Wuffingas

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Further information on the kings of the East Angles, including the Wuffingas: List of monarchs of East Anglia
The kingdom of the East Angles during the period it was ruled by the Wuffingas, bordered by the North Sea, the River Stour, the Devil's Dyke and the Fens

The Wuffingas, Uffingas or Wiffings were the ruling dynasty of

Viking invasions of the 9th century and Dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century both led to the destruction of documents
relating to the rule of the Wuffingas.

The last of the Wuffingas kings was Ælfwald, who died in 749; he was succeeded by kings whose lineage is unknown.

Earliest kings of the East Angles

The

Wōden.[1]

The earliest kings of East Anglia were known as the Wuffingas, named after the semi-historical founder of the dynasty, Wuffa. Rædwald (died c. 625) is the first of the country's kings known to have ruled. Bede identified Rædwald's father as Tytil and his grandfather as Wuffa; their respective accession dates of 571 and 578 were given by the 13th century English chronicler Roger of Wendover. The Historia Brittonum lists Wehha, father of Wuffa as the first of the Wuffingas, which perhaps sets the date for the origins of the dynasty to the middle of the 6th century.[2]

Wuffa is thought to mean "little wolf", suggesting that the dynastic name Wuffingas translates as "kin of the wolf", making it etymologically the same as the Wulfings clan named in Beowulf and the Old English poem "Widsith".[3]

Dynasty

The following family tree includes the Wuffingas kings from Wehha to Ælfwald. They are numbered in order of ruling.[4] Ecgric was also a member of the Wuffingas house, but his exact descent is not decided. He may have been Sigeberht's brother, or his step-brother.[citation needed]

Ancestor
Ælfwald (Alfwold Aldwulfing)
Ealdwulf (Aldwulf Æðelricing)
Ethelric (Æþelric Ening)
Eni (Eni Tytling)
Tytla (Tytla Wuffing)
Wuffa (Wuffa Wehhing)
Wehha (Wehh Wilhelming)
Wilhelm (Wilhelm Hrypping)
Hryth (Hryp Hroðmunding)
Hrothmund (Hroðmund Trigling)
Trygil (Trygil Tytimaning)
Tytiman (Tytiman Casericg)
Caesar (Caser Wodning)
Wōden (Woden Frealafing)
Pedigree of Ælfwald from the Anglian collection,
preserved in the Textus Roffensis

After 749, East Anglia was ruled either by the rulers of Mercia, or by kings whose genealogy is not known.

Centres of royal power

The Wicklaw region

period that followed the end of Roman imperial rule in the 5th century.[5]

The territory between the Orwell and the watersheds of the Alde and Deben rivers may have been an early centre of royal power for the Wuffingas kings, originally centred upon

Botolph's monastery at Iken was founded by royal grant in 654,[7] and Bede identified Rendlesham as the site of Æthelwold's royal dwelling.[8]

Cultural associations

The author Sam Newton has claimed that the

Botwulf of Thorney's monastery at Icanho, the religious foundations at Ely and Dereham founded by daughters of Anna, the minster at Blythburgh and the monastery founded by Sigeberht prior to his abdication and subsequent death in battle.[9]

References

  1. ^ Newton 2004, p. 77.
  2. ^ Yorke 2002, pp. 4, 61.
  3. ^ Newton 2004, pp. 105–106.
  4. ISBN 978-0-4151-6639-3
    .
  5. ^ West 1998, pp. 261–275.
  6. ^ Wade 2001.
  7. ^ West, Scarfe & Cramp 1984.
  8. ^ Bruce-Mitford 1974, pp. 73–113.
  9. ^ Newton 2004, pp. 133–134.

Bibliography

Further reading

External links
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