King of Mercia
632 - 654 Penda
Alongside the year 626, the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' says: "This year Penda began to reign; and reigned thirty winters. He had seen fifty winters when he began to reign. Penda was the son of Pybba, Pybba of Creoda, Creoda of Cynewald, Cynewald of Cnebba, Cnebba of Icel, Icel of Eomer, Eomer of Angelthew, Angelthew of Offa, Offa of Wearmund, Wearmund of Whitley, Whitley of Woden."
The continental Angle king, Offa, is referred to in 'Beowulf':
He, of all heroes I heard of ever
from sea to sea, of the sons of earth,
most excellent seemed. Hence Offa was praised
for his fighting and feeing by far-off men,
the spear-bold warrior; wisely he ruled over his empire.
Not only is it highly unlikely that Penda was fifty when he became king of Mercia, it also seems likely that he didn't actually become king until 632. In 628, according to the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle': "... Cynegils [king of Wessex] and Cwichelm [Cynegils' son] fought with Penda at Cirencester, and afterwards entered into a treaty there." It seems likely that Cynegils ceded Cirencester and territory along the Severn to Penda. The Mercian sub-kingdom of the Hwicce (modern Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and western Warwickshire) quite possibly dates from this period. Penda was obviously ambitious, and he saw a further opportunity to increase his power when Cadwallon, king of Gwynedd, rebelled against the overlordship of Edwin of Northumbria (Edwin is fifth Bretwalda listed by the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'). Bede says that Cadwallon was: "... supported by the vigorous Penda, of the royal race of the Mercians, who from that time governed that nation for twenty-two years with varying success. A great battle being fought in the plain that is called Haethfelth [Hatfield Chase, near Doncaster], Edwin was killed on the 12th of October, in the year of our Lord 633 ... and all his army was either slain or dispersed. In the same war also, Osfrid [Osfrith], one of his sons, a warlike youth, fell before him; Eadfrid [Eadfrith], another of them, compelled by necessity, went over to King Penda, and was by him afterwards slain in the reign of Oswald, contrary to his oath." On the assumption that Bede considered the year to begin in September, the year of Edwin's death and Penda's accession to the throne of Mercia, by modern reckoning, was 632. The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle': "After this Cadwalla [Cadwallon] and Penda went and ravaged all the land of the Northumbrians ..." The following year, Cadwallon was defeated and killed by Edwin's eventual successor, Oswald, who succeeded in reestablishing Northumbria's supremacy; becoming 6th Bretwalda. Penda must have spent the first part of his reign establishing his authority and building his resources. Eventually, on 5th August 641 (by modern reckoning), Penda was strong enough to defeat and kill Oswald, at a site called Maserfelth by Bede (usually, though not with absolute certainty, identified with Oswestry - possibly a contraction of 'Oswald's Tree'). It must have been around this time (Bede provides no date) "that the nation of the Mercians, under King Penda, made war on the East Angles", killing Sigeberht and Ecgric, the ex-king and incumbent king of that country. It appears that Penda's sister was married to Cenwalh, king of Wessex. Cenwalh unwisely discarded her, and took another wife. In 645, Penda drove him from Wessex. Cenwalh remained in exile, with Anna of East Anglia, for three years. Neither did Penda desist from harassing Northumbria. At one time, before 651, Bede reports that "... the hostile army of the Mercians, under the command of Penda, cruelly ravaged the country of the Northumbrians far and near, even to the royal city, which has its name from Bebba [i.e. Bamburgh], formerly its queen. Not being able to take it by storm or by siege, he endeavoured to burn it down; and having pulled down all the villages in the neighbourhood of the city, he brought thither an immense quantity of beams, rafters, partitions, wattles and thatch, wherewith he encompassed the place to a great height on the land side, and when he found the wind favourable, he set fire to it and attempted to burn the town. At that time, the most reverend Bishop Aidan was dwelling in the Isle of Farne, which is about two miles from the city; for thither he was wont often to retire to pray in solitude and silence; and, indeed, this lonely dwelling of his is to this day shown in that island. When he saw the flames of fire and the smoke carried by the wind rising above the city walls, he is said to have lifted up his eyes and hands to heaven, and cried with tears, "Behold, Lord, how great evil is wrought by Penda!" These words were hardly uttered, when the wind immediately veering from