1535944

[SUSANNA KEENE.FTW]

1st king of all of England (s. of the Thames & Cotswalds) of
Anglo-Saxon line.

Studied statesmanship in exile at the Court of Charlemagne.

REF: Univ of Hull db: The first King of all of England of the
Anglo-Saxon line. Reigned 802-839, began reign as Ecbert III
King of Wessex. In 800 at the death of KIng Brithric, Egbert
was called by the voice of his countrymen to assume the gov't.
of Wessex, & he subsequently succeeded in reducing all the
Kingdoms of the Heptarchy under his sway. His reign, a long &
glorious one, is memorable for the great victories he achieved
over the Danes. He is known both as Ecbert, KIng of England,
and Ecbert III, King of Wessex.

REF: Fighting Kings of Wessex, Baker: When his maternal uncle
Eadberht Praen of Kent revolted from Mercian control in 798, he
was captured, blinded & mutilated by Ceonwulf of Mercia,
leaving Ecgbert as sole heir of the Kentish throne (thus
uniting the rival houses of Ceawlin of Wessex & Aethilbert of
Kent). Upon Ceonwulf's invasion of Kent, Ecgbert took refuge
in Gaul. When King Beorhtric of Wessex died (abt 802), Ecgbert
had no serious competitors to the throne of Wessex either &
promptly returned to England from the Continent. He waited on
his claim to Kent, but on the very day he was elevated to King
of Wessex, the Mercians crossed the Thames in force. They were
met by Alderman of Wiltshire Weohstan & held. Thus, Ecgbert was
poised & ready to assume sovereignity of England.

From same: In 825 Ecgbert seized Cornwall, before he could get
back to Wessex, King Beornwulf of Mercia invaded Wessex.
Ecgbert defeated him at Ellandune, & thereby restored the
ancient kingdom borders of Wessex of Ine, holding all of
England S of the Thames. He then sent his son Aethilwulf into
Kent to drive out Baldred, the Mercian regulus. Not only Kent,
Sussex & Surrey, but Essex too gave their submission to
Aethilwulf. Suddenly Wessex was N of the Thames. Then the King
of the East Angles asked Ecgbert for protection vs. the
Mercians; Beornwulf staked his chance on reducing East Anglia
before Ecgbert could arrive; he failed. Ecgbert arrived & slew
Beornwulf & was suddenly the master of 1/3 of England. Four
years of peace followed, then in 829 Ecgbert invaded & subdued
Mercia and thus held all England up to the Humber; later in the
year he invaded Northumbria, who offered him acceptable terms.
Thus in three rapid, vigorous & complete campaigns, Ecgbert was
master of all of England. In 831, Ecgbert entered Wales &
established some kind of supremacy or suzerainity. He allowed
Wiglaf of Mercia to return & hold the throne of Mercia.
Ecgbert's hedgemony resulted in the unification of England as a
political unit. Although it would take a couple generations to
build, never agin did the separate English kingdoms of the
heptarchy regain full sovereignity & independence. From this
time forward, England was one nation. His last campaign was to
subdue Cornwall, which had revolted & joined the Danes in
resistance to English rule. The A-S Chronicle says he won a
great victory, & to be sure the Danes never reached Wessex nor
any points of strategic import, but it is equally true that
Ecgbert never saw the Cornish Sea again.

From same: We know nothing of Ecgbert's character other than
his actions. He seems to have been a man who acted strictly on
the basis of practicalities, rather than passion. He tended to
the business at hand & got it done accordingly. As the Danes
began their Viking raids, Ecgbert transformed England from
weakened & disunited to a strong & united kingdom in sympathy
with the Frankish empire of Charlemagne & his successors (& the
last bastion of western Roman civilization) yet completely
independent of it.

Records not imported into INDI (individual) Gramps ID I5037:

Line ignored as not understood Line 123860: 2 SOUR @S085410@
Skipped subordinate line Line 123861: 3 DATA
Skipped subordinate line Line 123862: 4 TEXT Date of Import: Aug 7, 2000