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Saint Caedwalla of Wessex

detail of a mural of Saint Caedwalla by Lambert Barnard, c.1522; south transept of the Chichester Cathedral, Chichester, England; image swied from Wikimedia Commons Also known as

Caedwalla of Wales
Cadwallader…
Cadwallador…
Cadwalla…
Cadwallon…
Ceadwalla…
Cedualla…
Peter

Memorial

20 April

Profile

Son of Coenberht; descendent of King Ceawlin of Wessex in England. Exiled, but later returned to reclaim the throne by right, and by warfare. King of Wessex, which he expanded by conquest, annihilating the pagan residents of the Isle of Wight in the process in order to colonize it with his own people.

Converted to Christianity in 688 by Saint Wilfrid after being wounded in combat on the Isle of Wight. He abdicated, and went to Rome, Italy for baptism on 10 April 689 by Pope Saint Sergius I, taking the name Peter. He died ten days later, still wearing his white baptism robe. Venerable Bede wrote of him in his History of the English Church.