In making himself supreme ruler over the entire English population of
Britain, Egbert laid the foundations of what was finally to become the
"Kingdom of England." Several causes contributed to this change of
name. We can trace the process step by step. First, the people of
Kent and the great council held at Whitby (SS42, 48) laid the
cornerstone of the National Church; next, the people of Wessex
furnished the National Overlord (S49); finally, the preponderance of
the people called Angles (S37) furnished the National Name of
Angle-Land or England.
It is a fact worthy of notice, in this connection, that from Egbert as
a royal source every subsequent English sovereign (except the four
Danish Kings, Harold II, and William the Conqueror) has directly or
indirectly descended down to the present time. (See Table of Royal
Descent in the Appendix, p. xlii.)