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The Meonwara were one of the tribes of Anglo-Saxon Britain. Their territory was a folkland located in the valley of the
River Meon The River Meon () is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises at East Meon then flows in a generally southerly direction to empty into the Solent at Hill Head near Stubbington.Hampshire County Council (2006). Activities at ...
in
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
that was subsumed by the Kingdom of
Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...
in the late seventh century.


Etymology

In the 8th century the
Venerable Bede Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...
referred to the Saxon and Jutish settlers that were living in the valley of the
River Meon The River Meon () is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises at East Meon then flows in a generally southerly direction to empty into the Solent at Hill Head near Stubbington.Hampshire County Council (2006). Activities at ...
as (Meon People) and described the area as ''Provincia Meanwarorum'' (Province of the ). The origin of the name and its meaning is not known for sure, but possibly thought to be
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...
or Pre-Celtic for 'swift one'.


Background

During the period after the Roman occupation and before the Norman conquest, people of Germanic descent arrived in England. Bede recorded the event in his
Ecclesiastical History of the English People The ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' ( la, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum), written by Bede in about AD 731, is a history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict be ...
. He said that: It is likely that the Jutes initially inhabited Kent () and from there they occupied the Isle of Wight () and also possibly the area around Hastings in East Sussex (
Haestingas The Haestingas, or Heastingas or Hæstingas, were one of the tribes of Anglo-Saxon Britain. Not very much is known about them. They settled in what became East Sussex sometime before the end of the 8th century. A 12th-century source suggested th ...
). They also settled in what was to become . As well as Bede's description, there is other evidence of Jutish occupation. Droxford, in the Meon valley, was the site of a large Jutish cemetery. Also one of the local manors had the medieval custom of
gavelkind Gavelkind () was a system of land tenure chiefly associated with the Celtic law in Ireland and Wales and with the legal traditions of the English county of Kent. The word may have originated from the Old Irish phrases ''Gabhaltas-cinne'' or ...
, similar to that in Kent. Further there is placename evidence, linking Kent and Southern Hampshire. In 686, Bede tells us, Jutish Hampshire extended to the western edge of the
New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...
; however that seems to include another Jutish people, the
Ytene The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...
, and it is not certain that these two territories formed a continuous coastal block.


Account in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''

The ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alf ...
'' records a series of landings by Anglo-Saxon settlers, during the years 449–514, in the area that became ''Meonwara''. According to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' the founders of were a man named Port and his two sons Bieda and Maegla. Most academics regard this as legend rather than fact. Also the listed names may not be of Germanic origin, and ''Maegla'' appears to be a Brythonic word meaning "chief" or "prince" (i.e. cognate with Old British ''maglos'', Welsh ''mael'' and the Breton given name
Maël Mael is an old Celtic name from Ireland, Wales and Brittany. Nowadays this first name is popular in France. The French masculine name of Breton origin meaning "chief, prince." It was popularized by a fifth-century saint Maël who lived in Wal ...
).


The West Saxons

The origins of the Kingdom of Wessex are unclear. The Chronicle has a foundation story, regarded by most as legend, that describes how
Cerdic Cerdic (; la, Cerdicus) is described in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' as a leader of the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, being the founder and first king of Saxon Wessex, reigning from 519 to 534 AD. Subsequent kings of Wessex were each cla ...
and his son
Cynric Cynric () was King of Wessex from 534 to 560. Everything known about him comes from the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. There, he is stated to have been the son of Cerdic, who is considered the founder of the kingdom of Wessex. However, the 'Genealogic ...
landed in southern Hampshire in 495, and settled the area that became occupied by the West Saxons. Historians however are sceptical of this version. Most academics believe that initially the West Saxon royal house ruled over the ''
Gewisse The Gewisse ( ; la, Geuissæ) were a tribe or clan of Anglo-Saxon England, historically assumed to have been based in the upper Thames region around Dorchester on Thames (but may have actually originated near Old Sarum in Wiltshire). The Gewis ...
'' and their power base was in the upper Thames Valley. The missionary bishop
Birinus Birinus (also ''Berin'', ''Birin'';  – 3 December 649 or 650) was the first Bishop of Dorchester and was known as the " Apostle to the West Saxons" for his conversion of the Kingdom of Wessex to Christianity. He is venerated as a saint ...
established the episcopal see at Dorchester-on-Thames in the 630s. The history of the Gewisse is quite obscure before the arrival of Birinus, but there were probably several West Saxon groups in the upper Thames Valley and Wiltshire.


