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KENELM. Cynhelm, d. A.D. 812 or 821, was the son of Cenwulf, king of Mercia. He was buried in Winchcombe Abbey, where his father had established a monastery of monks in 798. In the eleventh century he was regarded as a martyr, and a legend grew up that his ambitious sister Cwendryth, an abbess, instigated his tutor to murder him. The legend states that Kenelm was seven years old when he was murdered, but Kenelm signed several charters between 803 and 811.

Chauntecleer tells Dame Pertelote the story of Kenelm, who saw his murder in a vision. His nurse interprets it that he will die and counsels Kenelm to be careful because treason was about; but since he was only seven years old, he took little heed, NPT 3110-3121. [Chauntecleer: Kenulphus]

Kenelm, the ME variant of OE Cynhelm which suggests that medial h was not pronounced and therefore dropped out of the spelling, occurs in medial positions, NPT 3110, 3112.


W. Levinson, England and the Continent in the Eighth Century, 249-259; The South-English Legendary, ed. C. D'Evelyn and A.J. Mill, I: 279-291.
From CHAUCER NAME DICTIONARY
Copyright © 1988, 1996 Jacqueline de Weever
Published by Garland Publishing, Inc., New York and London.

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