caption successor title rank image article_title name reign
Ælle the parker manuscript of the '' anglo-saxon chronicle '' , 's written c. 890 name is visible in this line from cissa ? king of sussex 7th aelle name in 477 annal.png Ælle of sussex
 Ælle c. 477 -- c. 514 ?
Ælle of sussex

Ælle -lrb- ; also aelle or ella -rrb- is recorded in early sources as the first king of the south saxons , reigning in what is now called sussex , england , from 477 to perhaps as late as 514 .
according to the `` anglo-saxon chronicle '' , Ælle and three of his sons are said to have landed at a place called cymensora and fought against the local britons .
the chronicle goes on to report a victory in 491 , at present day pevensey , where the battle ended with the saxons slaughtering their opponents to the last man .
Ælle was the first king recorded by the 8th century chronicler bede to have held `` imperium '' , or overlordship , over other anglo-saxon kingdoms .
in the late 9th-century `` anglo-saxon chronicle '' -lrb- around four hundred years after his time -rrb- Ælle is recorded as being the first bretwalda , or `` britain-ruler '' , though there is no evidence that this was a contemporary title .
Ælle 's death is not recorded and although he may have been the founder of a south saxon dynasty , there is no firm evidence linking him with later south saxon rulers .
the 12th-century chronicler henry of huntingdon produced an enhanced version of the `` anglo-saxon chronicle '' that included 514 as the date of Ælle 's death , but this is not secure .
