
The Iclingas (also Iclings or House of Icel) were a dynasty of
Mercian kings during the 7th and 8th centuries,
named for Icel or Icil, great-grandson of
Offa of Angel, a legendary or semi-legendary figure of the
Migration Period
The Migration Period ( 300 to 600 AD), also known as the Barbarian Invasions, was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories ...
who is described as a descendant of the god
Woden
Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Emp ...
by the
Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies.
[Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p. 15.]
The Iclingas reached the height of their power under
Offa of Mercia
Offa ( 29 July 796 AD) was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death in 796. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of ...
(r. 757–796), who achieved hegemony over the other Anglo-Saxon states, and proclaimed himself "King of the English", but the dynasty lost control of Mercia soon after his death.
Penda
Penda (died 15 November 655)Manuscript A of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' gives the year as 655. Bede also gives the year as 655 and specifies a date, 15 November. R. L. Poole (''Studies in Chronology and History'', 1934) put forward the theor ...
, who became king of Mercia in about 626 and is the first king named in the regnal lists of the
Anglian collection, and at the same time the last
pagan
Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...
king of Mercia, gave rise to a dynasty that supplied at least eleven kings to the throne of Mercia. Four additional monarchs were given an Icling pedigree in later
genealogical sources but are now believed to have descended from the family by way of Penda's sister.
Icel himself is of debatable historicity; according to
Nicholas Brooks, if historical he would have lived sometime between 450 and 525
and was probably considered the founder of the dynasty because he was the first of his line in
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales
* The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
.
Despite the Icelingas' claims of ties with the rulers and mythic heroes of continental
Angeln
Angeln (; ) is a peninsula on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of Jutland, in the Bay of Kiel. It forms part of Southern Schleswig, the northernmost region of Germany. The peninsula is bounded on the north by the Flensburg Firth, which separates it ...
and with the war-god Woden, Brooks suggests that the Icelingas were, before Penda's rise in prominence, no more and no less royal than any of the other ruling houses of the small Midlands peoples as recorded in the ''
Tribal Hidage
Image:Tribal Hidage 2.svg, 400px, alt=insert description of map here, The tribes of the Tribal Hidage. Where an appropriate article exists, it can be found by clicking on the name.
rect 275 75 375 100 w:Elmet
rect 375 100 450 150 w:Hatfield Ch ...
'' and assessed as having between 300 and 600
hides of land.
Icel's ancestry in genealogical tradition is as follows: Icel son of Eomer son of Angeltheow son of Offa son of Wermund son of Wihtlæg son, grandson or great-grandson of Woden.
In this tradition, Icel is the leader of the Angles who migrated to Britain. Icel is then separated from the establishment of
Mercia
Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...
by three generations: Icel's son was ''Cnebba'', whose son was ''Cynewald'', whose son was
Creoda, first king of Mercia.
Matthew Paris
Matthew Paris, also known as Matthew of Paris (; 1200 – 1259), was an English people, English Benedictine monk, English historians in the Middle Ages, chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts, and cartographer who was based at St A ...
s.a. 527 reports, "pagans came from
Germania
Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...
and occupied East Anglia... some of whom invaded Mercia and fought many battles with the British
This date, however, should perhaps be amended to 515.
[Davies, Wendy, 'Annals and the origins of Merca' in ''Mercian Studies'' (Leicester University Press, 1977)]
The ''Vita Sancti Guthlaci'' ("Life of Saint Guthlac") reports
Guthlac of Crowland to have been son of Penwalh, a Mercian who could trace his pedigree back to Icel.
Several place names in England have been suggested as derived from the name of Icel or the Iclingas, including
Icklingham,
Ickleford,
Ickleton and
Ixworth.
Norman Scarfe noted that the
Icknield Way
The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern and eastern England that runs from Norfolk to Wiltshire. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills.
Background
It is generally said to be, withi ...
had early spellings ''Icenhylte weg'' and ''Icenhilde weg'' and suggested a connection between
Icklingham and the
Iceni
The Iceni ( , ) or Eceni were an ancient tribe of eastern Britain during the British Iron Age, Iron Age and early Roman Britain, Roman era. Their territory included present-day Norfolk and parts of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, and bordered the ar ...
, although Warner (1988) has cast doubt on the identification.
The name ''Iclinga'' survives as "Hickling" and several similar spellings.
List of kings
The following are Iclinga kings of Mercia whose historicity is certain.
Creoda of Mercia is of uncertain historicity (if historical, he would date to the end of the 6th century).
Cearl of Mercia who ruled during the early 7th century was probably not an Icling.
Family tree
References
{{reflist
See also
*
List of monarchs of Mercia
The Kingdom of Mercia was a state in the English Midlands from the 6th century to the 10th century. For some two hundred years from the mid-7th century onwards it was the dominant member of the Heptarchy and consequently the most powerful of the ...
*
Kings of the Angles
*
Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies
*
Wuffingas
Mercian monarchs
Anglish people