Egbert (also Ecgbehrt or Ecgbert, means roughly "The shining edge of a blade") (c. 770 — July 839) was King of Wessex from 802 until his death. Under Egbert, Wessex rose to become the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, overthrowing the supremacy of Mercia. He was called Bretwalda ("Ruler of Britain") and considered by some historians as the first "King of England". File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Events 31 October - Irene deposed as Emperoress of Byzantium and replaced by Nicephorus I. She is banished to Lesbos. ... Events Louis the Pious attempts to divide his empire among his sons. ... Emperor Kōnin ascends to the throne of Japan, succeeding Empress Shōtoku. ... Map of the British Isles circa 802 Wessex was one of the seven major Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (the Heptarchy) that preceded the Kingdom of England. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto)1 Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total... Events Louis the Pious attempts to divide his empire among his sons. ... Cornwall (pronounced ; Cornish: ) is a county in south-west England, United Kingdom, on the peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar and Devon. ... The Old Minster was the Anglo-Saxon cathedral for the diocese of Wessex and then Winchester from 660 to 1093. ... Winchester Cathedral as seen from the Cathedral Close View along the nave of Winchester Cathedral to the west door A plan published in 1911 View of Winchester Cathedral Winchester Cathedral at Winchester in Hampshire is one of the largest cathedrals in England, said to be the second longest, and with... Redburga or Raedburh was the wife of king Egbert of Wessex and may have been the sister-in-law of Charlemagne as the sister of his fourth wife, Luitgarde; other sources describe her as his sister (although Charlemagnes only sister was named Gisela) or his great-granddaughter (which would... Ealhmund (d. ... Emperor Kōnin ascends to the throne of Japan, succeeding Empress Shōtoku. ... Events Louis the Pious attempts to divide his empire among his sons. ... Map of the British Isles circa 802 Wessex was one of the seven major Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (the Heptarchy) that preceded the Kingdom of England. ... Events 31 October - Irene deposed as Emperoress of Byzantium and replaced by Nicephorus I. She is banished to Lesbos. ... A map showing the general locations of the Anglo-Saxon peoples around the year 600 Britain and Ireland around the year 802 Heptarchy (Greek: seven + realm) is a collective name applied to the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of the south and east of Great Britain during late antiquity and the early... The Kingdom of Mercia at its greatest extent (7th to 9th centuries) is shown in green, with the original core area (6th century) given a darker tint. ...

Name and early life

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Egbert was the son of Ealhmund, King of Kent.^[1] There is a genealogical preface to the Chronicle, which gives the name of Egbert's father as Ealhmund, without further identifying him, and which claims Egbert as a descendant of Ingeld, a brother of Ine of Wessex. A separate copy of the Chronicle manuscript has a marginal note against the year 784, commenting that King Ealhmund of Kent is the father of Egbert, who was the father of Æthelwulf. ^[2] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals narrating the history of the Anglo-Saxons and their settlement in Great Britain. ... Ealhmund (d. ... The Kingdom of Kent was a kingdom of Jutes in southeast England, one of the seven traditional kingdoms of the so-called Anglo-Saxon heptarchy. ... Ine (died 728) was the King of Wessex from 688 to 726, noted particularly for his code of laws. ...

After the murder of King Cynewulf in 786, Egbert may have contested the succession, but the throne went to Beorhtric, an ally of Offa of Mercia.^[3][4] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that Egbert spent three years in Francia before he was king, exiled by Beorhtric and Offa. This may have been an error for thirteen years: the error would have been "iii" for "xiii" in the original. Beorhrtic's reign lasted sixteen years, and not thirteen; and all extant texts of the chronicle agree on "iii", but most modern accounts assume that Egbert did indeed spend thirteen years in Francia.^[5] Cynewulf of Wessex (died 786) (Means Royal Wolf) was the king of Wessex from 757 until his death. ... Events September 14 - Harun al-Rashid becomes the Abbasid caliph upon the death of his brother al-Hadi, and appoints Salim Yunisi as the Abbasid governor of Sindh and the Indus Valley A council is organized in Constantinople, but disturbed by soldiers Beatus of Liébana, Spanish monk, publishes his... Beorhtric (died 802) (Means Magnificent Ruler) was the King of Wessex from 786 until his death. ... Offa (died July 26/29, 796) was the King of Mercia from 757 until his death. ... Statue of Charlemagne (also called Karl der Große, Charles the Great) in Frankfurt, Germany. ...

Reign

The entry for 827 in the [C] manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, listing the eight bretwaldas.

Beorhtric's wife, Eadburh, was a daughter of Offa's, and this may indicate that Wessex remained under Mercian domination through Offa's reign and beyond. When Egbert succeeded, there are some indications that he sought greater independence from Mercia.^[4] The day of his accession, the Hwicce (by that time part of Mercia) attacked, under the leadership of their ealdorman, Æthelmund. Weohstan, a Wessex ealdorman, met him with men from Wiltshire; the Hwicce were defeated, though Weohstan was killed as well as Æthelmund.^[6] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Eadburh was the daughter of Offa of Mercia and wife of Beorhtric of Wessex. ... The Hwicce were one of the peoples of Anglo-Saxon Britain. ... An Ealdorman, or Alderman, was the prior magistrate of a British shire in A. D. 900 to A. D. 1100. ... Æthelmund, Ealdorman of Hwicce. ...

