Editing Cædwalla (section)

== Accession and reign ==
In 685 or 686, Cædwalla became king of the West Saxons after [[Centwine of Wessex|Centwine]], his predecessor, retired to a monastery.<ref name=Yorke_135 /> Bede gives Cædwalla a reign of two years,<ref name="Bede_275–276">Bede, ''Ecclesiastical History'', Book V, Ch. 7, from Sherley-Price's translation, pp. 275–276.</ref> ending in 688, but if his reign was less than three years then he may have come to the throne in 685. The ''West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List'' gives his reign a length of three years, with one variant reading of two years.<ref name=Kirby_120 />

According to Bede, before Cædwalla's reign, Wessex was ruled by underkings, who were conquered and removed when Cædwalla became king.<ref name=Bede_224>Bede, ''Ecclesiastical History'', Book IV, Ch. 12, from Sherley-Price's translation, p. 224.</ref> This has been taken to mean that Cædwalla himself ended the reign of the underkings, though Bede does not directly say this. Bede gives the death of Cenwalh as the start of the ten-year period in which the West Saxons were ruled by these underkings; Cenwalh is now thought to have died in about 673, so this is slightly inconsistent with Cædwalla's dates. It may be that Centwine, Cædwalla's predecessor as king of the West Saxons, began as a co-ruler but established himself as sole king by the time Cædwalla became king.<ref name=Yorke_145>{{Harvnb|Yorke|1990|pp=145–146}}.</ref><ref name=Kirby_51>{{Harvnb|Kirby|1992|pp=51–52}}.</ref> It may also be that the underkings were another dynastic faction of the West Saxon royal line, vying for power with Centwine and Cædwalla; the description of them as "underkings" may be due to a partisan description of the situation by Bishop Daniel of Winchester, who was Bede's primary informant on West Saxon events.<ref name=Kirby_53>{{Harvnb|Kirby|1992|p=53}}.</ref> It is also possible that not all the underkings were deposed. There is a King Bealdred, who reigned in the area of Somerset and West Wiltshire, who is mentioned in two land-grants, one dated 681 and the other 688, though both documents have been treated as spurious by some historians.<ref name=ASP_S236>{{cite web |url=http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=seek&query=S+236 |title=Anglo-Saxons.net S 236 |access-date=4 July 2007}}</ref><ref name=ASP_S1170>{{cite web |url=http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=seek&query=S+1170 |title=Anglo-Saxons.net S 1170 |access-date=4 July 2007}}</ref> Further confusing the situation is another land-grant, thought to be genuine,<ref name=ASP_S45>{{cite web |url=http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=seek&query=S+45 |title=Anglo-Saxons.net S 45 |access-date=4 July 2007}}</ref> showing Ine's father, Cenred, still reigning in Wessex after Ine's accession.<ref name=Kirby_120 />

Once on the throne, Cædwalla attacked the South Saxons again, this time killing Berthun, and "the province was reduced to a worse state of subjection".<ref name=Bede_230 /> He also conquered the Isle of Wight, which was still an independent [[paganism|pagan]] kingdom, and set himself to kill every native on the island, resettling it with his own people, though Bede states that the natives remained a majority on the island. [[Arwald]], the king of the Isle of Wight, left his two young brothers as heirs. They fled the island, but were found at [[South Stoneham|Stoneham]], in [[Hampshire]], and killed on Cædwalla's orders, though he was persuaded by a priest to let them be baptised before they were executed. Bede also mentions that Cædwalla was wounded; he was recovering from his wounds when the priest found him to ask permission to baptise the princes.<ref name=Bede_230_2>Bede, ''Ecclesiastical History'', Book IV, Ch. 16, from Sherley-Price's translation, pp. 230–232.</ref>

In a charter of 688, Cædwalla grants land at [[Farnham]] for a [[minster (church)|minster]],<ref name=ASP_S235>{{cite web |url=http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=seek&query=S+235 |title=Anglo-Saxons.net S 235 |access-date=4 July 2007}}</ref> so it is evident that Cædwalla controlled Surrey. He also invaded Kent, in 686, and may have founded a monastery at [[Hoo St Werburgh|Hoo]], northeast of [[Rochester, Kent|Rochester]], between the [[Medway]] and the [[Thames]]. He installed his brother, [[Mul of Kent|Mul]], as king of Kent, in place of its king [[Eadric of Kent|Eadric]]. In a subsequent Kentish revolt, Mul was "burned" along with twelve others, according to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. Cædwalla responded with a renewed campaign against Kent, laying waste to its land and leaving it in a state of chaos.  He may have ruled Kent directly after this second invasion.<ref name=Kirby_121>{{Harvnb|Kirby|1992|p=121}}.</ref>