la, Regnum Orientalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the East Saxons , common_name = Essex , era =

Heptarchy The Heptarchy were the seven petty kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England that flourished from the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain in the 5th century until they were consolidated in the 8th century into the four kingdoms of Mercia, Northumbria, Wess ...

, status = , status_text = , government_type =

Monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...

, event_start = , date_start = , year_start = 527 , event_end = , date_end = , year_end = 825 , event1 = , date_event1 = , event2 = , date_event2 = , event3 = , date_event3 = , event4 = , date_event4 = , p1 = Sub-Roman Britain , flag_p1 = Vexilloid of the Roman Empire.svg , border_p1 = no , s1 = Kingdom of England , flag_s1 = Flag of Wessex.svg , border_s1 = no , image_flag = , flag = , flag_type = , image_coat = , symbol_type_article= , symbol_type = , image_map = Essex 2.svg , national_motto = , national_anthem = , common_languages =

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

British Latin British Latin or British Vulgar Latin was the Vulgar Latin spoken in Great Britain in the Roman and sub-Roman periods. While Britain formed part of the Roman Empire, Latin became the principal language of the elite, especially in the more roma ...

, religion =

Paganism Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christianity, early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions ot ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, currency =

Sceat A ( ; ang, sceatt , ) was a small, thick silver coin minted in England, Frisia, and Jutland during the Anglo-Saxon period that normally weighed 0.8–1.3 grams. History Its name derives from Old English ', meaning "wealth", "money", and "c ...

, leader1 = Æscwine (first) , leader2 = Sigered (last) , year_leader1 = 527–587 , year_leader2 = 798–825 , title_leader =

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

, legislature =

Witenagemot The Witan () was the king's council in Anglo-Saxon England from before the seventh century until the 11th century. It was composed of the leading magnates, both ecclesiastic and secular, and meetings of the council were sometimes called the Wit ...

, stat_year1 = , stat_area1 = , stat_pop1 = , footnotes = The Kingdom of the East Saxons ( ang, Ēastseaxna rīce; la, Regnum Orientalium Saxonum), referred to as the Kingdom of Essex , was one of the seven traditional kingdoms of the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

. It was founded in the 6th century and covered the territory later occupied by the

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

, much of

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

and (for a short while) west

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. The last king of Essex was

Sigered of Essex Sigered of Essex was the last king of Essex from 798 to 825. The son of Sigeric of Essex, Sigered became king when his father abdicated the throne. In 812 Sigered was reduced from king to duke by his Mercian overlords. In 825 he finally ceded t ...

, who in 825 ceded the kingdom to

Ecgberht, King of Wessex Ecgberht (770/775 – 839), also spelled Egbert, Ecgbert, Ecgbriht, Ecgbeorht, and Ecbert, was King of Wessex from 802 until his death in 839. His father was King Ealhmund of Kent. In the 780s, Ecgberht was forced into exile to Charlema ...

Extent

The Kingdom of Essex was bounded to the north by the River Stour and the

Kingdom of East Anglia la, Regnum Orientalium Anglorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the East Angles , common_name = East Anglia , era = , status = Great Kingdom , status_text = Independent (6th centu ...

, to the south by the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

and

, to the east lay the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

and to the west

Mercia la, Merciorum regnum , conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia , common_name=Mercia , status=Kingdom , status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex () , life_span=527–918 , era=Heptarchy , event_start= , date_start= , ye ...

. The territory included the remains of two provincial

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

capitals,

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The kingdom included the Middle Saxon Province, which included the area of the later county of Middlesex, and most if not all of

Although the province is only ever recorded as a part of the East Saxon kingdom, charter evidence shows that it was not part of their core territory. In the core area they granted charters freely, but further west they did so while also making reference to their

n overlords. At times, Essex was ruled jointly by co-Kings, and it thought that the Middle Saxon Province is likely to have been the domain of one of these co-kings. The links to Essex between Middlesex and parts of Hertfordshire were long reflected in the

Diocese of London The Diocese of London forms part of the Church of England's Province of Canterbury in England. It lies directly north of the Thames. For centuries the diocese covered a vast tract and bordered the dioceses of Norwich and Lincoln to the north ...

, re-established in 604 as the East Saxon see, and its boundaries continued to be based on the Kingdom of Essex until the nineteenth century. The East Saxons also had intermittent control of

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. For a brief period in the 8th century, the Kingdom of Essex controlled west Kent. The modern English

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

of Essex maintains the historic northern and the southern borders, but only covers the territory east of the

River Lea The River Lea ( ) is in South East England. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Creek. It is one of t ...

, the other parts being lost to neighbouring

during the 8th century. In the

Tribal Hidage Image:Tribal Hidage 2.svg, 400px, alt=insert description of map here, The tribes of the Tribal Hidage. Where an appropriate article exists, it can be found by clicking on the name. rect 275 75 375 100 w:Elmet rect 375 100 450 150 w:Hatfield Ch ...

it is listed as containing 7,000 hides.

