The Collaborative International Dictionary
Bretwalda \Bret"wal*da\, n. [AS. Bretwalda, br?ten walda, a
powerful ruler.] (Eng. Hist.)
The official title applied to that one of the Anglo-Saxon
chieftains who was chosen by the other chiefs to lead them in
their warfare against the British tribes.
--Brande & C.
Wikipedia
Bretwalda (also brytenwalda and bretenanwealda) is an Old English word, the first record of which 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. It is unclear whether the word dates back to the 5th century and was used by the kings themselves, or whether it is a later, 9th-century, invention. The term bretwalda also appears in a charter of Æthelstan.
The rulers of Mercia were generally the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon kings from the mid-7th to the early 9th centuries, but are not accorded the title of bretwalda by the Chronicle, which is generally thought to be because of the anti-Mercian bias of the Chroniclers. The Annals of Wales continued to recognise the kings of Northumbria as 'Kings of the Saxons' until the death of Osred I of Northumbria in 716.
Usage examples of "bretwalda".
And when the Bretwalda leapt through the flame-curtain, his loathsome axe high in the air, the wily Arthur dodged aside, leaving only the sharp edge of his sword behind.
And beneath it, surrounded by his house carles, the Bretwalda himself.
They all came, yes, and from the Saecsen Shore came Aelle, now Bretwalda of the Saecsen kind, with his carles and kinsmen: Cynric and Cissa and Cymen.
He knew that even if he and Cerdic did capture all southern Britain there would still have to be another war to determine which of them should be the Bretwalda, which is their name for the High King.
Things are really not much different from when you left, except that Aelle grows stronger, so strong that he even dares call himself the Bretwalda now.
We Britons did not recognize the title Bretwalda, but I used it to placate the Saxon chief.
I had half expected Arthur to bow to Aelle who was, unlike Arthur, a king, but Arthur treated the Bretwalda as an equal and Aelle accepted the treatment without protest.
Ethelbert, King of Kent, was Bretwalda for fifty years, and liked it first-rate.
The peace and plenty of the reign of the great Bretwalda Ethelbert had been almost destroyed by his easy-going son Eadbald.
And now Oswy was acclaimed Bretwalda, a title, Taran told her, that proclaimed him overlord of all the kingdoms of the Angles and Saxons.
We looked up through the shining veil of smoke and flame and saw a knot of foemen clustered about the skull-and-bones standard of the Bretwalda.