A kingdom in this state traced its founding to an apocryphal victory over Natanleod, while the first reliably-dated event in this region is the baptism of Cynegils by the bishop Birinus, its namesake "apostle." This region was legendarily founded by 
A kingdom in this state traced its founding to an apocryphal victory over Natanleod, while the first reliably-dated event in this region is the baptism of Cynegils by the bishop Birinus, its namesake "apostle." This region was legendarily founded by Cerdic and Cynric when they established a beachhead at Southampton and saw its most famous ruler commission a namesake jewel of quartz and filigreed gold; that man was chronicled by (*) Asser, won the Battle of Ashdown, and signed a treaty with the Danes under Guthrum. This region's power base was pushed southward by enemies like Penda, who threatened it from Mercia. Alfred the Great led, for 10 points, what Anglo-Saxon kingdom that unsurprisingly joined states like Northumbria, Sussex, and Essex in the Heptarchy?
A kingdom in this state traced its founding to an apocryphal victory over Natanleod, while the first reliably-dated event in this region is the baptism of Cynegils by the bishop Birinus, its namesake "apostle.
{Wessex}