His father was king ealhmund of kent. Egbert of wessex (lived circa 770 to 839 ce, reigned 802 to 839 ce Also given as ecgberht, ecbert) was the most powerful and influential king of wessex prior to the reign of alfred the great (reigned 871 to 899 ce). In the latter years of his reign however, the arrival of the vikings was about to turn england and its kingdoms upside down… Egbert, echoing other saxon rulers, proclaimed descent from the noble lineage of cerdic, the founder of the house of wessex His reign marked a crucial turning point in english history, as he laid the foundations for the eventual unification of england.
Egbert was a son of ealhmund, the kentish king, and grandson of king eafa of wessex, but not the heir apparent to the wessex throne Before reaching egbert, the crown adorned the heads of cynewulf and beothric, whose rule began after the murder of cynewulf in ad 786. Egbert was forced to flee to france, then ruled by the emperor charlemagne and is said to have served in his army He remained safely in france for the rest of beothric's reign in wessex. Egbert is a name that derives from old germanic words meaning bright edge, such as that of a blade
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