General Notes

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REF: Univ of Hull db: The first King of all of England of the
Anglo-Saxonline.  Reigned 802-839, began reign as Ecbert III King of
Wessex.  In 800at the death of KIng Brithric, Egbert was called by the
voice of hiscountrymen to assume the gov't. of Wessex, & he subsequently
succeeded inreducing all the Kingdoms of the Heptarchy under his sway.
His reign, along & glorious one, is memorable for the great victories he
achievedover the Danes.  He is known both as Ecbert, KIng of England, and
EcbertIII, King of Wessex.
REF: Fighting Kings of Wessex, Baker: When his maternal uncle
EadberhtPraen of Kent revolted from Mercian control in 798, he was
captured,blinded & mutilated by Ceonwulf of Mercia, leaving Ecgbert as
sole heirof the Kentish throne (thus uniting the rival houses of Ceawlin
of Wessex& Aethilbert of Kent).  Upon Ceonwulf's invasion of Kent,
Ecgbert tookrefuge in Gaul. When King Beorhtric of Wessex died (abt 802),
Ecgbert hadno serious competitors to the throne of Wessex either &
promptly returnedto England from the Continent. He waited on his claim to
Kent, but on thevery day he was elevated to King of Wessex, the Mercians
crossed theThames 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
toWessex, King Beornwulf of Mercia invaded Wessex.  Ecgbert defeated him
atEllandune, & thereby restored the ancient kingdom borders of Wessex
ofIne, holding all of England S of the Thames.  He then sent his
sonAethilwulf into Kent to drive out Baldred, the Mercian regulus.  Not
onlyKent, Sussex & Surrey, but Essex too gave their submission to
Aethilwulf.Suddenly Wessex was N of the Thames.  Then the King of the
East Anglesasked Ecgbert for protection vs. the Mercians; Beornwulf
staked hischance on reducing East Anglia before Ecgbert could arrive; he
failed.Ecgbert arrived & slew Beornwulf & was suddenly the master of 1/3
ofEngland. Four years of peace followed, then in 829 Ecgbert invaded
&subdued Mercia and thus held all England up to the Humber; later in
theyear he invaded Northumbria, who offered him acceptable terms. Thus
inthree rapid, vigorous & complete campaigns, Ecgbert was master of all
ofEngland.  In 831, Ecgbert entered Wales & established some kind
ofsupremacy or suzerainity.  He allowed Wiglaf of Mercia to return &
holdthe throne of Mercia.  Ecgbert's hedgemony resulted in the
unification ofEngland as a political unit.  Although it would take a
couple generationsto build, never agin did the separate English kingdoms
of the heptarchyregain full sovereignity & independence. From this time
forward, Englandwas one nation. His last campaign was to subdue Cornwall,
which hadrevolted & joined the Danes in resistance to English rule. The
A-SChronicle says he won a great victory, & to be sure the Danes
neverreached Wessex nor any points of strategic import, but it is equally
truethat 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
ofpracticalities, rather than passion.  He tended to the business at hand
&got it done accordingly. As the Danes began their Viking raids,
Ecgberttransformed England from weakened & disunited to a strong &
unitedkingdom in sympathy with the Frankish empire of Charlemagne &
hissuccessors (& the last bastion of western Roman civilization)
yetcompletely independent of it.
Acceded 802-839.[large-G675.FTW]
REF: Univ of Hull db: The first King of all of England of the
Anglo-Saxonline.  Reigned 802-839, began reign as Ecbert III King of
Wessex.  In 800at the death of KIng Brithric, Egbert was called by the
voice of hiscountrymen to assume the gov't. of Wessex, & he subsequently
succeeded inred