The title of

Bretwalda

was one given to some of the kings of the kingdoms of England (the so-called Anglo-Saxon heptarchy) in the second half of the first millennium AD. Such a king was considered to be the overlord of all of England. The title was not inherited, but rather accorded to whichever king was considered the most powerful at the moment; often there was no Bretwalda. The word is derived from the Anglo-Saxon ''Bretanwealda'', "Lord of Britain" or perhaps "wide-ruling". Although the Bretwalda was often considered to be the king of all or most of England, he probably was more a ''primus inter pares'' than an actual overlord to the other English kings. Thus, it was more a (very prestigious) appellation of honor than an actual official title with corresponding powers. Two lists of kings that deserved this title have survived, one by Bede (died 735), and one in the ''Anglo-Saxon_Chronicle'' from the 10th_century.
  • Ælle of Sussex (477-circa 514)
  • Ceawlin_of_Wessex (560-591)
  • Ethelbert_of_Kent (591-616)
  • Raedwald_of_East_Anglia (616-627)
  • Edwin_of_Deira (627-632)
  • Oswald_of_Bernicia (633-641)
  • Oswiu_of_Northumbria (641-670)
  • Ethelbald_of_Mercia (circa 735-757)
  • Offa_of_Mercia (757-796)
  • Egbert_of_Wessex (829-839)
  • Ethelwulf_of_Wessex (839-855)
  • Ethelbald_of_Wessex (855-860)
  • Ethelbert_of_Wessex (860-866)
  • Ethelred_of_Wessex (866-871)
  • Alfred_the_Great of Wessex (871-899) The original lists of Bretwaldas did not contain the kings Ethelbald and Offa of Mercia, but in all probability they were considered Bretwalda in their time and are included above. The reason for their omission is probably an anti-Pagan (for Bede) and anti-Mercian (for the ''Chronicles'') bias. The title of Bretwalda gradually fell into disuse around or after the Danish invasion of the 860s and 870s, the king becoming known as 'King of England', the first such king being Alfred_the_Great, king of Wessex since 871, although he is considered primarily a Bretwalda. The term originated from the Saxon overlordship to the Britons, whom the Saxons had actually come to Britain to dominate.
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