the city, drove back the flames upon those who had kindled them, so that some being hurt, and all afraid, they forebore any further attempts against the city, which they perceived to be protected by the hand of God." In 651, Aidan died: "he breathed his last, leaning against a buttress that was on the outside of the church to strengthen the wall... It happened some years after, that Penda, king of the Mercians, coming into these parts with a hostile army, destroyed all he could with fire and sword, and the village where the bishop died, along with the church above mentioned, was burnt down; but it fell out in a wonderful manner that the buttress against which he had been leaning when he died, could not be consumed by the fire which devoured all about it." Despite the obvious animosity Penda felt towards the Northumbrians, his daughter, Cyneburh was married to Alhfrith, the son of the Northumbrian king, Oswiu. Penda had placed his son, Peada, in charge of the Middle-Angles (the south-east midlands). In 653, Peada asked Oswiu if he could marry his daughter, Alhflæd. Bede says that Peada "... could not obtain his desire unless he would receive the faith of Christ, and be baptized, with the nation which he governed. When he heard the preaching of the truth, the promise of the heavenly kingdom, and the hope of resurrection and future immortality, he declared that he would willingly become a Christian, even though he should not obtain the maiden ..." The newly baptised Peada returned home accompanied by four priests: "The aforesaid priests, arriving in the province with the prince, preached the Word, and were heard willingly; and many, as well of the nobility as the common sort, renouncing the abominations of idolatry, were daily washed in the fountain of the faith. Nor did King Penda forbid the preaching of the Word even among his people, the Mercians, if any were willing to hear it; but, on the contrary, he hated and despised those whom he perceived to be without the works of faith, when they had once received the faith of Christ, saying, that they were contemptible and wretched who scorned to obey their God, in whom they believed." In 654 Penda had invaded East Anglia and killed King Anna. Æthelhere, Anna's successor (and brother), then became one of Penda's allies in his final showdown with Oswiu (indeed Bede, somewhat cryptically, says that Æthelhere was "the occasion of the war"). On 15th of November, 654 (assuming Bede's year started in September), despite vastly outnumbering the Northumbrian forces, Penda and his allies (some of whom were Britons) were crushed by Oswiu. The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' notes that: "... Penda was slain at Winwidfeld ....
from sea to sea, of the sons of earth,
most excellent seemed. Hence Offa was praised
for his fighting and feeing by far-off men,
the spear-bold warrior; wisely he ruled over his empire.
Bede: "The battle was fought near the river Winwæd ... in the district of Loidis [Leeds] ..."
.... and thirty royal personages with him, some of whom were kings. One of them was Ethelhere [Æthelhere], brother of Anna, king of the East-Angles. The Mercians after this became Christians."
The, somewhat erratic, 'Historia Brittonum' implies that Penda, until the battle at Maserfelth (Maes Cogwy), shared the rule of Mercia with his brother: "Penda, son of Pybba, reigned ten years; he first separated the kingdom of Mercia from that of the North-men, and slew by treachery Anna, king of the East Anglians, and St.Oswald, king of the North-men. He fought the battle of Cocboy, in which fell Eawa, son of Pybba, his brother, king of the Mercians, and Oswald, king of the North-men, and he gained the victory by diabolical agency. He was not baptized, and never believed in God." This is echoed by another Welsh source, the 'Annales Cambriae', which states: "The battle of Cocboy in which Oswald king of the Northmen and Eawa king of the Mercians fell."
Late 654 - 658
Following Penda's defeat and death at the hands of Oswiu (probably 15th November 654, by modern reckoning), Northumbria annexed Mercia. Bede says that Oswiu "... having made an end of their heathen chief [i.e. Penda], converted the Mercians and the adjacent provinces to the grace of the Christian faith. Diuma was made the first bishop of the Mercians, as also of Lindsey and the Midland Angles ..."
Penda had delegated control of the Middle-Angles to his son, Peada. In 653, Peada had introduced Christianity there as a condition of his marriage to Oswiu's daughter, Alhflæd. Bede reports that, following his baptism in Northumbria, Peada had "... received four priests, who by reason of their learning and good life were deemed proper to instruct and baptize his nation, he returned home with much joy. These priests were Cedd and Adda, and Betti and Diuma; the last of whom was by nation a Scot, the others English."
