• General Notes

  King of England(802-839)
  
  Ruled 827-836
  Egbert became the first King of Wessex in 802, he also included Kent in his kingdome in 827. He is considered to be the first king of England--however it only included the south and west (Kent and Wessex areas).
  
  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.
  
  Columbia Encyclopedia:
  
  "He was descended from Cerdic and was apparently an unsuccessful aspirant for the crown of Wessex against Beohtric (reigned 786-802). He took refuge at the court of Offa of Mercia, but the alliance of Offa and Beohtric drove him to the Frankish court, where he may have spent three years. At Beohtric's death he became king of Wessex, apparently without opposition. In 815 he harried Cornwall, returning to defeat the Britons there again in 825. He also defeated King Beornwulf of Mercia at Ellandune (or Ellendun) in 825. He sent his son Æthelwulf and an army to Kent, which was then made a dependency of Wessex. East Anglia sought Egbert's protection and revolted against Mercia. Beornwulf was killed in battle, and Mercia submitted (828?) to Egbert. He then (829?) secured the nominal submission of Northumbria without a battle. Later historians called him the first king of England, an anachronistic title, for there was no conception of a kingdom of England in his day. The extent of his power varied from kingdom to kingdom and from year to year. After 834 he had to defend his realm against the Danes, and in his last battle (838) he again defeated the Britons of Cornwall, who had allied themselves with the Danes. Egbert was succeeded by his son, Æthelwulf."

Details of Egbert's family with Redburh