ed
them in matters of state as well as in matters of religion.

26. =Church Councils.=--Bede recognised in the title of his book that
there was such a thing as an English nation long before there was any
political unity. Whilst kingdom was fighting against kingdom, Theodore
in =673= assembled the first English Church council at Hertford. From
that time such councils of the bishops and principal clergy of all
England met whenever any ecclesiastical question required them to
deliberate in common. The clergy at least did not meet as West Saxons
or as Mercians. They met on behalf of the whole English Church, and
their united consultations must have done much to spread the idea
that, in spite of the strife between the kings, the English nation was
really one.

[Illustration: Saxon horsemen (Harl. MS. 603.)]

[Illustration: Group of Saxon warriors. (Harl. MS. 603.)]

27. =Struggle between Mercia and Wessex.=--Many years passed away
before the kingdoms could be brought under one king. North-humberland
stood apart from southern England, and during the latter half of the
seventh century Wessex grew in power. Wessex had been weak because it
was seldom thoroughly united. Each district was presided over by an
AEtheling, or chief of royal blood, and it was only occasionally that
these AEthelings submitted to the king. From time to time a strong king
compelled the obedience of the AEthelings and carried on the old
struggle with the western Welsh. It was not till =710= that Ine
succeeded in driving the Welsh out of Somerset, and about the same
time a body of the West Saxons advancing through Dorset reached
Exeter. They took possession of half the city for themselves, and left
the remainder to the Welsh. Ine was, however, checked by fresh
outbreaks of the subordinate AEthelings, and in =726= he gave up the
struggle and went on a pilgrimage to Rome. AEthelbald, king of the
Mercians, took the opportunity to invade Wessex, and made himself
master of the country and over-lord of all the other kingdoms south of
the Humber. In =754= the West Saxons rose against him and defeated him
at Burford. After a few years his successor, Offa, once more took up
the task of making the Mercian king over-lord of southern England. In
=775=, after a long struggle, he brought Kent as well as Essex under
his sway. In =779= he defeated the West Saxons at Bensington, and
pushed the Mercian frontier to the Thames. Further than that Offa did
not venture to go