What is Beorhtric of Wessex?
{{Infobox royalty | type = monarch | name = Beorhtric | succession = [[List of monarchs of Wessex|King of Wessex]] | image = Beorhtric - MS Royal 14 B VI.jpg | reign = 786–802 | predecessor=[[Cynewulf of Wessex|Cynewulf]]| | successor=[[Egbert of Wessex|Egbert]] | house = [[House of Wessex]] | birth_place = | death_date = 802 | death_place = | burial_place = Wareham, Dorset | spouse = Eadburh, daughter of Offa, king of Mercia }} '''Beorhtric''' (also '''Brihtric'''; meaning 'Magnificent ruler') (died 802) was the [[List of monarchs of Wessex|King of Wessex]] from 786 to 802. He ruled Wessex as a [[:en:wikt:figurehead|figurehead]] king. His wife and father-in-law exercised most of the power. == King of Wessex == The names of his parents and his ancestry are unknown.<ref>Frank Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'' (Oxford University Press, 1971), p. 209</ref> In 786, Cynewulf, king of Wessex, was killed by [[Cyneheard the Atheling|Cyneheard]], brother of the former King [[Sigeberht of Wessex|Sigeberht]].<ref name=Ashley312>Mike Ashley, ''The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens'' (New york: Carroll & Graf, 1999), p. 312</ref> Either with help of [[Offa of Mercia]] or quickly coming under his influence, Beorhtric became King of Wessex.<ref>Barbara Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England'' (London: Routledge, 1997), p. 141</ref> In 787, he held the [[Synod of Chelsea]] jointly with Offa. In 789 he married Eadburh, Offa's daughter.<ref name=Ashley312/> That same year Vikings appeared off the coast of [[Devon]]. Believing they were traders the local [[:en:wikt:reeve|reeve]] went to meet them and was killed. This was the first encounter with Vikings in southern England.<ref name=Ashley312/> After Offa's death in 796, [[Mercia]]n power over England was weakened. There was a period of three years when some West Saxons tried to break free of Mercian control.<ref name=Ashley312/> But Beorhtric and [[Cenwulf of Mercia|Cenfulf]], the new king, signed a peace treaty. From that time on Wessex remained sub