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Hi John,

I'm not sure if you realise it, but more or less exactly this theory was written about by the novelist Rosemary Sutcliff in her unsurpassed Arthurian novel 'Sword at Sunset'. I will discuss each point in turn:

1. Both Vortigern and Cerdic are associated with a people named the "Gewissae," which possibly refers to the people of Gwent or Gwenydd.
True enough. The 'Gewissae' were the West Saxons, and the ancestor is named as Cerdic. More interesting is that his descendants also bore British names: Cynric (Cunorix) and Ceawlin (Colinus). These early Gewissae were in all likelyhood settled in Dorchester -on-Thames, which corresponds with the point where the borders of several civitates met, Dorchester being in the Corinian one, which is associated with Vortigern. Howver, Vortigern's association with the Gewissae may be more shaky, as this was written by Geoffrey of Monmouth, who identified Gwent with the Gewissan area, making Vortigern's father-in-law, the Dux Gewissorum. He may have mixed up the poeple of Gwent with the early West Saxons, although I can think of a link through Vortigern which caused that confusion.

2. Vortigern married Rowena, the daughter of Hengist, a Jutish warlord.
Thsi info is in fact rather late, especially the name, Geoffrey again. Hengist may, however, have gained a place in Saxon history only through his fame as a Jutish leader.

3. Cerdic, a warrior with a British name, shows up in Southampton supported by Jutish warriors (the archeological evidence left on the Isle of White is "Jutish") and others bearing the name Gewissae, which seems to indicate an origin or affilliation with Vortigern.
True enough, hengist belongs to the Jutish legendary pantheon, which was usurped by the West Saxons when they conquered hampshire and Wight in the 6th century. Everyything is so muddled before Bede, we can be sure of nothing. Clear seems, though, that the saxons had but a dim view of their own origins, which seems to be the reason why the West Saxons problemless used the Jutish origin myths. Also sure is that Cerdic did not beach his longships, but probably was a local British leader, whose dynasty was later 'Saxonified'. So, the Gewissae, maybe already being Cerdics people, took over the Jutes and their Hengist. Maybe Vortigern had links to both, but as of then he became settled in early English mythology.

4. Cerdic is, more or less, permitted by the British "Government" to establish himself near one of the most important ports in the south, and is the only "Saxon" kingdom to make any serious advances following the Battle of Badon Hill.
I have no idea what you base this on. You should forget ll the dates of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which are in all probability artificial anyway. We have no idea what the 'British Goverment' entailed, if in existance at all. My view is that Cerdic may have been either a commander who took over the defeated Gewissae of the Oxford region after Badon, or that he was the local leader in Salisbury: Saeroburgh may stem from Sorviodunum, but also from Cerdicesburgh. Geoffrey calls it Caer Caradoc.

Theory: Could Vortigern and Rowena have had a son named Elesa, who in turn had a son (presumably a "lesser son" who did not inherit land) named Cerdic?

Sutcliff wrote that Cerdic was the son of Vortigern and Rowena. All is possible, but I guess that if anything like this were known, even only through legend, that either the British would have used it to villify Vortigern further, and that the West Saxons would have used it to further their claim on Britain. Neither did, so I fear we'd best forget it. Although I liked it very much!

If so, could this grandson of the expatriated King of Britain and the King of the Jutes of Kent, have gathered together followers of both kingdoms and established himself, possibly as a foederate at first and then later as a client king, in the south of Britain?
If so, he would have had a claim to large parts of Wales!

Could his ties to both "Barbarian" and British royalty have been the mitigating factor in his initial success in establishing the kingdom of the "Gewissae?"

Regardless of being true or not, such a case would indeed spell more success, which is no doubt what happened.

Cheers,

Robert Vermaat
Webmaster, Vortigern Studies