 ine was king of wessex from 688 to 726. he was unable to retain the territorial gains of his predecessor, cÃ¦dwalla, who had brought much of southern england under his control and expanded west saxon territory substantially. by the end of ine's reign, the kingdoms of kent, sussex, and essex were no longer under west saxon domination; however, ine maintained control of what is now hampshire, and consolidated and extended wessex's territory in the western peninsula. ine is noted for his code of laws (ine's laws or laws of ine), which he issued in about 694. these laws were the first issued by an anglo-saxon king outside kent. they shed much light on the history of anglo-saxon society, and reveal ine's christian convictions. trade increased significantly during ine's reign, with the town of hamwic (now southampton) becoming prominent. it was probably during ine's reign that the west saxons began to mint coins, though none have been found that bear his name. ine abdicated in 726 to go to rome, leaving, in the words of the contemporary chronicler bede, the kingdom to "younger men". he was succeeded by Ãthelheard. ==genealogy and accession== early sources agree that ine was the son of cenred, and that cenred was the son of ceolwald; further back there is less agreement.swanton, anglo-saxon chronicle, pp. 42â43. ine's siblings included a brother, ingild, and two sisters, cuthburh and cwenburg. cuthburh was married to king aldfrith of northumbria,kirby, earliest english kings, p. 143. and ine himself was married to Ãthelburg. bede tells that ine was "of the blood royal", by which he means the royal line of the gewisse, the early west saxon tribal name.bede, ecclesiastical history, quoted from leo sherley-price's translation, p. 276. the genealogy of ine and of the kings of wessex is known from two sources: the anglo-saxon chronicle and the west saxon genealogical regnal list. the chronicle was created in the late 9th century, probably at the court of alfred the great, and some of its annals incorporated short genealogies of kings of wessex. these are often at variance with the more extensive information in the regnal list.for a discussion of the chronicle and regnal list see yorke, kings and kingdoms, pp. 128â129. for a recent translation of both sources, see swanton, anglo-saxon chronicle, pp. 2, 40&ndash;41. the inconsistencies appear to result from the efforts of later chroniclers to demonstrate that each king on the list was descended from cerdic, the founder, according to the chronicle, of the west saxon line in england.yorke, kings and kingdoms, pp. 142&ndash;143. ine's p
7th-century_English_monarchs 7th-century_births 8th-century_English_monarchs 8th-century_deaths House_of_Wessex Monarchs_who_abdicated West_Saxon_monarchs