In 815 Egbert ravaged the whole of the territories of the remaining British kingdom, Dumnonia, known to the author of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as the West Welsh; their territory was about equivalent to what is now Cornwall.^[6][7] The next important occurrence in the reign was the defeat of Beornwulf of Mercia at a place called Ellandun in 825. After this victory, Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Essex submitted to Wessex; while the East Anglians, who rose against Mercian rule and slew Beornwulf shortly afterwards, acknowledged Egbert as overlord. In 829 the king conquered Mercia, and Eanred of Northumbria accepted him as overlord after refusing to fight his forces at Dore (now a suburb of Sheffield). In 830 he led a successful expedition against the Welsh, and it was in the same year that Mercia regained its independence under Wiglaf, although it is uncertain whether this was achieved through a rebellion or was the result of a grant by Egbert to Wiglaf. In 836 Egbert was defeated by the Danes, but in 838 he won a battle against them and their allies the West Welsh at Hingston Down in Cornwall. Events An iconoclastic synod is held. ... Cornwall (pronounced ; Cornish: ) is a county in south-west England, United Kingdom, on the peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar and Devon. ... Beornwulf (died 826) was the King of Mercia from 823 to 826. ... Ellandun was the site of the Battle of Ellandun between Egbert of Wessex and Beornwulf of Mercia in 825. ... Not to be confused with Surry. ... The Kingdom of Sussex, (Suth Seaxe, i. ... The Kingdom of the East Seaxe (one of the seven traditional kingdoms of the so-called Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy) was founded around 500 AD and covered the territory currently occupied by the counties of Essex, Hertfordshire and Middlesex. ... Norfolk and Suffolk, the core area of East Anglia. ... Events Egbert of Wessex conquers Mercia and is recognized as Bretwalda. ... The Kingdom of Mercia at its greatest extent (7th to 9th centuries) is shown in green, with the original core area (6th century) given a darker tint. ... Eanred was king of Northumbria from c. ... Dore (grid reference SK311812) is a village in South Yorkshire. ... Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England. ... This article is about the country. ... Wiglaf, son of the late king Beornwulf, was King of Mercia from 827 to 829 and again from 830 until his death in 840. ... Events Abbasid caliph al-Mutasim establishes new capital at Samarra, Iraq. ... Events At Hingston Down, Egbert of Wessex beats the Danish and the West Welsh. ... Hingston Down is a hill near Gunnislake near Callington in Cornwall in England. ...

In the year 825, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that Egbert sent his son Æþelwulf into Kent to recover what had been the rightful property of his kin. Following the conquest of Kent, Egbert issued a charter as King of the West Saxons and the Kentishmen [1]. Events Egbert of Wessex defeats Beornwulf of Mercia at Ellandun. ... The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals narrating the history of the Anglo-Saxons and their settlement in Great Britain. ... Ethelwulfs first tombstone, in the church porch at Steyning - the two incised crosses indicate a royal burial Ethelwulf, Old English: Æþelwulf, (c. ...

Egbert married Redburga, a Frankish princess (possibly a sister or sister-in-law of the emperor Charlemagne), and had two sons and a daughter. Egbert died in about 839. He was succeeded by his son, King Ethelwulf of Wessex. Egbert was buried in the Old Minster at Winchester. A number of simple mortuary chests containing the bones of the Wessex and English kings were transferred to its replacement, Winchester Cathedral in the 11th century. During the English Civil War, Parliamentary soldiers dumped Egbert and the other kings' bones out of the chests and used them to smash windows in the church. The jumbled-up bones were then replaced in the chests. Distinguishing between the bones (four skulls now reside in Egbert's chest with other bones) is impossible without forensic examination. Redburga or Raedburh was the wife of king Egbert of Wessex and may have been the sister-in-law of Charlemagne as the sister of his fourth wife, Luitgarde; other sources describe her as his sister (although Charlemagnes only sister was named Gisela) or his great-granddaughter (which would... A portrait of Charlemagne by Albrecht Dürer that was painted several centuries after Charlemagnes death. ... Ethelwulfs first tombstone, in the church porch at Steyning - the two incised crosses indicate a royal burial Ethelwulf, Old English: Æþelwulf, (c. ... The Old Minster was the Anglo-Saxon cathedral for the diocese of Wessex and then Winchester from 660 to 1093. ... Winchester is a historic city in southern England, with a population of around 40,000 within a 3 mile radius of its centre. ... Winchester Cathedral as seen from the Cathedral Close View along the nave of Winchester Cathedral to the west door A plan published in 1911 View of Winchester Cathedral Winchester Cathedral at Winchester in Hampshire is one of the largest cathedrals in England, said to be the second longest, and with... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century was that century which lasted from 1001 to 1100. ... The English Civil War consisted of a series of armed conflicts and political machinations that took place between Parliamentarians (known as Roundheads) and Royalists (known as Cavaliers) between 1642 and 1651. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

Beorhtric (died 802) was the King of Wessex from 786 until his death. ... The Tamar is a river in south western England, that forms most of the border between Devon (to the east) and Cornwall (to the west). ... “Devonshire” redirects here. ... Ine (died 728) was the King of Wessex from 688 to 726, noted particularly for his code of laws. ... Encyclopædia Britannica, the eleventh edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

See also

• List of monarchs of Kent
• Chronology of Kentish Kings
• Descent of Elizabeth II from Egbert