Northumberland was involved in anarchy; and
no state of any consequence remained but that of Wessex, which, much
inferior in extent to Mercia, was supported solely by the great
qualities of its sovereign. Egbert led his army against the invaders;
and encountering them at Ellandun, in Wiltshire, obtained a complete
victory, and, by the great slaughter which he made of them in their
flight, gave a mortal blow to the power of the Mercians. While he
himself, in prosecution of his victory, entered their country on the
side of Oxfordshire, and threatened the heart of their dominions, he
sent an army into Kent, commanded by Ethelwulf, his eldest son, and,
expelling Baldred, the tributary King, soon made himself master of that
country.
The kingdom of Essex was conquered with equal facility, and the East
Angles, from their hatred of the Mercian government, which had been
established over them by treachery and violence, and probably exercised
with tyranny, immediately rose in arms and craved the protection of
Egbert. Bernulf, the Mercian King, who marched against them, was
defeated and slain; and two years after, Ludican, his successor, met
with the same fate.
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