heptarchy

[hep-tahr-kee]

noun

plural

heptarchies 

1. (often initial capital letter),  the seven principal concurrent Anglo-Saxon kingdoms supposed to have existed in the 7th and 8th centuries.

2. government by seven persons.

3. an allied group of seven states or kingdoms, each under its own ruler.

heptarchy

/ ˈhɛptɑːkɪ /

noun

1. government by seven rulers

2. a state divided into seven regions each under its own ruler

3. 1. the seven kingdoms into which Anglo-Saxon England is thought to have been divided from about the 7th to the 9th centuries _ad : Kent, East Anglia, Essex, Sussex, Wessex, Mercia, and Northumbria

   2. the period when this grouping existed

Other Word Forms

• heptarch noun
• heptarchist noun
• heptarchic adjective
• heptarchical adjective
• heptarchal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of heptarchy¹

First recorded in 1570–80; hept- ( def. ) + -archy

Example Sentences

Instead of a unified empire, the smaller kingdoms of the Heptarchy still dominate, their various dangerous machinations providing the raison d’être for the differing orders.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Set sometime in the Dark Ages, after the withdrawal of the Roman Empire from the island and before the rise of the seven kingdoms known as the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy, “The Buried Giant” is historical in the way that history is preserved by people who cannot write: as legend, story, rumor and myth.

Read more on Salon

There are voices in favour of regions that chime with the ancient Heptarchy, while influential lobbies are pushing the notion of power to cities.

Read more on BBC

Within a decade the Heptarchy was no more.

Read more on BBC

What happens if we put away again the swords and spears, and think in terms of England as heptarchy?

Read more on BBC