He lists seven kings of the Anglo-Saxons whom he regards as having held imperium, or overlordship ; only one king of Wessex, Ceawlin, is listed, and none from Mercia, though elsewhere he acknowledges the secular power several of the Mercians held.

Though there are many unanswered questions about the chronology and activities of the early West Saxon rulers, it is clear that Ceawlin was one of the key figures in the final Anglo-Saxon conquest of southern Britain.

Although these annals provide most of what is known about Ceawlin, the historicity of many of the entries is uncertain.

The sources do agree that Ceawlin is the son of Cynric and he usually is named as the father of Cuthwine.

There is one discrepancy in this case: the entry for 685 in the version of the Chronicle assigns Ceawlin a son, Cutha, but in the 855 entry in the same manuscript, Cutha is listed as the son of Cuthwine.

Whether Ceawlin is a descendant of Cerdic is a matter of debate.

The name, Ceawlin, is one of the names that does not have a convincing Anglo-Saxon origin ; it seems more likely to be from the native Britons.

Ceawlin clearly is part of the West Saxon expansion, but the military history of the period is difficult to understand.

The first record of a battle fought by Ceawlin is in 556, when he and his father, Cynric, fought the native Britons at " Beran byrg ", or Bera's Stronghold.

The first battle Ceawlin fought as king is dated by the Chronicle to 568, when he and Cutha fought with Æthelberht, the king of Kent.

There are multiple examples of joint kingship in Anglo-Saxon history, and this may be another: it is not clear what Cutha's relationship to Ceawlin is, but it certainly is possible he was also a king.

" Cuthwulf's relationship with Ceawlin is unknown, but the alliteration common to Anglo-Saxon royal families suggests Cuthwulf may be part of the West Saxon royal line.

The annal for 577 reads " Here Cuthwine and Ceawlin fought against the Britons, and they killed three kings, Coinmail and Condidan and Farinmail, in the place which is called Dyrham, and took three cities: Gloucester and Cirencester and Bath.

It is possible that when Ceawlin and Cuthwine took Bath, they found the Roman baths still operating to some extent.

The entry reads " Here Ceawlin and Cutha fought against the Britons at the place which is named Fethan leag, and Cutha was killed ; and Ceawlin took many towns and countless war-loot, and in anger he turned back to his own.

Ceawlin ( also spelled Ceaulin and Caelin, died ca.

It also has been used to argue that perhaps, Ceawlin did not win the battle and that the chronicler chose not to record the outcome fully – a king does not usually come home " in anger " after taking " many towns and countless war-loot ".

His successor was Ine, who also claimed to be a descendant of Cerdic through Ceawlin, but again through a long-separated line of descent.

Ceawlin is one of the seven kings named in Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People as holding " imperium " over the southern English: the Chronicle later repeated this claim, referring to Ceawlin as a bretwalda, or " Britain-ruler ".

Ceawlin was deposed, perhaps by his successor, a nephew named Ceol, and died a year later.

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Ine's successor, Aethelheard, fought that year with an ealdorman named Oswald, whom the Chronicle provides with a genealogy showing descent from Ceawlin, an early king of Wessex.

To search out her mother, Julia, Regina secures passage to Rome by allowing herself and her daughter to give sexual favours to a wealthy merchant named Ceawlin.

To the west, Ceawlin of Wessex is known to have reached the Bristol Channel one hundred years before.

Possibly this was the palace of one of the British kings defeated by Ceawlin in 577.

The Chronicle records several battles of Ceawlin's between the years 556 and 592, including the first record of a battle between different groups of Anglo-Saxons, and indicates that under Ceawlin Wessex acquired significant territory, some of which was later to be lost to other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for 577 records that that year King Ceawlin of Wessex and his young son Cuthwine fought the Britons of the West Country at " the spot that is called ".

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle there was a battle at Dyrham in 577 in which the Gewisse ( West Saxons ) under Ceawlin killed three British kings and captured Gloucester, Cirencester and Bath.

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he became king the same year as Ceawlin of Wessex ( 560 ) on the death of Ida of Bernicia, and ruled 30 years.

According to The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle there was " a great slaughter " in 592 and " Ceawlin was driven out ".

According to the Chronicle, Cædwalla was the son of Coenberht, and was descended via Ceawlin from Cerdic, who was the first of the Gewisse to land in England.

Oswald may have had the better claim, as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle calls him a descendant of the early king Ceawlin, but it was Æthelheard who prevailed.

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he began his reign in 591, but it was only in the following year that he drove out his uncle Ceawlin in a battle at Woden's Barrow in Wiltshire, thus denying the throne to the rightful heir, Ceawlin's son Cuthwine.

It is presumed that Ceawlin, who succeeded Cynric in about 581, was his son.

After Cenwealh's death in 673, his widow, Seaxburh, held the throne for a year ; she was followed by Aescwine, who was apparently descended from another brother of Ceawlin.

Centwine was succeeded by another supposed distant relative, Caedwalla, who claimed descent from Ceawlin.

In 1969 he married Hungarian born Anna Gael Gyarmathy, by whom he has two children, Lady Lenka Thynn and Ceawlin Thynn, Viscount Weymouth ( pronounced ' See awe lin ') who were sent to the local comprehensive school.

Ella, king of the South-Saxons, was the first who possessed so large a territory ; the second was Ceawlin, king of the West-Saxons: the third was Ethelbert, King of Kent ; the fourth was Redwald, king of the East-Angles ; the fifth was Edwin, king of the Northumbrians ; the sixth was Oswald, who succeeded him ; the seventh was Oswy, the brother of Oswald ; the eighth was Egbert, king of the West-Saxons.

This battle was fought against Ceawlin and Cwichelm of Wessex, the West Saxon kings who invaded their territory with a larger force than the East-Saxons could muster in or about 626.

Ceawlin was active during the last years of the Anglo-Saxon invasion, with little of southern England remaining in the control of the native Britons by the time of his death.

Ceawlin was a king of Wessex and the second Bretwalda, or overlord of all Britain.

Ceawlin died in 593, having been deposed the year before, possibly by his successor, Ceol.

The entry says " Here Ceawlin and Cutha fought against Aethelberht and drove him into Kent ; and they killed two ealdormen, Oslaf and Cnebba, on Wibbandun.

It probably was built in the fifth or sixth centuries, perhaps by Ceawlin.

Ceawlin overcame pockets of resisting Britons to the northeast, in the Chilterns, Gloucestershire and Somerset.