Northumbria was the first kingdom to achieve supremacy, and during the 7th century it was a centre for the arts and religion. Unfortunately, the light of learning was extinguished during the following century because of the Viking raids. At that time, Mercia was in the ascendant. This kingdom comprised the Midlands and some of the southern counties. At its peak of supremacy, Mercia was governed by King Offa ( d .796), who established firm government and overseas alliances. However, after his death, the kingdom declined because of ineffective leadership, leaving Wessex in the ascendant.
The kingdom of Wessex had been founded in A.D. 519 by a chieftain called Cerdic, who came to Britain from Germany in 494/5. His descendants, proud to bear his name, called themselves Cerdingas. H.M. Queen Elizabeth II is a direct descendant of Cerdic. Later Saxon chroniclers would boastfully trace Cerdics descent from Adam and Eve, via a mythical son born to Noah in the Ark, but of course this is pure fiction, for Cerdics ancestors were in fact obscure tribal chieftains and elders.
Anglo-Saxon kingship was a blend of the mystical and the practical. The function of the king was to protect his people, by making war if necessary, and by giving them laws to obey. He was also sanctified by holy rites, which evolved into the coronation as we know it, the modern form of which dates from the crowning of King Edgar in 973. Anglo-Saxon kings of the House of Wessex had from time immemorial been crowned upon the ancient coronation stone at Kingston-upon-Thames, in a simple ritual which was not as complicated as the European ceremony adapted for Edgar by Archbishop Dunstan. Hence, the king, set apart by his anointing and crowning, and thereby invested with priestly attributes, was a champion of the Christian Church, who was deemed to hold his office from God.
The king was also expected to father sons for posterity, to ensure the succession and the stability of the kingdom. His wife was rarely accorded the title of Queen in Wessex, but was usually styled Lady. Succession was by primogeniture, supporting the right of the eldest son, although on several occasions the right of conquest prevailed over this.
As late as the 11th century, the Danes were still attempting to invade and conquer a by then united England, and they were ultimately successful,
which is why our line of Anglo-Saxon monarchs is broken by four Danish interlopers. As a result of this, the succession in the 11th century was an ongoing problem, which was not finally resolved until 1066. In 1100, when Henry I married a princess of Saxon descent, the old and the new royal houses at last joined in blood.
This handbook is about the monarchy, and it begins with the first ruler who properly may be accorded the title of monarch, Egbert of Wessex. Egbert was acknowledged in his time as an outstanding sovereign, who, by the end of his reign, was recognised by other, lesser, kings as overlord of most of England. For this reason, we must begin with Egbert. Unfortunately, his supremacy did not long survive his death, and the authority of his immediate descendants, the great Alfred included, was more or less confined to Wessex. It was not until more than a century after Egberts death that the monarchy was properly established in England under King Athelstan.
King Egbert
FATHER: Ealhmund, King of Kent.
He was the son of Eafa of Wessex by a Kentish princess, whose identity is unknown. Ealhmund is known to have been reigning in Kent in 784 or 786. He died in 786 (?).
MOTHER: Unknown .
SIBLINGS: St Alburga .
She was either the daughter of Ealhmund by his unknown wife, or the daughter of that wife by another husband. She is called the half-sister of Egbert.
Alburga married Wulfstan, who was perhaps Ealdorman of Wiltshire. Upon her widowhood, she entered her husbands religious foundation at Wilton, which she is said to have converted into a nunnery. She died and was buried there in c. 800 or c .810. Egbert did not have any brothers.
EGBERT
He was born around 769/80. He became Subregulus of Kent in 790/96, and succeeded Beorhtric as King of Wessex in 802. There is no record of his coronation. From 825 onwards, he had established his supremacy over all other rulers in England, and was effective overlord of all the south-eastern kingdoms. In 829, he succeeded Wiglaf as King of Mercia, although he was expelled the following year.
Egbert married(although no record exists of the date or the place):
Redburga
She is said to have been the sister of the King of the Franks (who, at that time, was Charlemagne), but her identity is uncertain, and hardly anything is known about her.
Issue of marriage:
1 King Ethelwulf ( see here).
2 Athelstan
He became Subregulus of Kent, Essex, Sussex and Surrey in 839, and also reigned as King of East Anglia. He died in c .851.
Athelstan married a lady about whom no information exists, and had issue:
(i) Ethelweard
He was Subregulus of Kent. He died, probably unmarried, in 850.