Welcome to the British History Podcast.

My name is Jamie and this is Episode 178, dereliction of duty.

This show is free and independent due to member support and as thanks for helping keep

the community going, I offer members only content, including extra episodes and rough transcripts.

If you're interested in supporting the show and helping us out, you can do so over at

the British History Podcast.com and thank you very much to Philip, Jennifer and Alice

for contributing already.

When we last left off, we were talking about what a big deal King Egbert of Wessex was.

And for good reason, in 829, King Egbert of Wessex held virtually all of the south and

even demanded the submission of Northumbria after a battle at the River Door.

It event that earned King Egbert the incredibly rare title of Bret Wolder.

Britain ruler.

This is how rare it was.

There are only nine recorded Bret Wolders in all of British history.

Just nine.

So that gives you a sense of what a big deal he was and his conquests also gained him

a tremendous amount of money because he had seized the Mint of Lenten and he began issuing

coins in his own name as the King of Mercia.

King Egbert's dramatic rise in power from 825 to 829 was meteoric and he absolutely earned

his title of Britain ruler.

At least from 825 to 829.

The trouble though is that it's no longer 829.

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