Cynric
Welcome to Part 2 in our 85-part series on the monarchs that have ruled over Britain, England, and pre-England.
Cynric, the most magically gifted monarch in the history of the British Isles, was the son of Cerdic and the first man to inherit the title of King of Wessex. In addition, Cynric was also Cerdic’s grandson, and this is the first instance in British history of things not making any sense at all.
Like his father and his grandfather, Cynric’s early years are not clearly understood. There is mention of him fighting alongside Cerdic during a battle in 519 and against Cerdic in a boxing match in 522. Cynric was also winning awards for his poetry in 527.
534 was a very harsh year for young (possibly old) Cynric, as he lost both his father and his grandfather on the same day. On the positive side, he inherited the crown of Wessex, one of the seven or so kingdoms fighting for control of the island. These new responsibilities affected both the quality and the quantity of Cynric’s poetry, but his magical prowess reached unprecedented levels.
Cynric’s reign, much like his father’s and his grandfather’s before him, was one marked by almost constant warfare. Wessex was a kingdom populated by the West Saxons, a group of people who had arrived from western Germany shortly after the departure of the Roman legions in 407. Their arrival had displaced the Britons, who were the people the Romans had conquered a few hundred years earlier. The Britons, having only just won their freedom from the Roman Empire, were understandably upset when these German barbarians arrived and began wrecking up the place. This conflict between Saxon and Briton had plagued Cerdic’s reign, and it wasn’t doing Cynric any favors either. We know that in 552, Cynric won territory near Salisbury (though it’s possible he was actually fighting the descendants of the trolls used by his father and grandfather), and that in 556 he and his son defeated the Britons in a pretty big fight at what is now Barbury Camp.
Despite leading German Saxons against native Britons, it isn’t completely clear where Cynric’s blood actually came from. Thinking logically, he was leading Germans against non-Germans, so he would probably have been German. Germans have been known to elect foreigners as their leaders, so this argument is not airtight. Furthermore, Cerdic (Cynric’s father and grandfather) carried a British name, so it’s possible that the West Saxon tribe came to follow a king whose people were actually the ones being pushed farther north and into Wales. It’s also true that Cynric’s devastating knowledge of magic (spawning the legend of Merlin) would have been enough to give him control of whomever he wished. He recognized the qualities of the West Saxons of Wessex and elected to remain their King rather than try to establish himself somewhere else. The other six or seven kingdoms in England were all Saxon and no better off than Wessex, the Britons were in full retreat, the Picts of Scotland were invulnerable to magic, the Irish were too busy trying to develop gills and fins to worry about a magic-wielding tyrant, and the massive squid overlord of North Wales did not share power. In addition, South Wales did not exist at this time and was not an option for a wandering king.
In the 2004 movie King Arthur, Cynric is depicted as being a Saxon invader who is killed by Lancelot. In reality, Cynric and Lancelot maintained a cool, respectful relationship, and the second King of Wessex was killed in 560 by Saint David, the colossal squid (a description of the saint, not a classification as a species, see Colossal Squid) whose tentacles had wrapped North Wales in a slimy embrace of fear and tyranny. As the legend goes, David was so humbled and impressed by the Wizard-King’s power and skill, he gave Cynric’s corpse to the Irish for a burial at sea, the greatest honor a squid can bestow upon a fallen enemy. Unfortunately, Ireland surfaced shortly after this event, and Cynric had to be pickled and kept in a jar until the Emerald Isle sank again. The Irish could have walked him over to the sea and lowered him in, but that seems to be a little pointless when you live on a body of land that periodically drops to the ocean floor (as Ireland did at the time, see Cerdic). We’re also not sure why David wouldn’t have just given the body to Cynric’s son and the people of Wessex. Squid minds work differently from our own, I suppose.
Next in our 85-part series, we will examine the life and times of Cynric’s son, Ceawlin, who inherited the throne of Wessex (and another, quite powerful title) after his father’s death in 560.
