Everything known about him comes from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
There he is stated to have been the son of Cerdic, and also (in the regnal list in the preface) to have been the son of Cerdic's son, Creoda.
During his reign it is said that he captured Searobyrig or Old Sarum, near Salisbury, in 552, and that in 556 he and his son Ceawlin won a battle against the Britons at Beranburh, now identified as Barbury Castle If these dates are accurate, then it is unlikely that the earlier entries in the chronicle, starting with his arrival in Britain with his father Cerdic in 495, are correct.
David Dumville has suggested that his true regnal dates are 554-581.