History

Although the kingdom of Essex was one of the kingdoms of the

, its history is not well documented. It produced relatively few Anglo-Saxon chartersRippon, Stephen,
Essex c. 760 – 1066
' (in Bedwin, O, ''The Archaeology of Essex: Proceedings of the Writtle Conference'' (Essex County Council, 1996) and no version of the ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alf ...

''; in fact the only mention in the chronicle concerns Bishop

Mellitus Saint Mellitus (died 24 April 624) was the first bishop of London in the Saxon period, the third Archbishop of Canterbury, and a member of the Gregorian mission sent to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons from their native paganism to Chris ...

. As a result, the kingdom is regarded as comparatively obscure. H Hamerow, ''Excavations at Mucking, Volume 2: The Anglo-Saxon Settlement'' (English Heritage Archaeological Report 21, 1993) For most of the kingdom's existence, the Essex king was subservient to an overlord – variously the kings of

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

Origin

Saxon occupation of land that was to form the kingdom had begun by the early 5th century at

Mucking Mucking is a hamlet and former Church of England parish adjoining the Thames Estuary in southern Essex, England. It is located approximately south of the town of Stanford-le-Hope in what is now Thurrock unitary authority. In 1931 the parish had ...

and other locations. A large proportion of these original settlers came from

Old Saxony "Old Saxony" is the original homeland of the Saxons. It corresponds roughly to the modern German states of Lower Saxony, eastern part of modern North Rhine-Westphalia state (Westphalia), Nordalbingia (Holstein, southern part of Schleswig-Holstein ...

. According to British legend (see ) the territory known later as Essex was ceded by the

Celtic Britons The Britons ( *''Pritanī'', la, Britanni), also known as Celtic Britons or Ancient Britons, were people of Celtic language and culture who inhabited Great Britain from at least the British Iron Age and into the Middle Ages, at which point th ...

to the Saxons following the infamous

Treason of the Long Knives The Treason of the Long Knives ( cy, Brad y Cyllyll Hirion) is an account of a massacre of British Celtic chieftains by Anglo-Saxon soldiers at a peace conference on Salisbury Plain in the 5th century. The story is thought to be pseudohist ...

, which occurred during the reign of High King

Vortigern Vortigern (; owl, Guorthigirn, ; cy, Gwrtheyrn; ang, Wyrtgeorn; Old Breton: ''Gurdiern'', ''Gurthiern''; gle, Foirtchern; la, Vortigernus, , , etc.), also spelled Vortiger, Vortigan, Voertigern and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in ...

Della Hooke Della Hooke, (born 1939) is a British historical geographer and academic, who specialises in landscape history and Anglo Saxon England. On 5 May 1990, she was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London A fellow is a concept whos ...

relates the territory ruled by the kings of Essex to the pre-Roman territory of the

Trinovantes The Trinovantēs (Common Brittonic: *''Trinowantī'') or Trinobantes were one of the Celtic tribes of Pre-Roman Britain. Their territory was on the north side of the Thames estuary in current Essex, Hertfordshire and Suffolk, and included lan ...

. Studies suggest a pattern of typically peaceful co-existence, with the structure of the Romano-British landscape being maintained, and with the Saxon settlers believed to have been in the minority. The kingdom of Essex grew by the absorption of smaller subkingdomsAndrew Reynolds, ''Later Anglo-Saxon England'' (Tempus, 2002, page 67) drawing on S Bassett (ed) ''The Origin of Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms'' (Leicester, 1989) or Saxon tribal groups. There are a number of suggestions for the location of these subkingdoms including: *

The Rodings The Rodings are a group of eight villages in the upper part of the River Roding and the west of Essex, England, the largest group in the country to bear a common name. (Registration required.) The Rodings do not lie within a single district in th ...

("the people of Hrōþa"), *the ''Haemele'',

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500. Developed after the Second World War as a ne ...

*Vange – "marsh district" (possibly stretching to the

Mardyke The Mardyke ( ga, An Mhuirdíog) is an area in Cork city, on the northern half of the long western part of the island formed by the two channels of the River Lee near the city centre. It was historically left as open space because the land along ...

) *Denge *''Ginges'' *Berecingas –

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...

, in the south west of the kingdom *Haeferingas in the

London Borough of Havering The London Borough of Havering () in East London, England, forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 259,552 inhabitants; the principal town is Romford, while other communities are Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham. The ...

*Uppingas –

Epping Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...