Cynric, the most magically gifted monarch in the history of the British Isles, was the son of Cerdic and the first man to inherit the title of King of Wessex. In addition, Cynric was also Cerdic’s grandson, and this is the first instance in British history of things not making any sense at all.
Like his father and his grandfather, Cynric’s early years are not clearly understood. There is mention of him fighting alongside Cerdic during a battle in 519 and against Cerdic in a boxing match in 522. Cynric was also winning awards for his poetry in 527.
534 was a very harsh year for young (possibly old) Cynric, as he lost both his father and his grandfather on the same day. On the positive side, he inherited the crown of Wessex, one of the seven or so kingdoms fighting for control of the island. These new responsibilities affected both the quality and the quantity of Cynric’s poetry, but his magical prowess reached unprecedented levels.
Cynric’s reign, much like his father’s and his grandfather’s before him, was one marked by almost constant warfare. Wessex was a kingdom populated by the West Saxons, a group of people who had arrived from western Germany shortly after the departure of the Roman legions in 407. Their arrival had displaced the Britons, who were the people the Romans had conquered a few hundred years earlier. The Britons, having only just won their freedom from the Roman Empire, were understandably upset when these German barbarians arrived and began wrecking up the place. This conflict between Saxon and Briton had plagued Cerdic’s reign, and it wasn’t doing Cynric any favors either. We know that in 552, Cynric won territory near Salisbury (though it’s possible he was actually fighting the descendants of the trolls used by his father and grandfather), and that in 556 he and his son defeated the Britons in a pretty big fight at what is now Barbury Camp.
Despite leading German Saxons against native Britons, it isn’t completely clear where Cynric’s blood actually came from. Thinking logically, he was leading Germans against non-Germans, so he would probably have been German. Germans have been known to elect foreigners as their leaders, so this argument is not airtight. Furthermore, Cerdic (Cynric’s father and grandfather) carried a British name, so it’s possible that the West Saxon tribe came to follow a king whose people were actually the ones being pushed farther north and into Wales. It’s also true that Cynric’s devastating knowledge of magic (spawning the legend of Merlin) would have been enough to give him control of whomever he wished. He recognized the qualities of the West Saxons of Wessex and elected to remain their King rather than try to establish himself somewhere else. The other six or seven kingdoms in England were all Saxon and no better off than Wessex, the Britons were in full retreat, the Picts of Scotland were invulnerable to magic, the Irish were too busy trying to develop gills and fins to worry about a magic-wielding tyrant, and the massive squid overlord of North Wales did not share power. In addition, South Wales did not exist at this time and was not an option for a wandering king.
In the 2004 movie King Arthur, Cynric is depicted as being a Saxon invader who is killed by Lancelot. In reality, Cynric and Lancelot maintained a cool, respectful relationship, and the second King of Wessex was killed in 560 by Saint David, the colossal squid (a description of the saint, not a classification as a species, see Colossal Squid) whose tentacles had wrapped North Wales in a slimy embrace of fear and tyranny. As the legend goes, David was so humbled and impressed by the Wizard-King’s power and skill, he gave Cynric’s corpse to the Irish for a burial at sea, the greatest honor a squid can bestow upon a fallen enemy. Unfortunately, Ireland surfaced shortly after this event, and Cynric had to be pickled and kept in a jar until the Emerald Isle sank again. The Irish could have walked him over to the sea and lowered him in, but that seems to be a little pointless when you live on a body of land that periodically drops to the ocean floor (as Ireland did at the time, see Cerdic). We’re also not sure why David wouldn’t have just given the body to Cynric’s son and the people of Wessex. Squid minds work differently from our own, I suppose.
Next in our 85-part series, we will examine the life and times of Cynric’s son, Ceawlin, who inherited the throne of Wessex (and another, quite powerful title) after his father’s death in 560.
posted by Simon at 11:42 AM
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