Kingdom of Wessex

The Kingdom of the West Saxons, also known as the Kingdom of Wessex, was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from around 519 until around 927. Its origins trace back when Alfred the Great adopted the title 'King of the Anglo-Saxons' as the ruler of all Anglo-Saxons not under Danish rule. Over the next thirty years Alfred's son, Edward the Elder and grandson Æthelstan conquered the Danish kingdoms, and when Æthelstan conquered the last surviving one, York, in 927, he adopted the title 'King of the English'. The Anglo-Saxons believed that Wessex was founded by Cerdic and Cynric of the Gewisse, though this is considered by some to be a legend. The two main sources for the.