WESSEX Elewsa Sachsen

Abt 0439 - Abt 0475  (36 years)

• Name	WESSEX Elewsa Sachsen
  Birth	Abt 0439	Saxony, Germany
  Gender	Male
  Death	Abt 0475	Saxony, Germany
  Notes	Father of Cerdic, Uncle of Wihtgar Cerdic is the first king of Wessex for whom there is some historical reference. Cerdic had a nephew named Wihtgar. Bishop Asser in his Life of King Alfred, [1] refers to Wihtgar on page 4, line 7-8 as a nephew of Cerdic and states that Cerdic is the avunculo or maternal uncle of Wihtgar. The name of Cerdic's sister, the mother of Wihtgar, is unknown. This is the profile for the father of Cerdic and his sister. Everything else about this father must be considered legendary. Dates Obviously Cerdic did have a father even if he wasn't named Elesa but the traditional dates given for such a person seem very exaggerated. Living for 75 years during the 5th and 6th centuries AD would be extraordinary, given the life expectancy for the early Anglo-Saxon period was only 34.7 years for men and 33.1 years for women,[2] There is even a suggestion that Cerdic's reign may have been set too early by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and should be closer to 538-554,[3] which would mean that the dates for his father would also be later. Research Notes Pedigree in Anglo-Saxon Chronicle In its entry for the year 552, following a note that Cerdic's son Cynric fought with the Britons at Sarum and put them to flight, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle adds in a pedigree reaching from Cerdic back to the god Woden: Cerdic was the son of Elesa, Elesa of Esla, Esla of Gewis, Gewis of Wye, Wye of Frewin, Frewin of Frithgar, Frithgar of Brand, Brand of Balday, Balday of Woden. [4] In pedigree order, these names have the following profiles: Woden. The first name in the pedigree is a god. Woden, or Odin, has no WikiTree profile, but has a page on Wikipedia: Odin. Balday or Baeldaeg. Brand or Brandor Frithgar or Frithogar Frewin or Nfn Wye or Wig Gewis or Geuuis Esla Elesa Cerdic of Wessex Elesa, named by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as the father of Cerdic, is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (A) in the sections for the years 552 and 597, as the son of Esla (a seven generation descendant of Woden), and the father of Cerdic, the first semi-historical Anglo-Saxon, King of Wessex. [5]However he isn't mentioned when Cerdic first appears in the Chronicle in 495,[6] but later when descendants of Cerdic are succeeding to Wessex. Current Theories on Origins of the Pedigree 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is one the main sources for the history of Britain from the end of the Roman occupation to the invasion of William the Conqueror. However there are actually nine different copies of the Chronicle existing today, most with slight differences, and none considered to be the original text, which was probably written during the reign of King Alfred, in the late 9th century,[7] which is over three hundred years after Elesa was supposedly born. In its entry for the year 552, following a note that Cerdic's son Cynric fought with the Britons at Sarum and put them to flight, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle adds in a pedigree reaching from Cerdic back to the god Woden: Cerdic was the son of elesa, Elsesa of Esla, Esla of Gewis, Gewis of wye, Wye of Frewin, Frewin of Frithgar, Frithgar of Brand, Brand of Balday, Balday of Woden. [4] Anglian Collection A tradition earlier than the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle referred to as the Anglian Collection, contains four fewer generations than the Chronicle. In 1953, Anglo-Saxon scholar Kenneth Sisam presented a theory now widely accepted: With the additional generations, the names contain doublets containing the triple alliteration characteristic of Anglo-Saxon poetry, making the pedigree easy to recite: Freawine/Wig or Friðgar; Brand/Bældæg; Giwis/Wig; Elesa/Esla. While facilitating poetry, these duplications would have been difficult for a family to maintain over generations of actual naming, suggesting that the shorter pedigree was the original. Sisam suggested that the Wessex pedigree went no farther back than Cerdic, and that a political alliance with Bernicia in the 7th century resulted in Wessex adopting the Bernician pedigree almost intact. [8] John Asser Elesa, as the father of Cerdic is also mentioned in Asser's Life of King Alfred but in this book, the genealogy to Woden is simplified, many of the generations from the Chronicle have been omitted (though the genealogy does continue beyond Woden, all the way to Adam).