Kingdom of Wessex in the context of "Kingdom of Sussex"

The Heptarchy was the division of Anglo-Saxon England between the sixth and eighth centuries into petty kingdoms, conventionally the seven kingdoms of East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Mercia, Northumbria, Sussex, and Wessex. The term originated with the twelfth-century historian Henry of Huntingdon and has been widely used ever since, but it has been questioned by historians as the number of kingdoms fluctuated, and there was never a time when the territory of the Anglo-Saxons was divided into seven kingdoms each ruled by one king. The period of petty kingdoms came to an end in the eighth century, when England was divided into the four dominant kingdoms of East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria, and Wessex.

Mercian was a dialect spoken in the Anglian kingdom of Mercia (roughly speaking the Midlands of England, an area in which four kingdoms had been united under one monarchy). Together with Northumbrian, it was one of the two Anglian dialects. The other two dialects of Old English were Kentish and West Saxon. Each of those dialects was associated with an independent kingdom on the island. Of these, all of Northumbria and most of Mercia were overrun by the Vikings during the 9th century. Part of Mercia and all of Kent were successfully defended but were then integrated into the Kingdom of Wessex. Because of the centralisation of power and the Viking invasions, there is little to no salvaged written evidence for the development of non-Wessex dialects after Alfred the Great's unification, until the Middle English period.

The Kingdom of the Kentish, today referred to as the Kingdom of Kent, was an early medieval kingdom in what is now South East England. It existed from either the fifth or the sixth century AD until it was fully absorbed into the Kingdom of Wessex in the mid-9th century and later into the Kingdom of England in the early 10th century.

Under the preceding Romano-British administration the area of Kent faced repeated attacks from seafaring raiders during the fourth century AD. It is likely that Germanic-speaking foederati were invited to settle in the area as mercenaries. Following the end of Roman administration in 410, further linguistically Germanic tribal groups moved into the area, as testified by both archaeological evidence and Late Anglo-Saxon textual sources. The primary ethnic group to settle in the area appears to have been the Jutes: they established their Kingdom in East Kent and may initially have been under the dominion of the Kingdom of Francia. It has been argued that an East Saxon or Middle Saxon community initially settled in West Kent and merged with the expanding kingdom of East Kent in the sixth century, but this is uncertain.

The royal consorts of Wessex were the wives of the reigning monarchs of the Kingdom of Wessex. History has not always recorded whether each king of Wessex was married or not. In Wessex it was not customary for kings' wives to be queens but Judith was crowned queen following her marriage to Æthelwulf.

Wessex was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from 519 AD until England was unified by Æthelstan (who never married) in 927 AD.

Wulfthryth (fl. 868) was a queen of Wessex, the wife of King Æthelred I.

Little is known of Wulfthryth. She witnessed a charter of 868, in which she has the title of regina ("queen"). The charter appears in the Codex Wintoniensis, but Wulfthryth is otherwise unrecorded in primary sources. Stephanie Hollis notes that 868 was the year of Alfred the Great's marriage to a Mercian and that "Wulfthryth's name looks Mercian". Wulfthryth may be related to the Ealdorman Wulfhere who was granted land in Wiltshire by King Æthelred I in 869 and had his land confiscated for treason by King Alfred He is identified incorrectly as "Wulfhere princeps" in the 869 charter and his name appears directly below that of "Wulthryth regina".

Bagsecg (830 – 8 January 871), also known as Bacgsecg, was a viking and a leader of the Great Army, which invaded England. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Bagsecg and Healfdene (Norse Hálfdan) were joint commanders of the Great Army that invaded the Kingdom of Wessex during the northern winter of 870/71.

The Great Army is recorded as setting up camp at Reading and fighting the forces of Æthelred, King of Wessex, in several engagements during 871. At one of these, the Battle of Ashdown, Bagsecg and five Viking earls were killed.

Government in Anglo-Saxon England covers English government during the Anglo-Saxon period from the 5th century until the Norman Conquest in 1066. See Government in medieval England for developments after 1066.

Until the 9th century, England was divided into multiple Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Each kingdom had its own laws and customs, but all shared a common basis in the Germanic legal tradition. In the 9th century, the Kingdom of Wessex absorbed the other kingdoms, creating the unified Kingdom of England.