Bede describes Peada as "an excellent youth, and most worthy of the name and office of a king", and indeed Oswiu "... gave to the above-mentioned Peada, son to King Penda, because he was his kinsman, the kingdom of the Southern Mercians, consisting, as is said, of 5,000 families, divided by the river Trent from
the Northern Mercians, whose land contains 7,000 families; but Peada was foully slain in the following spring [i.e. in 656], by the treachery, as is said, of his wife, during the very time of the Easter festival."658 - 675 Wulfhere
Son of PendaBede states that: "Three years after the death of King Penda, the Mercian chiefs, Immin, and Eafa, and Eadbert, rebelled against King Oswy [Oswiu], setting up for their king, Wulfhere, son to the said Penda, a youth whom they had kept concealed; and expelling the ealdormen of the foreign king, they bravely recovered at once their liberty and their lands; and being thus free, together with their king, they rejoiced to serve Christ the true King, for the sake of an everlasting kingdom in heaven." Having liberated Mercia, Wulfhere set about extending his influence. Alongside the year 661, the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' records an offensive against Cenwalh of Wessex "... and Wulfere [Wulfhere], the son of Penda, pursued him as far as Ashdown... Into the Isle of Wight also Wulfere, the son of Penda, penetrated ..." Wulfhere subsequently presented the Isle of Wight, and some territory on the opposite mainland, to Æthelwalh, king of Sussex, who was baptised in Mercia.
The early-12th century Manuscript E (the 'Peterborough Manuscript'), of the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle', carries a lengthy account of the founding of an abbey at Medeshamstede. The project began during the short reign of Wulfhere's brother, Peada, as king of South Mercia: "In his time came together himself and Oswy, brother of King Oswald, and said, that they would rear a minster to the glory of Christ, and the honour of St.Peter. And they did so, and gave it the name of Medeshamstede; because there is a well there, called Medeswæl. And they began the groundwall, and wrought thereon; after which they committed the work to a monk, whose name was Saxulf [Seaxwulf]." Wulfhere carried on Peada's work: "In his time waxed the abbey of Medeshamstede very rich, which his brother had begun. The king loved it much, for the love of his brother Peada, and for the love of his wed-brother Oswy, and for the love of Saxulf the abbot. He said, therefore, that he would dignify and honour it by the counsel of his brothers, Ethelred [Æthelred] and Merwal [Merewalh] ....
It is stated by Florence of Worcester that Merewalh "... reigned in the western division of Mercia." The people of the "western division of Mercia" (modern northern Herefordshire and southern Shropshire) were the Magonsætan. The earliest references to Merewalh as Wulfhere's brother (i.e. Penda's son) are found in 11th century manuscripts associated with the so called 'Mildrith Legend' (St.Mildrith, early 8th century Abbess of Minster-in-Thanet, Kent). Opinions regarding the reliability of the attribution are divided. Barbara Yorke ('Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England') suggests that it "... appears to draw on reliable pre-Conquest materials ... Merewalh's membership of the Mercian royal house can receive some support through his naming of one of his sons Merchelm 'helmet of the Mercians' and by the tradition of Merewalh's burial at Repton where a number of members of the Mercian royal house were buried." Sir Frank Stenton ('Anglo-Saxon England'): "The fact that no names beginning in M occur in the elaborate genealogy of the Mercian kings makes it in the highest degree unlikely that Merewalh was Penda's son. The further fact that the names current in the family alliterate with the name of the Magonsætan suggests very strongly that they had a claim to rule in their own right over this people, and that originally they were independent of the Mercian kings." D.P. Kirby ('The Earliest English Kings'): "The eleventh-century claim that Merewalh, king of the Magonsaete, was also a son of Penda cannot be authenticated, even though in the 740s Aethelbald, king of the Mercians, appears to describe Mildrith (later regarded as the daughter of Merewalh and Aebbe (Eafe), a Kentish princess) as his kinswoman (CS 177: S 91) ... It is not inconceivable that Merewalh was the son of a sister of Penda."
.... and by the counsel of his sisters, Kyneburga [Cyneburh] and Kyneswitha [Cyneswith]; and by the counsel of the archbishop, who was called Deusdedit; and by the counsel of all his peers, learned and lewd, that in his kingdom were. And he so did. Then sent the king after the abbot, that he should immediately come to him. And he so did. Then said the king to the abbot: "Beloved Saxulf, I have sent after thee for the good of my soul; and I will plainly tell thee for why. My brother Peada and my beloved friend Oswy began a minster, for the love of Christ and St.Peter: but my brother, as Christ willed, is departed from this life; I will therefore intreat thee, beloved friend, that they earnestly proceed on their work; and I will find thee thereto gold and silver, land and possessions, and all that thereto behoveth." Then went the abbot home, and began to work. So he sped, as Christ permitted him; so that in a few years was that minster ready. Then, when the king heard say that, he was very glad; and bade men send through all the nation, after all his thegns; after the archbishop, and after bishops: and after his earls; and after all those that loved God; that they should come to him. And he fixed the day when men should hallow the minster. And when they were hallowing the minster, there was the king, Wulfere, and his brother Ethelred, and his sisters, Kyneburga and Kyneswitha. And the minster was hallowed by Archbishop Deusdedit of Canterbury; and the Bishop of Rochester, Ithamar; and the Bishop of London, who was called Wina [Wine] ....