[9] Kenneth Sisam Asser then was probably using an earlier version of the Chronicle; research by Kenneth Sisam, reveals that not only is the shorter version the original version, but it is almost identical to the genealogy of the Anglo-Saxon Kings of Bernicia. He suggests that the original genealogy of the Wessex royal family ended with Cerdic and only later borrowed the Bernician genealogy and later still introduced various names of Saxon heroes and other alliterative names, such as Esla and Elesa to make the longer genealogy.[10] Elesa as Romano-British One theory is that Cerdic was in fact a native Britain and not a Saxon at all and his father Elesa, has been "identified ... with the Romano-Briton, [chief] Elasius"[11] Aelle Elesa is also sometimes found under the name Aelle, and perhaps in that instance he is being equated with the Anglo-Saxon [12] who is said to have founded the South Saxon Dynasty. There are even instances on the Internet where Elesa is given as the wife of Aelle, both being the parents of Cerdic. See page 193 of Two thousand years one hundred generations again by Robert Page as an example. (books.google.com.au/books?isbn=1446193993) Sources ↑ Bishop Asser, Life of King Alfred: together with the Annals of Saint Neots erroneously ascribed to Asser William Henry Stevenson, editor. Clarendon: Oxford Press, 1904. page 4, line 7-8 ↑ Härke, Heinrich, 'Early Anglo-Saxony social structure,' in J.Hines (ed.) The Anglo-Saxons from the Migration Period to the eighth century: an ethnographic perspective (Studies in Historical Archaeoethnology 2). Woodbridge: Boydell Press 1997. pp, 125-170. Available via Google Books (http://books.google.com.au/books/about/The_Anglo_Saxons_from_the_Migration_Peri.html?id=UIURCQmNIpMC&redir_esc=y : viewed 09 November 2014) page 135 ↑ 'Cerdic of Wessex' ↑ 4.0 4.1 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Everyman Press Edition, London, 1912, translated from the Anglo-Saxon by Rev. James Ingram, London, 1823. Page 27 Accessed 9/14/2019 jhd ↑ Gomme, E.E.C., The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, newly translated, London: George Bell and Sons, 1909. Digitised by Google from University of Michigan Library, available on Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/anglosaxonchron00gommgoog : viewed 09 November 2014). pp 14 & 16 ↑ Gomme, p. 12 ↑ 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, version, 31 October 2014, (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anglo-Saxon_Chronicle&oldid=631866591 : viewed 09 November 2014) ↑ Wikipedia: Anglo-Saxon_royal_genealogies Accessed 9/15/2019 jhd ↑ Asser, John, Asser's Life of King Alfred, translated with introduction and notes by Lionel Cecil Jane, London: Chatto & Windus, 1908. Digitised by Google from the Harvard University Library, available on Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/asserslifekinga00janegoog : viewed 09 November 2014) page 2 ↑ 'Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, version 29 August 2014, (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anglo-Saxon_royal_genealogies&oldid=623344806 : viewed 09 November 2014) ↑ 'Cerdic of Wessex,' Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, version 27 October 2014, (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cerdic_of_Wessex&oldid=631373043 : viewed 09 November 2014} ↑ Wikipedia: Ælle_of_Sussex
  Person ID	I58634	Freeman-Smith
  Last Modified	27 Jan 2026

  
  

  Family
  Children	1. WESSEX Cerdic,   b. Abt 0455, Ancient Saxony, Northern Europe d. 0534, Kingdom of Wessex (Age 79 years)  [Father: natural]
  Family ID	F347211	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	27 Jan 2026