Heptarchy, << HEHP tahr kee, >> was the name given to the seven most important English kingdoms established after the Anglo-Saxon conquest of Roman Britain, which occurred between about A.D. 450 and 600. The kingdoms were founded by the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. The seven kingdoms were Kent, Essex, Sussex, Wessex, East Anglia, Mercia, and Northumbria. They battled among themselves from about 600 to 829, when Egbert of Wessex established the supremacy of his kingdom. Previously, strong kings had arisen in different kingdoms, but none of the kings had been able to impose long-term rule on the others. The word heptarchy comes from a Greek word that means rule of seven.
See also Anglo-Saxons ; Egbert .