Essex monarchy

Essex emerged as a single kingdom during the 6th century. The dates, names and achievements of the Essex kings, like those of most early rulers in the

, remain conjectural. The historical identification of the kings of Essex, including the evidence and a reconstructed genealogy are discussed extensively by Yorke. The dynasty claimed descent from

Woden Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...

via Seaxnēat. A genealogy of the Essex royal house was prepared in Wessex in the 9th century. Unfortunately, the surviving copy is somewhat mutilated. At times during the history of the kingdom several sub-kings within Essex appear to have been able to rule simultaneously. They may have exercised authority over different parts of the kingdom. The first recorded king, according to the East Saxon King List, was

Æscwine of Essex Æscwine (alternative spellings include Erkenwine, Erchenwin, Erchenwine) 94 AD-587 ADin the Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies is listed as the first king of Essex. If historical, he would have flourished during the 6th century. Background Little e ...

, to which a date of 527 is given for the start of his reign, although there are some difficulties with the date of his reign, and

Sledd of Essex Sledd (or Sledda) was King of Essex in the late 6th century, possibly between (?) 587 - ''c''. 604. Extremely little is known about him. An East-Saxon genealogy preserved as British Library Add. MS 23211, possibly of the late 9th century, makes ...

is listed as the founder of the Essex royal house by other sources. The kings of Essex are notable for their S-nomenclature, nearly all their names begin with the letter S. The Essex kings issued coins that echoed those issued by

Cunobeline Cunobeline (or Cunobelin, from Latin , derived from Common Brittonic ''*Cunobelinos'' "Strong as a Dog", "Strong Dog") was a king in pre-Roman Britain from about AD 9 until about AD 40.Malcolm Todd (2004)"Cunobelinus_[Cymbeline/nowiki>_(d._''c'' ...

simultaneously asserting a link to the first century rulers while emphasising independence from Mercia.

Christianity

Christianity is thought to have flourished among the Trinovantes in the 4th century (late Roman period); indications include the remains of a probable church at Colchester, dating from some time after 320 AD, shortly after the Constantine the Great Edict of Milan, granted freedom of worship to Christians in 313 AD. Other archaeological evidence includes a chi rho symbol etched on a tile at a site in Wickford, and a gold ring inscribed with a chi rho monogram found at Brentwood. It is not clear to what extent, if any, Christianity persisted by the time of the pagan East Saxon kings in the sixth century. The earliest English record of the kingdom dates to

Bede Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...

's , which noted the arrival of Bishop (later Saint)

in London in 604. Æthelberht (King of Kent and overlord of southern England according to Bede) was in a position to exercise some authority in Essex shortly after 604, when his intervention helped in the conversion of King Saebert of Essex (son of Sledd), his nephew, to Christianity. It was Æthelberht, and not Sæberht, who built and endowed St. Paul's in London, where St. Paul's Cathedral now stands. Bede describes Æthelberht as Sæberht's overlord.Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', p. 109. After the death of Saebert in AD 616, Mellitus was driven out and the kingdom reverted to paganism. This may have been the result of opposition to Kentish influence in Essex affairs rather than being specifically anti-Christian.Yorke, Barbara, ''Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England'' (1990) The kingdom reconverted to Christianity under Sigeberht II the Good following a mission by St Cedd who established monasteries at ''Tilaburg'' (probably

East Tilbury East Tilbury is a village and former civil parish in the unitary authority of Thurrock borough, Essex, England, and one of the traditional Church of England parishes in Thurrock. In 1931 the parish had a population of 353. History In Saxon ti ...

, but possibly

West Tilbury West Tilbury is a village and former civil parish on the top of and on the sides of a tall river terrace overlooking the River Thames. Part of the modern town of Tilbury (including part of Tilbury Fort) is within the traditional parish of We ...

) and ''Ithancester'' (almost certainly

Bradwell-on-Sea Bradwell-on-Sea is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. The village is on the Dengie peninsula. It is located about north-northeast of Southminster and is east from the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the District of Mal ...

). A royal tomb at Prittlewell was discovered and excavated in 2003. Finds included gold foil crosses, suggesting the occupant was Christian. If the occupant was a king, it was probably either Saebert or Sigeberht (murdered AD 653). It is, however, also possible that the occupant was not royal, but simply a wealthy and powerful individual whose identity has gone unrecorded. St Peters Chapel

Essex reverted to Paganism again in 660 with the ascension of the Pagan King Swithelm of Essex. He converted in 662, but died in 664. He was succeeded by his two sons, Sigehere and Sæbbi. A plague the same year caused Sigehere and his people to recant their Christianity and Essex reverted to Paganism a third time. This rebellion was suppressed by

Wulfhere of Mercia Wulfhere or Wulfar (died 675) was King of Mercia from 658 until 675 AD. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of North ...

who established himself as overlord. Bede describes Sigehere and Sæbbi as "rulers ��under Wulfhere, king of the Mercians".Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', p. 114. Wulfhere sent Jaruman, the bishop of

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...

