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WESSELENYI, MIKLOS, BARON (1796-1850)

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 535 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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WESSELENYI, MIKLOS, See also:BARON (1796-1850) , Hungarian statesman, son of Baron Miklos Wesselenyi and Ilona Cserei, was See also:born at Zsibo, and was educated at his See also:father's See also:castle by Motes Pataky in the most liberal and patriotic direction. In 1823 he permanently entered public See also:life and made the acquaintance of See also:Count See also:Stephen See also:Szechenyi whose See also:companion he was on a See also:long educative See also:foreign tour, on his return from which he became one of the leaders of the liberal See also:movement in the Upper See also:House. In 1833 appeared his Baliteletek (Prejudices), which was for long a prohibited See also:book. He was the foremost See also:leader of the Opposition at the See also:diet of 1834, and his freely expressed opinions on See also:land-redemption, together with his efforts to give greater publicity to the debates of the diet by See also:printing them, involved him in two expensive See also:crown prosecutions. He was imprisoned at Grafenberg, whither he had gone to be cured of an See also:eye trouble, and two years later became quite See also:blind. Subsequently he did much for See also:agriculture, See also:children's homes and the introduction and See also:extension of the See also:silk See also:industry in See also:Hungary. The events of 1848 brought him See also:home from a long See also:residence abroad, but he was no longer the See also:man he had been, and soon withdrew again to Grafenberg. He died on the 21st of See also:April 185o, on his way back to Hungary. See Ferencz Szilagyi, Life and Career of Baron See also:Nicholas Wesselenyi the Younger (Hung. See also:Budapest, 1876). (R. N.

B.) WESSEX, one of the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon See also:

Britain. The See also:story of its origin is given in the Saxon See also:Chronicle. According to this the See also:kingdom was founded by two princes, See also:Cerdic, and Cynric his son, who landed in 494 or 495 and were followed by other settlers in 5o1 and 514. After several successful battles against the Welsh they became See also:kings in 519. Very few of the localities connected with the story of these princes have been identified with certainty, but such identifications as there are point to the See also:southern See also:part of See also:Hampshire. In 530 Cerdic and Cynric are said to have conquered the Isle of See also:Wight, which they gave to two of their relatives, Stuf and Wihtgar. Cerdic died in 534. Cynric defeated the Britons at See also:Salisbury in 552 and again in See also:conjunction with his son See also:Ceawlin at Beranburh, probably Barbury See also:Hill, in 556. At his See also:death in 56o he was succeeded by Ceawlin, who is mentioned by Bedews the second of the See also:English kings to hold an imperium in Britain. With him we enter upon a See also:period not perhaps of See also:history, but at least of more or less reliable tradition. How far the earlier part of the story deserves See also:credence has been and still is much debated. At all events no value can be attached to the See also:dates given in the Chronicle.

The See also:

preface to this See also:work places Cerdic's See also:assumption of the See also:sovereignty six years after his landing, that is, in the See also:year 5o0, and assigns him a reign of sixteen years, which makes his death fall eighteen years before 534, the date recorded in the See also:annals. Again, while the annals See also:record Ceawlin's See also:accession in 56o and his See also:expulsion in 592, the preface with other See also:early authorities assigns him a reign of only seventeen years. Further a number of genealogies, both in the Chronicle and elsewhere, represent Cynric as See also:grandson of Cerdic and son of a certain Creoda. Suspicion likewise attaches to the name Cerdic, which seems to be Welsh, while we learn from See also:Bede that the Isle of Wight, together with part at least of the Hampshire See also:coast, was colonized by See also:Jutes, who apparently had a kingdom distinct from that of Wessex. For these reasons the story of the See also:foundation of Wessex, though it appears to possess considerable antiquity, must be regarded as open to See also:grave suspicion. It is worthy of See also:note that the See also:dynasty claimed to be of the same origin as the royal house of See also:Bernicia and that two of Cerdic's ancestors, Freawine and See also:Wig, figure in the story of See also:Wermund, See also:king of See also:Angel. Whatever may be the truth about the origin of the kingdom, and it is by no means impossible that the invasion really proceeded from a different See also:quarter, we need not doubt that its dimensions were largely increased under Ceawlin. In his reign the Chronicle mentions two See also:great victories over the Welsh, one at a See also:place called Bedcanford in 571, by which See also:Aylesbury and the upper part of the See also:Thames valley See also:fell into the hands of the See also:West See also:Saxons, and another at Deorham in 577, which led to the See also:capture of See also:Cirencester, See also:Bath and See also:Gloucester. Ceawlin is also said to have defeated IEthelberht at a place called Wibbandun (possibly See also:Wimbledon) in 568. In 592 he was expelled and died in the following year. Of his successors Ceol and Ceolwulf we know little though the latter is said to have been engaged in See also:constant warfare. Ceolwulf was succeeded in 611 by See also:Cynegils, whose son Cwichelm provoked a Northumbrian invasion by the attempted See also:murder of See also:Edwin in 626.