Wine, Bishop of Winchester, was expelled from Wessex by King Cenwalh. Bede says that he "... took refuge with Wulfhere, king of the Mercians, of whom he purchased for money the see of the city of London, and remained bishop thereof till his death." However, according to Bede, Wine cannot have left Wessex until some time after Deusdedit's death. At the command of Oswiu of Northumbria, Ceadda (St.Chad) was despatched to Canterbury to be ordained as Bishop of York, but: "... Archbishop Deusdedit had departed this life, and no other bishop was as yet appointed in his place; whereupon they betook themselves to the province of the West Saxons, where Wini [Wine] was bishop, and by him Ceadda was consecrated ..."
.... and the Bishop of the Mercians, whose name was Jeruman [Jaruman]; and Bishop Tuda [of Lindisfarne]. And there was Wilfrid, priest, that after was bishop ....
St.Wilfrid's biographer, Eddius Stephanus, declares that: "Wulfhere had a sincere liking for him [Wilfrid]. God had raised up for Himself this most gracious king - amongst whose good works was the gift, for the good of his soul, of many pieces of land in various places to our bishop. Wilfrid soon used them to found monasteries."
.... and there were all his thegns that were in his kingdom." Wulfhere made a generous gift of land to the minster, after which, the 'Chronicle' states that: "These are the witnesses that were there, and that subscribed it with their fingers on the cross of Christ, and confirmed it with their tongues. That was, first the king, Wulfere, who confirmed it first with his word, and afterwards wrote with his finger on the cross of Christ, saying thus: "I Wulfere, king, in the presence of kings, and of earls, and of captains, and of thegns, the witnesses of my gift, before the Archbishop Deusdedit, I confirm it with the cross of Christ" +. "And I Oswy, king of the Northumbrians, the friend of this minster, and of the Abbot Saxulf, commend it with the cross of Christ" +. "And I Sighere [Sigehere], king, ratify it with the cross of Christ" +. "And I Sibbi [Sæbbi], king, subscribe it with the cross of Christ" +. "And I Ethelred, the king's brother, granted the same with the cross of Christ" +. "And we, the king's sisters, Kyneburga and Kyneswitha, approve it." "And I Archbishop of Canterbury, Deusdedit, ratify it." Then confirmed it all the others that were there with the cross of Christ + ... This charter was written after our Lord's Nativity 664 ..." Medeshamstede later became Peterborough (St.Peter's Burh).
Kings Sigehere and Sæbbi were co-rulers of Essex, though Bede notes that they were "... themselves subject to Wulfhere, king of the Mercians ..." There was a serious plague in Britain during 664, and, in the hope of defeating it, Sigehere lapsed into paganism. In 665 Wulfhere despatched Bishop Jaruman to Essex to counter the pagan revival. At some stage, Wulfhere married Eormenhild (St.Ermenilda), daughter of Eorcenberht, king of Kent. By the time of Oswiu's death, in 670, it seems likely that Wulfhere was overlord of southern England (though he fails to be nominated as a Bretwalda). At some time, towards the end of his reign, Wulfhere, whom Eddius Stephanus refers to as "a man of proud mind and insatiable will", decided to extend his overlordship to Northumbria also. Accordingly, he "stirred up all the southern nations" and invaded Northumbria. Wulfhere's plan went woefully awry. The Northumbrian king, Ecgfrith, "marched forth against the enemy host" and: "... laid them low. Countless numbers were slaughtered, their king routed, and the Kingdom of Mercia itself put under tribute." The Mercians also lost control of the province of Lindsey (essentially the northern half of modern Lincolnshire). Eddius notes that: "Later Wulfhere died (I do not know the exact cause) ..." Alongside the year 675, the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' records fighting between Wulfhere and Æscwine of Wessex (without providing any detail), and also announces that Wulfhere died, but there is no suggestion that the battle and Wulfhere's death are connected.
