Cerdic of Wessex - See also Ceretic (disambiguation) for two
kings with a similar name. |Imaginary depiction of Cerdic from
John Speed's 1611 "Saxon Heptarchy".| |House||House of Wessex|
Cerdic was probably the first King of Anglo-Saxon Wessex from
519 to 534, cited by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as the founder of
the kingdom of Wessex and ancestor of all its subsequent kings.
(See House of Wessex family tree). According to the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle, Cerdic landed in Hampshire in 495 with his son Cynric
in five ships. He is said to have fought a British king named
Natanleod at Netley Marsh in Hampshire and killed him thirteen
years later (in 508) and to have fought at Cerdicesleag
(Charford, Cerdic's Ford) in 519, after which he became first
king of Wessex. The conquest of the Isle of Wight is also
mentioned among his campaigns, and it was later given to his
kinsmen, Stuf and Wihtgar (who had supposedly arrived with the
West Saxons in 514). Cerdic is said to have died in 534 and was
succeeded by his son Cynric.