These kings are also said to have come into collision with the Mercian king See also:

Penda, and it is possible that the See also:province of the See also:Hwicce (q.v.) was lost in their See also:time. After the accession of See also:Oswald, who married Cynegils's daughter, to the See also:throne of See also:Northumbria, both Cynegils and Cwichelm were baptized. Cynegils was succeeded in 642 by his son Cenwalh, who married and subsequently divorced Penda's See also:sister and was on that See also:account expelled by that king. After his return he gained a victory over the Welsh near See also:Pen-Selwood,by which a large part of See also:Somerset came into his hands. In 661 he was again attacked by the Mercians under See also:Wulfhere. At his death, probably in 573, the throne is said to have been held for a year by his widow Sexburh, who was succeeded by Aescwine, 674-676, and Centwine, 676-685. According to Bede, however, the kingdom was in a See also:state of disunion from the death of Cenwalh to the accession of Ceadwalla in 685, who greatly increased its See also:prestige and conquered the Isle of Wight, the inhabitants of which he treated with great barbarity. After a brief reign Ceadwalla went to See also:Rome, where he was baptized, and died shortly afterwards, leaving the kingdom to Inc. By the end of the 7th See also:century a considerable part at least of See also:Devonshire as well as the whole of Somerset and See also:Dorset seems to have come into the hands of the West Saxons. On the resignation of See also:Ine, in 726, the throne was obtained by IEthelheard, apparently his See also:brother-in-See also:law, who had to submit to the Mercian king lEthelbald, by whom he seems to have been attacked in 733. Cuthred, who succeeded in 740, at first acted in See also:concert with ZEthelbald, but revolted in 752. At his death in 756 Sigeberht succeeded.

The latter, however, on account of his misgovernment was deserted by most of the leading nobles, and with the exception of Hampshire the whole kingdom came into the hands cf See also:

Cynewulf. Sigeberht, after putting to death the last of the princes who remained faithful to him, was driven into See also:exile and subsequently murdered; but vengeance was afterwards taken on Cynewulf by his brother Cyneheard. Cynewulf was succeeded in 786 by Berhtric, who married Eadburg, daughter of the Mercian king See also:Offa. Her violent and murderous conduct led to the king's death in 802; and, it is said, caused the See also:title of See also:queen to be denied to the wives of later kings. Berhtric was succeeded by Ecgberht (q.v.), the See also:chief event of whose reign was the overthrow of the Mercian king Beornwulf in 825, which led to the See also:establishment of West Saxon supremacy and to the See also:annexation by Wessex of See also:Sussex, See also:Surrey, See also:Kent and See also:Essex. YEthelwulf (q.v.), son of Ecgberht, succeeded to the throne of Wessex at his father's death in 839, while the eastern provinces went to his son or brother IEthelstan. A similar See also:division took place on lEthelwulf's death between his two sons IEthelbald and 2Ethelberht, but on the death of the former in 858 2Ethelberht See also:united the whole in his own hands, his younger See also:brothers ;See also:Ethelred and See also:Alfred renouncing their claims. 2Ethelberht was succeeded in 865 by i2Ethelred, and the latter by Alfred in 871. This was the period of the great Danish invasion which culminated in the submission of See also:Guthrum in 878. Shortly afterwards the kingdom of the Mercians came to an end and their leading See also:earl (Ethelred accepted Alfred's overlordship. By 886 Alfred's authority was admitted in all the provinces of See also:England which were not under Danish See also:rule. From this time onwards the history of Wessex is the history of England.

. 728 (726) Kings of Wessex. Cerdic . . 519 EEthelheard Cynric . . 534 Cuthred . . 741 (740) Ceawlin . . 560 (c. 571) Sigeberht . . 754 (756) Ceol . . 592 (c. 588) Cynewulf . 755 (757) Ceolwulf . . 597 (c.

594) Berhtric . . . 784 (786) Cynegils . 611 See also:

Ecgbert 800 (802) Cenwalh . . 643 (c. 642) sEthelwulf . . 836 (839) Sexburh . . 672 (c. 673) I EEthelbald . . 855 (858) JEscwine . . 674 IEthelberht . 86o Centwine .

. 676 !Ethelred . . 866 Ceadwalla . 685 Alfred . . . 871 Ine . . . . 688 The dates are those of the annals in the Chronicle, with approximate corrections in brackets. See Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, edited by See also:

Earle and Plummer (See also:Oxford, 1892—1899) ; Bede, Hist. Eccl. and Contin,uatio, edited by C. Plummer (Oxford, 1896) ; Annales Lindisfarnenses," in the Monumenta Germ. hist. xix. 502-508 (See also:Hanover, 1866) ; See also:Asser, Life of King Alfred, edited by W. H.

See also:

Stevenson (Oxford, 1904); W. de G. See also:Birch, Cartularium Saxonicum (See also:London, 1885-1893). (F. G. M.

End of Article: WESSELENYI, MIKLOS, BARON (1796-1850)

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