The Cerdicings and Their Greater Subordinates from the Late Ninth to the Mid-Tenth Century

This chapter examines the relationships that kings from Alfred the Great to Edgar had with the other leading potentates of Britain. It demonstrates that one can account for the early tenth-century Cerdicings’ power without hypothesizing that they used an administrative apparatus of shires, hundreds, and wapentakes, and that in the absence of such a system, there was little to mark the territory of the future English kingdom off from the rest of Britain. The Cerdicings’ itineration focused on the southernmost part of the island, where they had the bulk of their lands, but charter witness lists show that leading men from across Britain attended their assemblies. The Cerdicings secured the obedience of their greatest subordinates through oaths, patronage, and coercion. Their power rested ultimately on their wealth, which very probably enabled them to deploy the strongest military force in Britain.

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