Æscwine of Wessex

{{Short description|King of Wessex from 674 to 676}}

{{about|the king of Wessex|the possibly legendary king of Essex|Æscwine of Essex}}

{{Use British English|date=June 2024}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}

{{Infobox royalty

| type = monarch

| name = Æscwine

| image = Erkenwin - John Speed.JPG

| caption = Depiction from John Speed's 1611 "Saxon Heptarchy"

| succession = King of Wessex

| reign = 674–676

| predecessor = Seaxburh

| successor = Centwine

| house = Wessex

| father = Cenfus

| death_date = After 676|

}}

Æscwine was a King of Wessex from about 674 to 676, but was probably not the only king in Wessex at the time.

Bede writes that after the death of King Cenwalh in 672: "his under-rulers took upon them the kingdom of the people, and dividing it among themselves, held it ten years".Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Book IV, chapter 12. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Cenwalh was succeeded as ruler for about one year by his wife Seaxburh.{{Cite ODNB |last=Yorke |first=Barbara |author-link=Barbara Yorke |date=23 September 2004 |title=Cenwalh (d. 672), king of the Gewisse |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-4996?back=%2C4996%2C25149 |access-date=2023-05-13 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/4996 |language=en}} {{Subscription or membership required}} Æscwine reigned from about 674 to 676.{{Cite ODNB |date=26 May 2005 |title=Rulers of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (5th cent.–924) |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-93213?back=4996 |access-date=2023-05-13 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/93213|isbn=978-0-19-861412-8 }} Another source claims that Æscwine's father, Cenfus ({{langx|ang|Cēnfūs}}), ruled for two years after Seaxburh.{{Sfn|Kirby|1992|p=52}}Cenfus is not listed in modern king lists, e.g. Yorke, Barbara, Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 133–134.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle supplies a genealogy, making him a fifth-generation descendant of Cynric. Bede's dismissal of Æscwine as a mere sub-king may represent the views of the supporters of the King Ine of Wessex, whose family ruled Wessex in Bede's time,{{Sfn|Kirby|1992|pp=52-53}} as Ine's family were bona fide descendants of Cynric through Ceawlin's son Cuthwine.

In 675, Æscwine defeated an invasion of Wessex led by the Mercian King Wulfhere at Biedanheafde,{{Sfn|Kirby|1992|p=52}} a location which has not been certainly identified.

Æscwine was succeeded by Centwine of Wessex.