Ruled Gewisse or West Saxons, 519-34 or 538-54.
Cerdic is something of a mystery. The traditional story, as told in the ASC by the ninth century annalists seeking to find a pedigree for their great Saxon kings, was that Cerdic, the son of Elesa, and his son CYNRIC came to Britain with five ships and landed at Cerdicesford and on that day fought the British. Six years later they "obtained" the kingdom of the West Saxons, Cerdic ruling for fifteen years. The dates ascribed are contradictory and unlikely. The introduction to the ASC states they arrived in the year 494 and that six years later, or 500, they "conquered" the kingdom of Wessex. The later annals, however, assign the year 519 to the birth of Wessex. The latter year is the more likely (otherwise Cynric is exceedingly old by the time he dies) if we accept the six year period before gaining Wessex that would place their arrival in around 513/514, the year the annals describe another pair of Saxons (STUF and WIHTGAR) arriving, also at Cerdicesford, and also putting the British to flight. Possibly the annalists confused dates or Saxons in their desire to grant Wessex an ancient pedigree. It is possible that in reckoning their dates backward (based on the Easter cycle of feasts which repeats every nineteen years) they counted back from 519 instead of forward, which would start Cerdic's reign in 538, a more satisfactory date. This revised dating robs us of the opportunity of Cerdic clashing with ARTHUR. The original dates for Cerdic's reign (494-516) allow us to assume that Cerdic was killed at Badon (see under AELLE).
Even more confusing, though, is that Cerdic is a British name, not Saxon, the same as CERHDIG and CARADOC. Since no independent records survive to prove Cerdic's existence we have to draw conclusions. It has been suggested that Cerdic may have been a British chieftain, governing as an administrator (not a hereditary Monarch) after the Roman fashion in the land around Salisbury: Wiltshire and Somerset. It is even possible that he or his relatives had married into the Saxon nobility, as the Saxons were already making incursions into Britain. Perhaps, with Saxon support, Cerdic proclaimed himself king and established a dynasty around the year 519 (or 538). The Britons would now regard him as a traitor, so the battle ascribed to him against the British in the year 527 (or 546) may well be true. A clue to this is in the name of Cerdic's tribe. He was known as the chief of the Gewisse (the name of Wessex did not come into existence for another two centuries). This name relates to his great-grandfather Gewis, another British name, but more significantly the Gewisse was originally a tribe or group of tribes which existed in the area around Shropshire and Herefordshire, running into the territory of Ergyng. The word Gewisse came to be used to describe a confederate army which may have consisted of Celts and Saxons and which had no fixed territory but roamed throughout the territory of Wiltshire and Somerset. However Cerdic may well have been a prince of the Gewisse in Wales, probably in Ergyng, which may have made him a relative of GWRGAN or CARADOC VREICHFAS. He may have been expelled from Ergyng because of his Saxon sympathies and with an army of Gewisse he may have fled across the English Channel to Brittany, where other British tribes had migrated, and from there he returned a few years later attempting to regain his lands but with an army of Saxon mercenaries. Cerdicesford, where he reputedly landed, is in Hampshire, near the head of the Solent. However no archeological evidence supports this. This area contains more remains of the Jutes (who had settled on the Isle of Wight) than the Saxons, whose archeological remains are more to the west, in Somerset and Wiltshire.
It is just possible that Cerdic has nothing to do with Wessex. The ASC states that in 530 (which may be 549), Cerdic and Cynric obtained the Isle of Wight and slew men at Wihtgarasburh. The Isle of Wight was occupied by Jutes not Saxons. It has been suggested that Wihtgarasburh is in fact Wigtown in Galloway, and that Cerdic led his Saxon forces into battle in the north. Only later did his descendants move south, but so great a hero had Cerdic become that his name became associated with the later established kingdom. It is conjectural, but not without possibility, as it does help explain the anomalous years following his death (see under CYNRIC). Cerdic died either in 534 or 554 and is believed to be buried at Cerdicesbeorg in the northern part of Hampshire, near Stoke-in-Hurtsbourne, though it is also suggested he died and is buried in Northumbria.
Source: British Kings and Queens, Mke Ashley, 1998
King Cerdic of West Saxons 
