Wihtgils (Sachsen) von Sachsen (380 - 434)

Ancestors

Descendants

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Wihtgils (Sachsen) von Sachsen was a member of aristocracy in ancient Europe. Join: Medieval Project Discuss: medieval

Biography

Although there seems to be ample evidence for the existence of this line, there is no mention of them in any works contemporary to their times and they must be seen as legendary or mythological characters.

Research Notes

This genealogy follows Bede as the earliest written work to name them, but alternatives are discussed below.

Early Sources

The Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum (The Ecclesiastical History of the English People) written by the Venerable Bede in the early eight century (completed about 731) is the earliest existing work to name the brothers Hengist and Horsa, as the first Anglo-Saxon leaders to arrive in England in about 449.

He also gives their genealogy; sons of Wihtgils, son of Witta, son of Wecta, son of Woden (filii Uictgilsi, cuius pater Uitta, cuius pater Uecta, cuius pater Uoden) ^[1]

This genealogy is followed by most other works such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, though they increasingly add further ancestors beyond Woden.

However another genealogy thought to be written about 811-814,^[2] reverses Wihtgils and Witta, and names Wegdaeg as the son of Woden; either replacing Wecta or providing an alternative name for him (hengest uitting. uitta uihtgilsing. uihtgils vegdaeging. vegdaeg uodning. uoden frealafing)^[3]

This may be based on a Norse tradition; The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson, although written in the early to mid-13th century, is probably based on earlier written or oral sources^[4] and the genealogy follows the same order.

• "Odin set up three of his sons for land-wardens. One was named Vegdeg: he was a mighty king and ruled over East Saxland; his son was Vitgils; his sons were Vitta, Heingistr's father, and Sigarr, father of Svebdeg, whom we call Svipdagr.^[5]

Later Sources

At some point they developed into Kings of the Saxons, again under a slightly different arrangement. Witte I or Vecta, King of the Saxons 300, died 350 (son of either Veldeg or Woden or Bodo); father of Witte II or Vitta, King of the Saxons 350, died 400; father of Witigislus or Wihtgisilas, King of the Saxons 400, died 434, father of Hengist,^[6] but there are absolutely no early sources that even mention them in this role and such sources have no validity.

Legendary Saxon Line of Descent from Witigail to Witikind

George Fisher ^[7]in 1832 published his Genealogical Companion in which he presented a line of descent of princes and kings in Saxony from Hengist's father Witigail to Witikind the Great, conquered by Charlemagne. While many of these princes exist only in legend, they appear in many popular genealogies and therefore their line of descent is presented here for reference. Birth years are estimated and not part of Fisher's table.

1. Wihtgils or Witigail, born 380, King of the Saxons, died 434
2. Hengist, born 425. First king of Kent, died 488.
3. Audoacer or Hartwaker, born 455, succeeded his father as 15th Prince of the Saxons, died 480.
4. Hatwigate, born 475,Prince of the Saxons, died 524
5. Hulderic. born 500, King of the Saxons, died 540
6. Bodicus, born 525, Prince of the Saxons, died 586
7. Berthold, born 550, King of the Saxons, died 633.
8. Sighard, born 630, King of the Saxons, died 691
9. Dieteric, born 670,, King of the Saxons, died 740, married Dobogesa, daughter of Billung, King of the Vandals
10. Wernich, born 705, son of Dieteric, King of the Saxons, died 768. Wernich had a brother Ethelbard, also son of Dieteric, also King of the Saxons. Ethelbard had two sons; Albion, was baptized by his cousin Witikund the Great, son of Ethelbard, 785, and Herman was slain by Charlemagne 798,
11. Witikind the Great, born 755, the last King of the Saxons, conquered by Charlemagne, 785. Consentng to be baptized, the conqueror made him the first Duke of the old Upper Saxony, or on the Weser. He died 807 and was the patriarch of many great families in Europe, amongst whom may be reckoned the present Royal Family of England.

Sources

1. ↑ Bede
2. ↑ Sweet, p. 167
3. ↑ Sweet, p. 171
4. ↑ Brodeur, quoting Magnússon, in Sturluson, p. xiii
5. ↑ Sturluson, p. 7
6. ↑ Anderson, p. 447, Table CCXV and p. 733, Table CCCCLXXX
7. ↑ George Fisher. A Genealogical Companion and Key to the history of England: Consisting of copious genealogical details of the British Sovereigns, Page 25 London: Simkin and Marshall, 1832. Accessed August 3, 2018 jhd

• Anderson, J. (1732). Royal Genealogies: or the genealogical tables of Emperors, Kings and Princes from Adam to these times, London: James Bettenham. pp. 184 & 447. Retrieved from https://books.google.hu/books?id=yrqeY839bMwC

• Bede., Historiam Ecclesiasticam Gentis Anglorum: Liber Primus. Retrieved from http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/bede/bede1.shtml

• Sturluson, S. The Prose Edda, trans from the Icelandic by A.G. Brodeur; vol. 5 of Scandinavian Classics; New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1916. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/proseedda01brodgoog

• Sweet, H. (ed.). (1885). The oldest English texts, London: N. Trübner. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/oldestenglishte01churgoog