who was the first king of england, when, and what was there before him?

Question

who was the first king of england? when did he live? what did england have before him?

Answer 1

~ Ethelbert was King of Kent from about 580 or 590 until 616. He was accorded the title of "Bretwalda" (Lord of Britain). The seven kingdoms of England each had a king but only one was "Bretwalda" In the 7th century, the title usually went to the Northumbrian king and in the 8th, the Mercian king was apt to hold it. In the 9th century, Egbert of Wessex beat the Mercians at Ellendun (825) and he took it on.

Of course, Angleland simply denoted the regions of Britain that were inhabited by the Angles when they moved over from Germany and joined their Teuton cousins, the Bretons, the Gauls, the Celts and the Saxons who had preceded them. The term England (in any of its earlier spellings) was not used to designate the lower portion of the Island of Britain until 897, so the first "Bretwalda" of Angleland would have been one of Egberts heirs. England was unified in 927 by Athelstan, so technically he would be the first king of England.

Answer 2

Yes, Alfred the Great, King of the West Saxons could be listed as the first King of England. Before Alfred there was King Oswy of Northumbria, whose rule did not extend over the entire island. King Oswy died in 670 CE.

Answer 3

King Alfred the Great is a very early one who ruled the whole area. He was born in 849 and ruled from 871 to 899.

Answer 4

Before Alfred was the heptarchy (7 independent kingdoms). Alfred became king of all of England because most of the other royal families (including his) either died out or were killed by Vikings.

Answer 5

This is controversial as nobody is certain when one king controlled the whole of England.
It is normally taken to be Edward I 899-924 ad.
Before that there were several regional kings.