d was borne before him, as well as a spear decorated with a
tuft of feathers, the ancient sign of Roman authority. It has been
thought by some that his meaning was that he, rather than any
Welshman, was the true Gwledig, the successor of the Duke of the
Britains (_Dux Britanniarum_), and that the name of Bretwalda, or
ruler of the Britons, which he is said to have borne, was only a
translation of the Welsh Gwledig. It is true that the title of
Bretwalda is given to other powerful kings before and after Eadwine,
some of whom were in no sense rulers over Britons; but it is possible
that it was taken to signify a ruler over a large part of Britain,
though the men over whom he ruled were English, and not Britons.

12. =Eadwine's Supremacy.=--Eadwine's immediate kingship did not reach
further south than the Humber and the Dee. But before =625= he had
brought the East Angles and the kingdoms of central England to submit
to his over-lordship, and he hoped to make himself over-lord of the
south as well, and thus to reduce all England to dependence on
himself. In =625= he planned an attack upon the West Saxons, and with
the object of winning Kent to his side, he married AEthelburh, a sister
of the Kentish king. Kent was still the only Christian kingdom, and
Eadwine was obliged to promise to his wife protection for her
Christian worship. He was now free to attack the West Saxons. In
=626=, before he set out, ambassadors arrived from their king. As
Eadwine was listening to them, one of their number rushed forward to
stab him. His life was saved by the devotion of Lilla, one of his
thegns, who threw his body in the way of the assassin, and was slain
by the stroke intended for his lord. After this Eadwine marched
against the West Saxons. He defeated them in battle and forced them to
acknowledge him as their over-lord. He was now over-lord of all the
English states except Kent, and Kent had become his ally in
consequence of his marriage.

13. =Character of the later Conquests.=--Eadwine's over-lordship had
been gained with as little difficulty as AEthelberht's had been. The
ease with which each of them carried out their purpose can only be
explained by the change which had taken place in the condition of the
English. The small bodies of conquerors which had landed at different
parts of the coast had been interested to a man in the defence of the
lands which they had seized. Every freeman had been ready to come
forward to defend the