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Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 1999-04 > 0923314401


From: Luke Stevens < >
Subject: Re: Cerdic Of WESSEX
Date: Mon, 05 Apr 1999 08:13:21 -0400


> There is an article by Sisam (I don't have the citation handy, but I
> am sure it is in the archives) which demonstrates that the ancestry of
> Cerdic is a mixture of confusion with the pedigree of another kingdom,
> and outright invention. Cerdic should be considered of unknown
> parentage.

Kenneth Sisam, "Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies", _Proceedings of the
British Academy_, vol. 39 (1953), pp. 287-346. (thanks to Stewart
Baldwin for pointing this out to me long ago.)

Sisam proposes a clever and plausible theory that part of the genealogy
of Ida of Bernicia was accidentally transferred to Cerdic, who
immediately follows in the chronicles, and then was expanded and
polished to fit alliterative verse until reaching the final form we
have. (It is just a theory, and though I view it favorably, it lacks
definite evidence. It is not right for those who cling to doubts about
Egbert's descent from Cerdic to say that Sisam has disproven Cerdic's
alleged ancestry).

Luke Stevens

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