HEPTARCHY, a word which is frequently used to desig nate the period of English history between the coming of the Anglo-Saxons in 449 and the supremacy established by Egbert of Wessex early in the ninth century. It is derived from Gr. Eirra, seven, and apx i rule, and was first used during the i6th century because of the belief held by Camden and other older historians, that during this period there were exactly seven kingdoms in England, i.e., Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Sussex, and Wessex. This belief is erroneous, as the number of kingdoms varied considerably from time to time ; nevertheless the word still serves a useful purpose to denote the period.