Search results
Learn about Ecgberht, the king who defeated Mercia and ruled over most of Anglo-Saxon England in the 9th century. Find out his family background, political achievements, and legacy.
People also ask
Who was King Ecgberht?
What did King Egbert of Wessex do?
When did Ecgberht die?
Was Egbert a king?
- Early Life & Rise to Power
- Early Reign & The Battle of Ellandun
- Supremacy of Wessex
- Loss of Mercia & The Viking Raids
- The King in Vikings & Legacy
- GeneratedCaptionsTabForHeroSec
Egbert was possibly born in Kent, “the son of the short-lived ruler of that kingdom called Eahlmund r. 784-785 CE” (Collins,196). His Kentish origin is supported by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles but has been called into question by recent scholarship claiming he was originally from Wessex. Nothing is known of his youth beyond his possible relation to ...
Little is known of the first 20 years of Egbert's reign. He seems to have reasserted Wessex's independence from Mercia but there are no records of how nor of military campaigns between the two kingdoms. Instead, in c 815 CE, Egbert led his armies west to conquer the region of Dumnonia (modern Cornwall) on his border. These campaigns were probably e...
Although the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles claim 827 CE as the year of Wessex's complete supremacy, this date has been challenged by archeological and literary evidence. Mercia had lost territory, power, and prestige but was still ruled by Mercian kings. Beornwulf survived the Battle of Ellandun but was killed fighting against the East Angles in 826 CE an...
Although Egbert would retain control of the north, his grasp on Mercia slipped in 830 CE when Wiglaf returned from exile and regained his throne. Many different theories have been suggested for the cause of Mercia's revival but the most probable is loss of support for Wessex from the Carolingian Empire. The empire of the Franks was secure under the...
Egbert died of natural causes in 839 CE and his son Aethelwulf succeeded him without opposition due to support from the church. In the TV series Vikings, Egbert is seen granting land to Viking settlers he will later betray, sending Aethelwulf to slaughter the Viking settlement, and later granting land to other Vikings when he has earlier secretly a...
Learn about the life and achievements of Egbert, the most powerful king of Wessex before Alfred the Great. Find out how he defeated Mercia, expanded his kingdom, and became Ruler of Britain.
- Joshua J. Mark
Egbert (died 839) was the king of the West Saxons from 802 to 839, who formed around Wessex a kingdom so powerful that it eventually achieved the political unification of England (mid-10th century).
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Apr 20, 2023 · Learn about the life and achievements of Egbert, the king who defeated Mercia and became the 'wide-ruler' of England. Find out how he fought the Vikings, the Welsh and the Cornish, and secured the succession of his son Aethelwulf.
Jun 28, 2017 · Learn about Egbert, the first king of Wessex to claim supremacy over other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Find out his reign, achievements and legacy from the official website of the British monarchy.
Nov 30, 2019 · Learn about King Egbert, the first King of England who united Wessex and Mercia. Find out his rise to power, his conquests, his aftermath and his legacy.
Egbert, or Ecgbehrt, was the son of Ealhmund, King of Kent, and the great-grandson of Cerdic, a Saxon invader. He conquered Wessex, Mercia, Kent, East Anglia and Northumbria, and fought against the Vikings and the Welsh.