675 - 704 Æthelred
Son of PendaIn 676, Bede says that Æthelred "... ravaged Kent with a hostile army, and profaned churches and monasteries, without regard to pity, or the fear of God, in the general destruction he laid waste the city of Rochester; Putta, who was bishop, was absent at that time, but when he understood that his church was ravaged, and everything taken away from it, he went to Sexwulf [Seaxwulf], bishop of the Mercians and having received of him a certain church, and a small piece of land, ended his days there in peace; in no way endeavouring to restore his bishopric ..." In 679, Æthelred won Lindsey (previously lost by his brother, Wulfhere) back from the Northumbrians. During the battle, which took place near the river Trent, Ælfwine, young brother of the Northumbrian king, Ecgfrith, was killed. In order to prevent a protracted conflict, Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, brokered a settlement whereby Æthelred paid Ecgfrith compensation for the death of Ælfwine. Actually, Æthelred's wife was Osthryth, sister of Ecgfrith and Ælfwine. When, in 681, St.Wilfrid was expelled from Northumbria by Ecgfrith, he found refuge (according to Eddius Stephanus, Wilfrid's biographer) with a nephew of Æthelred's called Berhtwald. However, when Æthelred and Osthryth discovered this they pressured Berhtwald into forcing Wilfrid out of Mercia. ("They did this to flatter Ecgfrith" says Eddius). Wilfrid made his way to Centwine, king of Wessex. According to Bede, the remains of Osthryth's uncle, St.Oswald (who had been killed and dismembered by Penda, Æthelred's father), were found, and Osthryth wanted to move them to the "... famous monastery in the province of Lindsey, called Beardaneu [Bardney], which that queen and her husband Ethelred [Æthelred] greatly loved and venerated, conferring upon it many honours... When the wagon in which those bones were carried arrived towards evening at the aforesaid monastery, they that were in it were unwilling to admit them, because, though they knew him to be a holy man, yet, as he was a native of another province, and had obtained the sovereignty over them, they retained their ancient aversion to him even after his death. Thus it came to pass that the relics were left in the open air all that night, with only a large tent spread over the wagon which contained them. But it was revealed by a sign from Heaven with how much reverence they ought to be received by all the faithful; for all that night, a pillar of light, reaching from the wagon up to heaven, was visible in almost every part of the province of Lindsey. Hereupon, in the morning, the brethren of that monastery who had refused it the day before, began themselves earnestly to pray that those holy relics, beloved of God, might be laid among them. Accordingly, the bones, being washed, were put into a shrine which they had made for that purpose, and placed in the church, with due honour; and that there might be a perpetual memorial of the royal character of this holy man, they hung up over the monument his banner of gold and purple. Then they poured out the water in which they had washed the bones, in a corner of the cemetery. From that time, the very earth which received that holy water, had the power of saving grace in casting out devils from the bodies of persons possessed." Bede provides no detail, but states: "In the year 697, Queen Osthryth was murdered by her own nobles, to wit, the nobles of the Mercians." The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' notes that, in 704, Æthelred "... entered into a monastic life, having reigned twenty-nine winters; and Cenred succeeded to the government." (Against the year 716, the 'Chronicle' mentions that Æthelred was buried at Bardney, which seems to suggest that he died in that year).
704 - 709 Cenred
Son of WulfhereFelix (fl.713x749), in his 'Life of St.Guthlac' observes that: "It happened in the days of Cœnred [Cenred], King of the Mercians, that the British nation, enemy of the English people, annoyed the English with many skirmishes and various battles."
(Felix actually wrote in Latin, but the above quote is taken from the Old English version, translated by Michael Swanton).
In 709, says Bede: "Coenred [Cenred], who had for some time nobly governed the kingdom of the Mercians, much more nobly quitted the sceptre of his kingdom. For he went to Rome, and there receiving the tonsure and becoming a monk ... he continued to his last hour in prayer and fasting and alms-deeds at the threshold of the Apostles." Cenred was accompanied to Rome by Offa of Essex, who similarly became a monk.709 - 716 Ceolred
Son of ÆthelredAgainst the year 715, the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle', with no further detail, simply announces that Ceolred and Ine of Wessex "fought" at a site called 'Woddes beorge' (Woden's Barrow), which is identified with a tumulus now known as 'Adam's Grave', Wiltshire. The 'Chronicle' announces Ceolred's death, and burial at Lichfield, in 716. According to a letter, written by St.Boniface to Ceolred's successor, Æthelbald, Ceolred was guilty of "the violation and seduction of nuns and the destruction of monasteries ", and consequently, while he "... sat feasting amidst his nobles, an evil spirit which had seduced him into defying the law of God suddenly struck him with madness, so that still in his sins, without repentance or confession, raving mad, gibbering with demons and cursing the priests of God, he departed from this life and went certainly to the torments of hell."
