46 English and Continental Backgrounds
that we hear of in England in the seventh and eighth
centuries. The necessity of leadership, of united action,
of military efficiency, was the great source of kingship
among these early peoples. In the slow movement from
east to west in Britain, there was great opportunity for
disintegration, independent action, and the formation of
new groups. In the petty leaders of tribes or groups of
kin, was the stuff of which kings were made.1 It would
not be long before a heroic halo would gather about
these primitive chiefs and a divine origin be created for
them. They were symbols of tribal or national unity
and consciousness; they were military leaders, and there
were very many of them. One is in constant danger of
associating with the word king ideas that may not be-
long to it in the special time and place under considera-
tion. The content of the word expanded greatly during
the Anglo-Saxon period, as the number of kings decreased,
until the idea that the king should be the civil head of a
centralised state was clearly present, though far from
realised. The kingship of Edgar or Cnute was vastly
different from that of Ceawlin or Ini.
The royal succession was regulated by that combination
of heredity and choice which was characteristic of most
of the early Germanic kingdoms; from a family that had,
in some way, become recognised as the royal family, the
most eligible member was chosen. The direct line of
succession was not generally departed from unless there
was some good reason, like a minority, for doing so.2
But in certain instances, the designation of the last king
seems to have had some weight, and it was not unusual
for a king to associate his natural successor with him. It
is particularly important not to read modern ideas into
1 "The word cyning is in form a patronymic and would seem originally
to have meant 'son of the family' (i.e., presumably the royal family or
family of divine origin). If this suggestion is correct it would appear that
cyning was originally not a title of authority, but rather equivalent to the
modern word 'prince.'"—Chadwick, Studies on Anglo-Saxon Institutions,
p. 302.
2 But it is to be noted that the successive minorities of Edward the
Martyr and Ethelred II. did not interrupt the direct line.