BIOGRAPHY

 Prior to the rule of Egbert, separate small clan-kingdoms of Saxons ruled England in sections.  Christianity was present in England from about 597 A.D., and its spread tended to follow the shifts in overlordship between the dominions.  After a time, supremacy tended to pass between three - Wessex, Mercia, and Northumbria.  In 796 with the death of Offa, King of Northumbria, power briefly shifted south to Mercia.

Eric Delderfield writes: "At the battle of Ellandun, thought to have been near Winchester, in 825, Mercia's supremacy was broken by Egbert, 802-839, King of Wessex. Mercia was temporarily annexed in 828 and Egbert's lordship recognized by Northumbria, prompting some historians to claim that Egbert may be regarded as the first King of England, though he did not assume that style. But his hold over the vassal kingdoms was tentative: no garrisoned forts or standing armies secured his position in them, and it took only a year for Wiglaf, King of Mercia, 827-838, to reassert Mercian independence. ...It was the threat from across the North Sea that was to test the leadership and resilience of Saxon kings; all but the West Saxon kings were to be found wanting. The first Viking raid occurred towards the end of the eighth century, landing on the coast of Wessex, though it was not until 866 that the Viking incursions began that would bring the kingdoms of Northumbria, East Anglia, and Mercia to their knees. Only Wessex stood between the Vikings and the total conquest of England; it was due to the determination of Egbert's grandsons and the successive kings of Wessex that they were foiled in this objective."

Facts about this person:

Record Change October 25, 1999