Join the discord here!

House Hwicce

The House of Hwicce was once quite an obscure and powerless faction, however overtime they have grown to now being the dominant dynasty within the realm of Norðcynrice.

Arguably one of the most important early members of the House, is that of Morcar I of Norðcynrice, who not only united his families realms under one crown, but later split them away from the King of England, William the Conqueror, in a bid to save his people from what he peceived as the tyrannical rule of an invading force.

The House was also instrumental in the building of relations between the Anglo-Saxons of the North, and the Welsh, which eventually led to the emergence of a new, united culture.

House Hwicce

Seat: Bebbanburg

Region: Britain

Allegiance: Norðcynrice

Religion: Catholic

Current Head: Ealdmund I

Founder: Leofric

Founding Date: 1003

Early History

The House of Hwicce was founded in 1003 by Leofric when he became Earl of Mercia, and secured his position as the second most powerful man in King Cnut's court, with only Earl Godwin of Wessex being more influential. In 1042, when Edward the Confessor came to the throne of England, Leofric, and the House of Hwicce, became supporters of the King. This was proven in 1051 when Leofric and Earl Siward of Northumbria gathered a great army to support the King against Earl Godwin's attempt at power, although the conflict was solved peacefully, the outcome was the foundation of the Witenagemot. In 1055 Leofric's son Ælfgar was outlawed without any fault and this began the decline in the power of the Hwicce family. Leofric died in 1057 and was succeeded by his son Ælfgar as earl. In 1065, the brother of Ælfgar was elected to be the earl of Mercia by the nobles of the land as he and his brother, the earl of Mercia, aided the people in overthrowing Tostig Godwinson and then further marched towards Oxford, where peace talks were held with Earl Harold Godwinson. Tostig was exiled, Morcar was made earl of Northumbria, and all was fine in England.

CK3 History

All was not fine in England. With the death of Edward the Confessor, Harold Godwinson was elected to the throne of England and the brothers Morcar and Ælfgar found themselves in a problematic spot, they could support the King of England against the coming invaders, a man who had opposed their family at every turn in the past, or they could support one of the invaders to gain an opportunity to overthrow the Godwinson family once and for all. The brothers, of course, did neither of these things. The House of Hwicce collectively decided to stay neutral in the conflict and only fight against those who would invade and pillage their own territories in Mercia and Northumbria. The war for the english throne ended with a Norman victory, however the new King still had to fight the Norwegian invaders, and to due this conscripted Ælfgar and his men to aid in the protection of Normandy. Ælfgar was slain in battle protecting the territory of the King, with no heirs of his own, leaving his lands to his brother Morcar, however this did not help to make the duke feel any reprieve from the grief of losing his friend and brother. This was the beginning of the conflict between the House of Hwicce and the House of Normandie, with the disappearance of Morcar's sister and his brothers death, he was left the sole leader of the House and from there, he would have to rebuild the family from the ground up. In 1072, Morcar married his daughter to the son of the King of Scotland, starting a long lasting relationship and alliance between the two families of Dunkeld and Hwicce.

EU4 History

Vic3 History

HOI4 History

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse