thumb|Lead bulla of king Coenwulf of Mercia (British Museum) The course of events in East Anglia is less clear, but Eadwald's coinage ceased, and new coinage issued by Coenwulf began by about 805, so it is likely that Coenwulf forcibly re-established Mercian dominance there.Kirby, Earliest English Kings, p. 179. The resumption of friendly relations with Wessex under Beorhtric received a setback when Beorhtric died and the throne of Wessex passed to Egbert, who, like Eadberht, had been an exile at Charlemagne's court.Sarah and John Zaluckyj, "Decline", in Zaluckyj & Zaluckyj, Mercia, p. 232. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that on the same day that Egbert came to the throne, an ealdorman of the Hwicce named Æthelmund led a force across the Thames at Kempsford but was defeated by the men of Wiltshire under the leadership of Weohstan, also an ealdorman.Swanton, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, pp. 58–59. Egbert may also have had a claim on the Kentish throne, according to the Chronicle, but he made no move to recover it during Coenwulf's reign.Kirby, Earliest English Kings, p. 189. Egbert appears to have been independent of Mercia from the beginning of his reign, and Wessex's independence meant that Coenwulf was never able to claim the overlordship of the southern English that had belonged to Offa and Æthelbald. He did, however, claim the title of "Emperor" on one charter, the only Anglo-Saxon king to do so before the 10th century.Patrick Wormald, "The Age of Offa and Alcuin", in Campbell et al. The Anglo-Saxons, p. 101.
thumb|Lead bulla of king Coenwulf of Mercia (British Museum) The course of events in East Anglia is less clear, but Eadwald's coinage ceased, and new coinage issued by Coenwulf began by about 805, so it is likely that Coenwulf forcibly re-established Mercian dominance there.Kirby, Earliest English Kings p. 179. The resumption of friendly relations with Wessex under Beorhtric received a setback when Beorhtric died and the throne of Wessex passed to Egbert, who, like Eadberht, had been an exile at Charlemagne's court.Sarah and John Zaluckyj, "Decline", in Zaluckyj & Zaluckyj Mercia, p. 232. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reco.rds that on the same day that Egbert came to the throne, an ealdorman of the Hwicce named Æthelmund led a force across the Thames at Kempsford but was defeated by the men of Wiltshire under the leadership of Weohstan, also an ealdorman.Swanton, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, pp. 58–59. Egbert may also have had a claim on the Kentish throne, according to the Chronicle, but he made no move to recover it during Coenwulf's reign.Kirby, Earliest English Kings, p. 189 Egbert appears to have been independent of Mercia from the beginning of his reign, and Wessex's independence meant that Coenwulf was never able to claim the overlordship of the southern English that had belonged to Offa and Æthelbald. He did, however, claim the title of "Emperor" on one charter, the only Anglo-Saxon king to do so before the 10th century.Patrick Wormald, "The Age of Offa and Alcuin", in Campbell et al. The Anglo-Saxons, p. 101.