Egbert (?-839) was king of Wessex in England from 802 until his death. His name is also spelled Ecgberht. Egbert may have tried to claim the throne after the death of the Wessex king in 786. But the new king and the king of Mercia drove him into exile. Egbert lived for several years in the kingdom of the Franks, at the court of Charlemagne. Egbert returned in 802 and became king of Wessex. He fought for control of the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Egbert eventually gained the submission of Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Essex, Mercia, East Anglia, and Northumbria, as well as the Celts in Cornwall. Egbert’s reign laid the basis for the unification of England under his heirs, beginning with his grandson Alfred the Great.
See also Anglo-Saxons; England (The Anglo-Saxon period).
