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Ælle was king of the South Saxons from 477 to perhaps as late as 514, and was named Bretwalda by Bede, who adds that he was overlord of the English south of the Humber river. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... 1911 encyclopedia text (edited): The Kingdom of Sussex, (Suth Seaxe, i. ... Events Huneric becomes king of Vandals Aelle king of the South Saxons, arrives in England, with his three sons, near Cymenshore. ... Events Pope Symmachus (498-514) succeeded by Pope Hormisdas Rebellion in the Byzantine Empire, led by Vitalius Births Deaths Aelle of Sussex, king of Sussex, Bretwalda (approximate date) Categories: 514 ... Jump to: navigation, search The title of Bretwalda was one perhaps used by some of the kings of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of southern Britain (the so-called heptarchy kingdoms) in the second half of the first millennium AD. Such a king was considered to be the overlord of several... Jump to: navigation, search Bede depicted im an early medieval manuscript Depiction of Bede from the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493 Bede (Latin Beda), also known as Saint Bede or, more commonly, the Venerable Bede (ca. ... Jump to: navigation, search The English people are an indigenous European ethnic group originating in the lowlands of Great Britain and today represent a fairly homogenous composite population descended from a combination of Anglo-Saxons and Celts with minor influences from Scandinavians, Jutes, and Normans. ... Humber is also the name of one of the ranges of cars manufactured by the Rootes Group Humber is also the name of a river in Newfoundland, Canada, as well as a river and a college, both in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ...

Our source for the events of Ælle's life (besides the short mention in Bede's Ecclesiastical History) is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, compiled in 891. It states that he landed in Britain in 477 with three ships and his three sons Cymen, Wlencing, and Cissa at Cymenes ora, where "they killed many of the Welsh, and drove the rest into the wood that is called Anredsleage." For the year 485, the Chronicle records that he again fought the "Welsh" at the stream of Mearcread. Then in 491, Ælle with the help of Cissa successfully besieged Anderida (also identified as Pevensey), and slew all of the inhabitants. And with that last entry, the Chronicle contains no more records of this warchief; we have no record when he died, nor how, nor what happened in the kingdom of the South Saxons after his death until the baptism of its king Æthelwalh around 675. Jump to: navigation, search The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals narrating the history of the English and their settlement in Britain. ... Events Huneric becomes king of Vandals Aelle king of the South Saxons, arrives in England, with his three sons, near Cymenshore. ... Cissa, mythical King of Sussex, supposed eponym of Chichester. ... Events Peter the Fuller is excommunicated by a synod in Rome. ... Events AElle conquers the fortified Roman town of Anderida through siegecraft. ... Anderida is an ancient Roman fort at Pevensey, near Eastbourne in Sussex, England. ... Events The abbey of Abingdon, England is founded Aldhelm made abbot Aethelred succeeds his brother Wulfhere as king of Mercia Births Deaths Wulfhere, king of Japan - Temmu Emperor of Japan (672-686) Categories: 675 ...

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle at this point begins narrating the events of the founding of the West Saxon kingdom, or Wessex, so it is possible that the scribe assembling this chronicle forgot to return to the events of Ælle's life. Alaistar Campbell, in examining the chronology of this part of the Chronicle, notes that at several places events are duplicated at 28 year intervals, suggesting that the sources from which the composing scribe assembled the Chronicle were based on 28-year Easter Tables, and that the annal that mentioned the later events of Ælle's life were mislaid. Wessex was one of the seven major Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (the Heptarchy) that preceded the Kingdom of England. ... Jump to: navigation, search Easter is one of most important religious holiday of the Christian liturgical year, observed in March, April, or May to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus after his death by crucifixion in AD 30-33 (see Good Friday). ...

Ælle’s career may be largely fictional. He is said to have arrived in three ships, with three sons, and fought three battles. The three ships motif occurs in other myths: "According to their own legend, reported by the mid-6th-century Gothic historian Jordanes, the Goths originated in southern Scandinavia and crossed in three ships under their king Berig to the southern shore of the Baltic Sea, where they settled…" [1].

The story of Ælle is a heroic Old English legend which explains the acquisition of Sussex. An entirely different and equally implausible British (Welsh) story was preserved by Nennius. He stated that Hengist treacherously seized the British king Vortigern and demanded the cession of Essex and Sussex as ransom for the king: Hengistus sicut dixerat, vociferatus est et omnes seniores trecenti Guorthigirni regis iugulati sunt et ipse solus captus et catenatus est et regiones plurimas pro redemptione enimae suae illis tribuit, id est Estsaxum, Sutsaxum [2].

Probably, Saxon migrants had been colonizing the area for decades, and it was already heavily populated by Saxons before the recorded dates of Hengist and Ælle. In late Roman times the coast was already known as the Saxon Shore: “The Saxon Shore Forts were built by the Romans in the late 3rd century AD along the southeast coast of Britain to guard against increasing invasion and piracy by Germanic tribes including the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes” [3]. However the Anglo- Saxon Chronicles are written in a dry terse stlye for the purpose of informing rather than intertaining, in cotrast to the Arthur stories or Beowulf. Although the Chronicle entry describing AElle was written down many years later, it would be a mistake to assume that it is entirely fiction. Arthur is a common male name, meaning bearlike, believed to possibly be descended from the Roman surname Artorius or the Celtic bear-goddess Artio. ...

There are no easy answers to questions such as 'Who invented the motor car’: it was a gradual process over decades. Likewise, the colonization of South East England by Germanic migrants was a gradual process. But there is a human need for simple answers to complex question. It is for this reason that myths arise. The British (Welsh) myths assume that the provinces were lost due to foul trickery by wicked rebel mercenaries, while the English myths revolve around heroic deeds by noble warriors.

Slightly more relevant is that German king Fraomar and his people were settled in Britain by the Emperor Valentinian a century before the supposed arrival of Ælle: “Another point of view which has grown up from unfortunately reading only the Saxon Chronicle, is that Continental immigration began suddenly with the ‘three keels’. The evidence of tradition, and of tribal names, shows that there had been a continual flow of population into Britain before the Roman age. The Atrebates, the Belgae, the Parisii, the Brigantes, and others, are equally familiar names on both sides of the channel. Nor was this process stopped even by Rome: it was only regulated. Rome brought over masses of troops largely recruited from the Continent, even to the Huns on the Wall. Aurelius brought multitudes of the Marcomanni to settle in Britain. Similarly did Probus, with the colonies of Vandals and Burgundians. The Franks raided the south and occupied London under Allectus. Constantine was accompanied by the king of the Alamanni - and doubtless a good following - when he came over to Britain. Valentinian removed Fraomar and his tribe of Alamanni into Britain.” [4]. However, once indepenent Germanic (English) kingdoms were established, there was a large immigration of their tribespeople to the island of Britian.

See also: Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Jump to: navigation, search The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals narrating the history of the English and their settlement in Britain. ...

See also: Kingdom of Sussex 1911 encyclopedia text (edited): The Kingdom of Sussex, (Suth Seaxe, i. ...

See also: Kings of Sussex List of Kings of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Sussex Many of the dates of this time are unreliable and the list contains substantial gaps. ...