Editing Ecgberht, King of Wessex (section)

== Early reign ==
Beorhtric's dependency on Mercia continued into the reign of [[Cenwulf]], who became king of Mercia a few months after Offa's death.<ref name=Stenton_208 /> Beorhtric died in 802, and Ecgberht came to the throne of Wessex, probably with the support of Charlemagne and perhaps also the papacy.<ref name=Kirby_186>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p. 186.</ref> The Mercians continued to oppose Ecgberht: the day of his accession, the [[Hwicce]] (who had originally formed a separate kingdom, but by that time were part of Mercia) attacked, under the leadership of their [[ealdorman]], [[Æthelmund]]. Weohstan, a Wessex ealdorman, met him with men from Wiltshire;<ref name = Swanton_58 /> according to a 15th-century source, Weohstan had married Alburga, Ecgberht's sister, and so was his brother-in-law.<ref name=Yorke_Alburga>The source, a poem in the ''Chronicon Vilodunense'', is described by Yorke as "admittedly . . . far from ideal". See Barbara Yorke, "Edward as Ætheling", in Higham & Hill, ''Edward the Elder'', p. 36.</ref> The Hwicce were defeated, though Weohstan was killed as well as Æthelmund.<ref name = Swanton_58 /> Nothing more is recorded of Ecgberht's relations with Mercia for more than twenty years after this battle. It seems likely that Ecgberht had no influence outside his own borders, but on the other hand, there is no evidence that he ever submitted to the overlordship of Cenwulf. Cenwulf did have overlordship of the rest of southern England, but in Cenwulf's charters the title of "overlord of the southern English" never appears, presumably in consequence of the independence of the kingdom of Wessex.<ref name=Stenton_225>Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', p. 225.</ref>

In 815, ''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' records that Ecgberht ravaged the whole of the territories of the remaining British kingdom, [[Dumnonia]], known to the author of ''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' as the West Welsh; their territory was about equivalent to what is now [[Cornwall]].<ref name = Swanton_58 /><ref name = Kirby_125>The border had been pushed back to the [[river Tamar]], between [[Devon]] and Cornwall, by [[Ine of Wessex]] in 710. See Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p.125.</ref> Ten years later, a charter dated 19 August 825 indicates that Ecgberht was campaigning in Dumnonia again; this may have been related to a battle recorded in the ''Chronicle'' at [[Gafulford]] in 823, between the men of Devon and the Britons of Cornwall.<ref name=Kirby_189>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', pp. 189–195.</ref>