Ecgberht, King of Wessex

Ecgberht was King of Wessex from 802 until his death in 839. He may have been born of West Saxon royal stock, but historians do not agree on his ancestry. He is reputed to have had a half-sister Alburga, later to be recognised as a saint for her founding of Wilton Abbey.

About Ecgberht, King of Wessex in brief

Ecgberht was King of Wessex from 802 until his death in 839. His father was Ealhmund of Kent. He was forced into exile to Charlemagne’s court in the Frankish Empire in the 780s. Little is known of the first 20 years of his reign. He is reputed to have had a half-sister Alburga, later to be recognised as a saint for her founding of Wilton Abbey. His descendants ruled Wessex and, later, all of England continuously until 1013. Ecgbert’s son Æthelwulf ruled as a subking under his father. When he died in 8 39, his son Æthelbald succeeded him. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle described him as a bretwalda or ‘wide-ruler’ of Anglo- Saxon lands. His wife’s name is unknown. A fifteenth century chronicle now held by Oxford University names his wife as Redburga who was supposedly a relative ofCharlemagne. She was married to Wulfstan, ealdorman of Wiltshire, and on his death she became a nun, Abbess of Wiltington Abbey, and later a saint. The relationship between Offa of Mercia and Cynewulf, who was king of Wes sex from 757 to 786, is not well documented, but it seems likely that Cynwulf maintained some independence from Mercian overlordship. There is nothing else to suggest that he was not his own master, and he is not known to have acknowledged Offa as his overlord in southeast England.

In some cases on a charter he has an overlord overlord, making it clear that he did have influence over the southeast. In 772 he was defeated by Offa in battle at Bington and he was killed in battle in 772, but he was still the overlord of the West Saxons. He may have been born of West Saxon royal stock, but historians do not agree on his ancestry. The earliest version of the Parker Chronicle begins with a genealogical preface tracing the ancestry of EcgberHT, EalHmund, and the otherwise unknown Eoppa and Eafa to Ingild, brother of King Ine of WesSex, who abdicated the throne in 726. It continues back to Cerdic, founder of the House of Wes Sex, but not the earlier genealogy back to cerdic. It is accepted by Frank Stenton, but  Frank Stenton believes that Cerdic’s descent from Ingild was accepted, but Frank Stenton contradicts his originally researchers claims that Ingild was the descendant of Ine. In 825 he ended Mercia’s supremacy at the Battle of Ellandun, and proceeded to take control of the Mercian dependencies in southeastern England. However, Wessex did retain control of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey.

Related posts:

Offa of Mercia Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Ine of Wessex Æthelbald, King of Wessex