 0706 - 0797 (~ 91 years)
-
| Name |
WESSEX Eoppa |
| Birth |
0706 |
Kingdom of Wessex  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
0797 |
Kingdom of Wessex |
| Notes |
- Eoppa appears in a family tree on Wikipedia's list of monarchs, where Eoppa is shown as the son of Ingild and grandson of Cenred, King of Wessex, born 640; Eoppa is shown as the father of Eafa and grandfather of Ealhmund, King of Kent, who ruled in 784. [1]
Wikipedia's material is derived from a the genealogical preface to the Winchester (Parker) Chronicle and also in the annual entry (covering years 855–859) describing the death of Æthelwulf as follows: [2]
Ingild, brother of King Ine of Wessex and descendant of founder, Cerdic
Eoppa
Eafa
Ealhmund
King Egbert of Wessex.
These are the only sources of Eoppa's name and existence. Eoppa appears in no contemporary records.
Research Notes
Uncertain Existence
Historian Heather Edwards has suggested that the pedigree in which Eafa appears was forged. She suggests that Ealhmund was probably a Kentish royal scion, and that pedigree was forged to give Ealhmund's son Egbert the descent from Cerdic requisite to reigning in Wessex.[3]
Charles Cawley has also expressed doubts about Ealhmund's ancestry, noting that: "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle names Ealhmund as son of Eafa, in a late passage which sets out the ancestry of Æthelwulf King of Wessex. However, Ealhmund's predecessor as king of Kent, and Ealhmund's own son, were both named Ecgberht, a name which was not particularly common in any of the Anglo-Saxon royal families. In view of the general practice of name inheritance within the ruling families, and the absence of the name "Ecgberht" from the house of Wessex as recorded in the traditional genealogies, it is not impossible that Ealhmund's origins lay in Kent and not in Wessex. This would of course mean that the usually represented ancestry of Ecgberht King of Wessex would require reconsideration. Mercian involvement in Kentish affairs appears to have increased again in 785-89. Presumably King Ealhmund was deposed as king of Kent by Offa King of Mercia as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that "the Kentishmen … formerly … had been wrongly forced away from their allegiance to [Ecgberht King of Wessex's] kinsmen". This event may have taken place in 789, the date when King Ealhmund's son Ecgberht is later described as having been expelled from England by Beorhtric King of Wessex and Offa King of Mercia." [4]
Sources
↑ Wikipedia: List_of_monarchs_of_Wessex Accessed 9/10/2019 jhd
↑ *Garmonsway, G.N. ed., The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, London: J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd. pp. xxxii, 2, 4. Cited by Wikipedia: Ealhmund_of_Kent Accessed 10/3/2019 jhd
↑ Edwards, Heather (2004). "Ecgberht [Egbert] (d. 839), king of the West Saxons". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/8581. Retrieved 14 May 2014. (subscription or UK public library membership required) Cited by Wikipedia: Ealhmund_of_Kent Accessed 10/3/2019 jhd
↑ Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands: A Prosopography of Medieval European Noble and Royal Families, Online at Foundation for Medieval Genealogy Website. Anglo Saxon Danish Kings
See also:
Anglo-Saxon Bishops, Kings & Nobles, Eng. 104, p. 339
The Royal Line of Succession, A16A225, p. 5
Keiser und Koenig Hist., Gen. Hist. 25, pt. 1, p. 95
|
| Person ID |
I58612 |
Freeman-Smith |
| Last Modified |
27 Jan 2026 |
| Family |
UNKNOWN Unknown, b. Abt 0710, Wessex, England d. 0780, Wessex, England (Age 70 years) |
| Marriage |
Wessex, England |
| Children |
| | 1. WESSEX Eafa, b. 0732, Kingdom of Wessex d. 0762, Kingdom of Wessex (Age ~ 30 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
|
| Family ID |
F26109 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
27 Jan 2026 |
|
|
