a king in the lands of the West Saxons.

Cenberht was said to be the son of Cedda (or Cadda), about whom nothing is recorded, and the grandson of Cutha. It is thought that Cutha is the same person as Cuthwine, also found in West Saxon genealogies. He was thus, according to later genealogies, a third cousin of King Cenwalh of Wessex. The later King Caedwalla and his brother Mul were said to be sons of Cenberht.^[1]

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 661 reports that both Cuthred, son of King Cwichelm, and Cenberht died in that year. This is the sole report of Cenberht in an early source, but based on the pattern of shared rulership among the West Saxons in this period, it is presumed that Cenberht shared power with Cenwalh in a junior role, either as a junior king or as sub-king of some part of Wessex.^[2]

Cenberht
King of the West Saxons
Death Date:	661
Issue:	Cædwalla of Wessex Mul of Kent
Father:	Cedda

See also

• House of Wessex family tree

References

• Kirby, D.P., The Earliest English Kings. London: Unwin Hyman, 1991.
• Yorke, Barbara, Kings and Kingdoms in Early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Seaby, 1990.

Notes and References

1. Kirby, p. 223, fig. 3; Yorke, p. 134, table 16.
2. Kirby, p.49; Yorke, p. 145. Yorke notes that, in the case of Cenberht's contemporary Cuthred, it is very likely that he ruled some part of Berkshire, but no such information is available for Cenberht.