King Egbert> Of Wessex-[6979]

  General Notes:

EGBERT, KING OF WESSEX (r. 802-839) As King of Wessex, Egbert inherited the mantle of 'bretwalda' - an Anglo-Saxon term meaning a ruler with overall superiority to other rulers - after the decline of Mercian power under Offa. He came to power in 802 and died in 839, but little else is known about his brief reign.

Egbert (802-39 AD)

Known as the first King of All England, he was forced into exile at the court of Charlemagne, by the powerful Offa, King of Mercia. Egbert returned to England in 802 and was recognized as king of Wessex. He defeated the rival Mercians at the battle of Ellendun in 825. In 829, the Northumbrians accepted his overlordship and he was proclaimed "Bretwalda" or sole ruler of Britain.
First King of England, reigned AD 802-839. Remains of his bones are mixed in the chests above the choir of the Cathedral. Identification of the contents of these chests is impossible, however, because during the English civil war in the 17th century, Parliamentarian soldiers threw the original chests down to the ground and smashed them open. The bones were then used to smash the windows of the cathedral. At the restoration of the monarchy, the bones were gathered up and put into the present mortuary chests (obviously all mixed up).