More than this, Christianity had a powerful political influence. A
great synod or council was held at Whitby, on the coast of Yorkshire,
664, to decide when Easter should be observed. Delegates to that
meeting were sent from different parts of the country. After a
protracted discussion all the churches finally agreed to accept the
Roman custom. This important decision encouraged a spirit of true
religious unity. The bishops, monks, and priests who gathered at
Whitby represented Saxon tribes which were often bitterly hostile to
each other (S37), but their action on the Easter question united them
in a certain way. It made them feel that they had a common interest,
that they were members of the same Church, and that, in that Church,
they were laboring for the same object. The fact that they bowed to
one supreme spiritual authority had a political significance. It
suggested that the time might be coming when all the conflicting
tribes or petty kingdoms in Britain would acknowledge the authority of
one King, and form one English nation.
49. Egbert becomes King of Wessex, and Overlord of the Whole Country,
829.
Somewhat more than a hundred and sixty years later a great step was
taken toward the accomplishment of the political union of the
different sections of Britain. By the death of the King of Wessex
(S37), Egbert, a descendant of Cerdic, the first chief and King of
that country, succeeded to the crown. He had spent some time in
France at the court of Charlemagne and had seen that great ruler make
himself master of most of western Europe. Egbert was not content to
remain simply King of Wessex. He resolved to make himself master of
the whole country. He began a series of wars by which he, at length,
compelled all the other Saxon Kings to acknowledge him as their
Overlord. That title marks the beginning, in 829, of a new period in
the history of the island.