CAEDWALLA

born c. 659 died April 20, 689 also spelled Cadwalader king of the West Saxons, or Wessex (from 685), great-grandson of King Ceawlin. In his youth he was driven from Wessex and led the life of an outlaw and, in 685, began harrying Sussex. In that year he obtained the Wessex throne and again invaded Sussex, then Kent and the Isle of Wight. Suddenly, in 688, he turned Christian, with the same devotion that he had previously shown as a warrior; and in the following year he resigned his kingship and journeyed to Rome, where he was baptized (April 10, 689) and, upon his death, buried at St. Peter's.