Bretwalda is an Old English word. The first record comes from the late 9th-century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. It is given to some of the rulers of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms from the 5th century onwards who had achieved overlordship of some or all of the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.

What is the meaning Bretwalda?

: the chief king in Anglo-Saxon England —used as a title in the Old English Chronicle for several kings said to have held supremacy over kingdoms beyond their own.

Which Anglo-Saxon king was known as Bretwalda?

The word is used in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in its account of the events of 829 and also in a charter of Aethelstan, king of the English, and probably means “ruler of the Britons” or “ruler of Britain.” In the Chronicle the title is given to Egbert (died 839) of Wessex, “the eighth king that was Bretwalda,” and ...