, to reconvert the East Saxons.

Wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

(in 666)Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 239 and

Erkenwald __NOTOC__ Earconwald or Erkenwald (died 693) was Bishop of London between 675 and 693. Life Earconwald was born at Lindsey in Lincolnshire,Walsh ''A New Dictionary of Saints'' p. 182 and was supposedly of royal ancestry. In 666, he established t ...

(in 675) were appointed bishops of London with spiritual authority over the East Saxon Kingdom. A small stone chest bearing the name of

Sæbbi of Essex Sæbbi (also known as Saint Sebbi or Sebba; before 626 – 695) was son of Sexred and was the joint King of Essex from 664 to about 683 along with his cousin, Sighere. After Sighere died, Sæbbi became sole ruler of Essex until 694. Life Sighe ...

() was visible in

Old St Paul's Cathedral Old St Paul's Cathedral was the cathedral of the City of London that, until the Great Fire of London, Great Fire of 1666, stood on the site of the present St Paul's Cathedral. Built from 1087 to 1314 and dedicated to Paul of Tarsus, Saint Paul, ...

until the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past the ...

of 1666 when the cathedral and the tombs within it were lost. The inscription on the chest was recorded by

Paul Hentzner Paul Hentzner (29 January 1558 – 1 January 1623) was a German lawyer who published an account of his travels in England during the late Elizabethan era. Hentzner was born in Crossen, in the Margraviate of Brandenburg. In 1596, he becam ...

and translated by

Robert Naunton Sir Robert Naunton (1563 – 27 March 1635) was an English writer and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1606 and 1626. Family Robert Naunton was the son of Henry Naunton of Alderton, Suffolk, and Elizabeth Ashe ...

as reading: "Here lies Seba, King of the East Saxons, who was converted to the faith by St. Erkenwald, Bishop of London, A.D. 677." Although London (and the rest of Middlesex) was lost by the East Saxons in the 8th century, the bishops of London continued to exert spiritual authority over Essex as a kingdom, shire and county until 1845.

Later history and end

Despite the comparative obscurity of the kingdom, there were strong connections between Essex and the Kentish kingdom across the river Thames which led to the marriage of King Sledd to Ricula, sister of the king, Aethelbert of Kent. For a brief period in the 8th century the kingdom included west Kent. During this period, Essex kings were issuing their own

sceattas A ( ; ang, sceatt , ) was a small, thick silver coin minted in England, Frisia, and Jutland during the Anglo-Saxon period that normally weighed 0.8–1.3 grams. History Its name derives from Old English ', meaning "wealth", "money", and "coi ...

(coins), perhaps as an assertion of their own independence. However, by the mid-8th century, much of the kingdom, including London, had fallen to

and the rump of Essex, roughly the modern county, was now subordinate to the same. After the defeat of the Mercian king Beornwulf around AD 825, Sigered, the last king of Essex, ceded the kingdom which then became a possession of the

Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

king

Egbert Egbert is a name that derives from old Germanic words meaning "bright edge", such as that of a blade. Anglo-Saxon variant spellings include Ecgberht () and Ecgbert. German variant spellings include Ekbert and Ecbert. People with the first name Mid ...

. The Mercians continued to control parts of Essex and may have supported a pretender to the Essex throne since a Sigeric witnessed a Mercian charter after AD 825.Cyril Hart ''The Danelaw'' (The Hambledon Press, 1992, chapter 3) During the ninth century, Essex was part of a sub-kingdom that included Sussex, Surrey and Kent. Sometime between 878 and 886, the territory was formally ceded by Wessex to the

Danelaw The Danelaw (, also known as the Danelagh; ang, Dena lagu; da, Danelagen) was the part of England in which the laws of the Danes held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. The Danelaw contrasts with the West Saxon law and the Mercian ...

kingdom of East Anglia, under the

Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum The Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum is a 9th-century peace agreement between Alfred of Wessex and Guthrum, the Viking ruler of East Anglia. It sets out the boundaries between Alfred and Guthrum's territories as well as agreements on peaceful trade, a ...

. After the reconquest by

Edward the Elder Edward the Elder (17 July 924) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death in 924. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. When Edward succeeded to the throne, he had to defeat a challenge from his cousin Æt ...

the king's representative in Essex was styled an

ealdorman Ealdorman (, ) was a term in Anglo-Saxon England which originally applied to a man of high status, including some of royal birth, whose authority was independent of the king. It evolved in meaning and in the eighth century was sometimes applied ...

and Essex came to be regarded as a

shire Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the beginn ...

List of kings

The following list of kings may omit whole generations.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Carpenter, Clive. ''Kings, Rulers and Statesmen''. Guinness Superlatives, Ltd. * Ross, Martha. ''Rulers and Governments of the World'', Vol. 1. ''Earliest Times to 1491''.