The Mercians

The West Saxons' neighbours to the north were the Mercians. In the 7th century Mercian power was in the ascendent, so the West Saxons could not expand northwards. This led them to concentrate on the lands beyond their southern borders.
Wulfhere of Mercia Wulfhere or Wulfar (died 675) was King of Mercia from 658 until 675 AD. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of Nort ...
advanced into southern Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in about 681. Shortly afterwards he gave the Isle of Wight and Meonwara to
Æthelwealh of Sussex Æthelwealh ( ''fl.'' – ) was ruler of the ancient South Saxon kingdom from before 674 till his death between 680 and 685. He was baptised in Mercia, becoming the first Christian king of Sussex. He was killed by a West Saxon prince, Cædwall ...
, possibly as a present after Æthelwealh was baptised and married Eafe the daughter of Eanfrith, a ruler of the Christian Hwicce people. The alliance between the
South Saxons la, Regnum Sussaxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the South Saxons , capital = , era = Heptarchy , status = Vassal of Wessex (686–726, 827–860)Vassal of Mercia (771–796) , governm ...
and the Mercians and their control of southern England put the West Saxons under pressure.


West Saxon takeover

After Wulfhere's death Mercian power eventually declined, and there followed a time of relative peace. However the united Gewisse, now known as the Kingdom of Wessex, became resurgent under their king Caedwalla. Caedwalla, probably concerned at Mercian and South Saxon influence in Southern England, conquered the land of the South Saxons and took over the Jutish areas in Hampshire and the
Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
, in the late 680s. Bede describes how brutally Caedwalla suppressed the South Saxons and slaughtered the people of the Isle of Wight and replaced them with people from "his own province". Although quite young, Caedwalla abdicated shortly after this campaign and in 689 went on pilgrimage to Rome to be baptised, but died about a week after his baptism. Bede says that he had received wounds during the fighting on the Isle of Wight, which may have led to his untimely death. The subsequent establishment of the very large trading settlement of
Hamwic Southampton is a city in Hampshire, England. The area has been settled since the Stone Age. Its history has been affected by its geographical location, on a major estuary on the English Channel coast with an unusual double high-tide, and by its pr ...
suggests that control over the
Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit which projects into the Solent narrows the sea crossing between Hurst Castle and Colwell Bay to ...
was a further factor motivating the conquest of the Jutish areas. With the takeover of Jutish lands by the West Saxons in Hampshire, the church of SS Peter and Paul, Winchester, built by
Cenwalh of Wessex Cenwalh, also Cenwealh or Coenwalh, was King of Wessex from c. 642 to c. 645 and from c. 648 until his death, according to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', in c. 672. Penda and Anna Bede states that Cenwalh was the son of the King Cynegils baptis ...
in 648, became the new episcopal see in the 660s.


Other settlers

The settlement of Exton, on the west bank of the Meon, is named after the
East Saxons la, Regnum Orientalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the East Saxons , common_name = Essex , era = Heptarchy , status = , status_text = , government_type = Monarch ...
, indicating some sort of settlement or other form of influence from that people. The first surviving record of the name is from 940 as ''East Seaxnatune''.


See also

*
Haestingas The Haestingas, or Heastingas or Hæstingas, were one of the tribes of Anglo-Saxon Britain. Not very much is known about them. They settled in what became East Sussex sometime before the end of the 8th century. A 12th-century source suggested th ...


Notes


Citations


References

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External links


Saxons in the Meon Valley
{{Isle of Wight Peoples of Anglo-Saxon England Jutish people History of the Isle of Wight