Editing Æthelbald of Mercia (section)

==Titles and Bretwaldaship==
[[File:Aethelbald charter Cyneberht 736.jpg|thumb|upright|The ''[[Ismere Diploma]]'', a charter of King Æthelbald's to Ealdorman Cyneberht in 736.]]

Earlier in Bede's ''[[Ecclesiastical History of the English People]]'', he lists seven kings who governed the southern provinces of the English, with reigns dating from the late fifth to the late seventh century. Subsequently, the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''—another important source for the period—describes these seven as {{lang|ang|[[bretwalda]]s}} or {{lang|ang|brytenwaldas}}, a title translated as "Britain-ruler" or "Wide-ruler".<ref name=Swanton_60>The different versions of the title, "bretwalda" and "brytenwalda", are in the A and E texts of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', in the entry for 827. Swanton, ''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', pp. 60–61.</ref>  The ''Chronicle'' adds just one king to the list: [[Egbert of Wessex]], who reigned in the ninth century. The resulting list of eight {{lang|ang|bretwaldas}} omits several strong Mercian kings. It is possible that the chronicler was merely adding Egbert's name to Bede's original list of seven, rather than claiming that no other kings achieved similar powers in England. The chronicler was almost certainly a West Saxon, and since neither Æthelbald nor Offa were kings of Wessex it is possible the chronicler does not mention them out of regional pride.<ref name=KL_11>See comment and footnote 2 in {{cite book|last= Keynes|first= Simon|author2= Lapidge, Michael|title= Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred and other contemporary sources|pages= [https://archive.org/details/alfredgreatasser0000asse/page/11 11, 210]|year= 2004|publisher= Penguin Classics|isbn= 0-14-044409-2|url-access= registration|url= https://archive.org/details/alfredgreatasser0000asse/page/11}}</ref><ref name=BlairAITASE_201>Hunter Blair, ''An Introduction'', p. 201.</ref>  The meaning of the term "bretwalda", and the nature of the power that these eight kings wielded, has had much academic scrutiny. One suggested interpretation is that since Bede was writing during Æthelbald's reign, the original seven he listed were essentially those kings who could be seen as prototypes of Æthelbald in their domination of England south of the Humber.<ref name=Kirby_19>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p. 19.</ref>

Further evidence of Æthelbald's power, or at least his titles, is provided by an important charter of 736, the [[Ismere Diploma]], which survives in a contemporary (and possibly original) copy. It starts by describing Æthelbald as "king not only of the Mercians but also of all the provinces which are called by the general name South English"; in the witness list he is further named "Rex Britanniae", "King of Britain".<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=get&type=charter&id=89 | title = Anglo-Saxons.net: S 89 | access-date=27 April 2007 }}</ref><ref name=Fletcher_98>Fletcher, ''Who's Who'', pp.&nbsp;98–100.</ref> One historian described this title as "a phrase which can only be interpreted as a Latin rendering of the English title {{lang|ang|Bretwalda}}";<ref name=Stenton_203 /> but it may be that at that time these titles would not have been acknowledged much beyond [[Worcester, England|Worcester]], where this and other documents from the 730s that use similar titles were written.<ref name=Kirby_130>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p.130.</ref>