21/05/2021
Egbert is often listed as the first name on lists or family trees of English kings, as his grandson Alfred is considered to be the first 'King of the English' and Alfred's grandson Athelstan was the first to declare himself 'King of England'. He is the first king of Wessex of whom historians have a complete record of his reign. This future king was born between the years 770 and 780. His father was the King of Kent, so he was of royal blood. After the murder of King Cynewulf, Egbert's kinsman Beothric was elected to take the vacant throne of Wessex in 786. However, Egbert who considered himself to have a better claim, contested his right. Egbert was forced to take refuge at the court of the powerful Offa, King of the kingdom of Mercia. However, Beothric was sneaky. He responded by proposing an alliance between himself and Offa, which was to be cemented by his marriage to Offa's daughter Eadburgha. He further requested that Offa deliver the rebel Egbert to him. Offa accepted Beorthric's offer for his daughter's hand in marriage, but instead of handing over Egbert to his enemy and certain death, he merely banished him from England. Egbert was forced to flee to France, then ruled by Emperor Charlemagne. There are records of Egbert serving in the French army. He remained safely in France for the rest of Beothric's reign in Wessex. He contracted a marriage to Redburga, a Frankish princess, said to have been the sister of Charlemagne, although she remains a shadowy figure and no one really knows much about her. The marriage of Egbert and Redburga produced two sons and a daughter.
On the death of Beothric, Egbert returned to his native England to claim the vacant throne of Wessex in 800. He was widely accepted, although the Mercians opposed his rule. Wessex was attacked by the Hwicce, under ealdorman Ethelmund (the Hwicce had originally formed a separate kingdom, but by that time formed part of Mercia). Weohstan, a Wessex ealdorman and supposedly Egbert's brother-in-law, met him with men from Wiltshire. The Hwicce were defeated, and Weohstan and Ethelmund slain. Inspired by Frankish military and imperial ideas, Egbert made rigorous efforts to bring the native Britons
