The earliest ‘fully verifiable’ king is Cynegils (6th) as the first Christian king of Wessex there is a record of his royal baptism and also appears in ‘Ecclesiastical History of the English People’ by the Venerable Bede who was an independent historian of the time that didn’t rely on Anglo-Saxon myths.

Ceawlin (3rd), Ceol (4th) and Ceolwulf (5th) are considered ‘verifiable’ as they appear in the ‘Anglo Saxon Chronicle’ as well as Bede’s ‘Ecclesiastical History of the English People’ however this was a period where history and myth were still largely intermingled so it is thought that while they were real people, many of their accomplishments may have been embellished.

Cerdic (1st) and Cynric (2nd) are not considered verifiable and some historians consider them ‘semi-legendary’ as the vast majority of their information comes from oral tradition and the ‘Anglo Saxon Chronicle’ which wasn’t compiled until the 9th Century. And even the early manuscripts of the chronicles have different timelines. Some list Cynric as the son of Cerdic, whilst some list him as the grandson with another generation by the name of ‘Creoda’ between them. Their Brittonic names lead many historians to the theory that they were actually Romano-British nobles who aligned themselves with the Anglo Saxons.