Europe · The successor kingdoms
Wihtgar
530s? – 686
Wihtwara was the small Jutish kingdom of the Isle of Wight off Britain's south coast. Per Bede, the Isle of Wight (like Kent) was settled by the Jutes; the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle names Stuf and Wihtgar as its founders (Wihtgar traditionally the first ruler, c. 534–544, though these figures are semi-legendary and the island's name in fact predates any "Wihtgar").
- Existed
- 530s? – 686
- Shown on the map
- AD 523–660, 666–691 (2 periods)
- Peak area
- 508 km²
- Region
- Europe
Overview
Wihtwara was the small Jutish kingdom of the Isle of Wight off Britain's south coast. Per Bede, the Isle of Wight (like Kent) was settled by the Jutes; the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle names Stuf and Wihtgar as its founders (Wihtgar traditionally the first ruler, c. 534–544, though these figures are semi-legendary and the island's name in fact predates any "Wihtgar"). The islanders (Wihtware) were connected to the wider Jutish population of southern Hampshire.
History
The island came under external overlordship: Wulfhere of Mercia conquered it and granted it to his godson Æthelwealh of Sussex. Its last king was Arwald (d. 686), notable as the last openly pagan king in Anglo-Saxon England. In 686, Cædwalla of Wessex (with his brother Mul of Kent) invaded the island, intending — per Bede — to slaughter the pagan inhabitants and repopulate it with West Saxons, having vowed to give a quarter of the island to the Church (to St Wilfrid). Arwald was killed resisting the conquest.
Decline and legacy
Arwald's two young brothers fled to the mainland (the New Forest area near Southampton) but were betrayed and captured. Before their execution on Cædwalla's orders they were baptised by Abbot Cynibert; Bede calls them the "first fruits" of the island's conversion, and they are venerated collectively as saints ("Saint Arwald"). Cædwalla was himself badly wounded in the campaign — a wound that may have contributed to his abdication in 688 and death at Rome (baptised by Pope Sergius I, d. 689). With Arwald's death the Isle of Wight was absorbed into Wessex and finally Christianised — the last part of Anglo-Saxon England to convert. Reliable evidence is confined essentially to Bede and the Chronicle; the founding figures and any regnal dates before Arwald are traditional and unverified.
Common questions
- What was Wihtgar?
- Wihtwara was the small Jutish kingdom of the Isle of Wight off Britain's south coast. Per Bede, the Isle of Wight (like Kent) was settled by the Jutes; the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle names Stuf and Wihtgar as its founders (Wihtgar traditionally the first ruler, c. 534–544, though these figures are semi-legendary and the island's name in fact predates any "Wihtgar").
- When did Wihtgar exist?
- Wihtgar existed 530s? – 686. On this map it is drawn AD 523–660, 666–691.
- How large was Wihtgar?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, Wihtgar covered about 1,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
- Who ruled Wihtgar?
- The island came under external overlordship: Wulfhere of Mercia conquered it and granted it to his godson Æthelwealh of Sussex. Its last king was Arwald (d. 686), notable as the last openly pagan king in Anglo-Saxon England.
- How did Wihtgar end?
- Arwald's two young brothers fled to the mainland (the New Forest area near Southampton) but were betrayed and captured. Before their execution on Cædwalla's orders they were baptised by Abbot Cynibert; Bede calls them the "first fruits" of the island's conversion, and they are venerated collectively as saints ("Saint Arwald").
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each territory and its key figures as the primary basis, with Encyclopædia Britannica, the World History Encyclopedia, and academic and primary sources — Jordanes, Procopius, Gregory of Tours, Bede, Ammianus and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, read through the secondary literature. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Wihtwara en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wihtwara
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
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