Bretwalda

Overview

Image: Map of the seven Anglo-Saxons kingdoms in yellow.

Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People

Bede includes his list of Bretwaldas in his account of the death of Ethelbert, the king of Kent. However, a persistent issue with Bede’s historical work is his bias towards kings who converted to Christianity. This bias results in a relative lack of information about kings such as Ælla, who ruled before the arrival of the Augustinian mission. Bede’s work was completed circa 730, roughly sixty years after the reign of Oswy ended. 

Bede’s record is as follows:

“In the year of our Lord 616, which is the twenty-first year after Augustine and his company were sent to preach to the English nation, Ethelbert, king of Kent, having most gloriously ruling his temporal kingdom fifty-six years, entered into the eternal joys of the kingdom of Heaven. He was the third of the English kings who ruled over all the southern kingdoms that are divided from the north by the river Humber and the surrounding territory; but the first that ascended to the heavenly kingdom. The first to hold the like sovereignty was Ælla, king of the South-Saxons. The second, Caelin, king of the West-Saxons, who, in their own language, is called Ceawlin. The third, as has been said, was Ethelbert, king of Kent. The fourth was Redwald, king of the East-Angles, who, even in the life-time of Ethelbert, had been acquiring the leadership for his own race. The fifth was Edwin, king of the Northumbrian nation, that is, of those inhabiting the district to the north of the river Humber. Edwin had still greater power and ruled over all the people of Britain, English and Britons alike, except for the people of Kent. He even reduced under the dominion of the English, the Mevanian Islands (Anglesey and Man) of the Britons, lying between Ireland and Britain. The sixth was Oswald, the most Christian king of the Northumbrians, whose kingdom was within the same bounds. The seventh, his brother Oswy, ruled over a kingdom of like extent for a time, and for the most part subdued and made tributary the nations of the Picts and Scots, who occupy the northern parts of Britain…”

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

The entry for 827 in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle likely draws from Bede’s work, with the main difference being the addition of Egbert of Wessex. This historical record of England was compiled in various monasteries across the country over several centuries, from the 9th to the 12th century. The earliest known version was created in the late 9th century during the reign of Alfred the Great, the king of Wessex. Several manuscripts of the Chronicle have survived, the oldest being the Parker Chronicle or Winchester Chronicle, dating to the mid-11th century. Other surviving versions include the Abingdon Chronicle, the Worcester Chronicle, the Mercian Register, and the Peterborough Chronicle.

Commissioned by Alfred the Great, the Chronicle exhibits bias towards Wessex, often omitting significant details from the kingdom of Mercia. By including Egbert, Alfred’s grandfather, in the list of Bretwaldas, the author emphasizes Alfred’s lineage and his rightful claim to rule Wessex. This is further highlighted by the exclusion of crucial Mercian events. For instance, Offa of Mercia, a powerful ruler from 757 to 796, wielded significant authority over much of southern England, potentially qualifying him for the title of Bretwalda. During Offa’s reign, Egbert was in exile at the courts of Charlemagne, as Offa had driven him from Wessex and established a puppet government. Granting both Offa and Egbert the title of Bretwalda could have sparked controversy and possibly fueled Mercian separatism during Alfred’s reign, a period when maintaining power was crucial in the face of Viking invasions.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reads as follows:

827 § This year the moon was eclipsed on the massnight of midwinter. And the same year king Egbert conquered the kingdom of the Mercians, and all that was south of the Humber; and he was the eighth king who was Bretwalda. Ælla king of the South-Saxons was the first who had this much dominion; the second was Ceawlin king of the West-Saxons; the third was Ethelbert king of Kent; the fourth was Redwald king of the East-Angles; the fifth was Edwin king of the Northumbrians; the sixth was Oswald who reigned after him; the seventh was Oswy, Oswald’s brother; the eighth was Egbert king of the West-Saxons. And Egbert led an army to Dore against the Northhumbrians, and they there offered him obedience and allegiance, and with that they returned home.