716 - 757 Æthelbald
Son of Alweo, Alweo of Eawa (Penda's brother)In his 'Life of St.Guthlac', Felix says that Æthelbald had been driven into exile by his predecessor, Ceolred. Guthlac, a reclusive monk living in the Middle Anglian fens at Crowland, in modern Lincolnshire, and himself of Mercian royal descent, often sheltered Æthelbald, and is said to have advised him to be patient because God would help him gain the kingdom. Guthlac died in 714, but is subsequently purported to have appeared to Æthelbald in a vision, prophesying his succession to the throne within the year. The Old English version of Felix's 'Life of St.Guthlac' (translated by Michael Swanton) states: "Now the place where the triumphant body of the holy man rests [Crowland] has since been honourably dignified with various buildings by Æthelbald the King."
An otherwise unknown figure, Ceolwald, appears in one Mercian regnal list. There is speculation that it was he who immediately succeeded Ceolred, but he either died or was overthrown by Æthelbald.
An entry in the 'Annales Cambriae', for 721 or 2, mentions a couple of battles in which the Mercians were bested by the Welsh: "... the battle of Garth Maelog, the battle of Pencon among the south Britons, and the Britons were the victors ..."
Bede, summing up his 'Ecclesiastical History of the English People', in 731, states that all the: "... southern provinces, as far as the boundary formed by the river Humber, with their several kings, are subject to King Ethelbald [Æthelbald]." Æthelbald, however, is not listed as a Bretwalda (although, in a charter of 736, he is styled 'rex Britanniae', which, it might reasonably be supposed, is the Latin equivalent). How Æthelbald achieved such preeminence, however, is not recorded. The 'Life of St.Guthlac' was actually commissioned by Ælfwald, king of East Anglia. In 'The Earliest English Kings', D.P. Kirby proposes that there must have been, therefore, cordial relations between Æthelbald and Ælfwald, and that it was possibly an alliance between Mercia and East Anglia which was the "cornerstone" of Æthelbald's rise to supremacy. The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' notes, alongside the year 733, that Æthelbald "took Somerton", in modern Somerset, from Wessex - then ruled by Æthelheard. It seems that Æthelbald annexed much land along the Mercian border with Wessex; indeed, he gave the monastery of Cookham, in Berkshire, to the Archbishop of Canterbury. D.P. Kirby suggests that Æthelbald may have been "... appropriating border territories traditionally in dispute between the Mercians and the western Saxons." Against the year 740, the extension of Bede's 'Ecclesiastical History' reports that Æthelbald "cruelly and wrongfully wasted part of Northumbria" - then ruled by Eadberht - which might suggest that 'debatable' land on the border with Northumbria was also being consolidated into Mercia. About 740, Cuthred became king of Wessex. The 'Chronicle' reports that, in 743, Æthelbald and Cuthred "fought with the Welsh", but no further detail is provided. It seems plausible that Cuthred was obliged to accompany Æthelbald on campaign under the terms of their relationship. However, Cuthred, it appears, was not a man to humbly accept a position of subservience - the 'Chronicle' mentioning that he "fought many hard battles" against Æthelbald.
There exists a letter written to Æthelbald, in 746 or 7, by St.Boniface (an archbishop in Germany - although he was English, probably born in Crediton, and originally called Wynfrith): "To my most dear lord Æthelbald, King of the English, beloved in Christ above all other kings, Boniface, the archbishop, Legate in Germany of the Roman Church, with Wera, Burchard, Werberht, Abel, Willibald, Hwita and Leofwine, his fellow-bishops, lasting and loving greetings in Christ. We confess before God and His holy angels that whenever reliable messengers have brought us news of your prosperity, your faith and good deeds in the sight of God and men, we have been glad and given thanks to God in our prayers. We have also prayed and entreated the Saviour of the world to keep you for many years to come firm in faith, constant in good works and just in your government of a Christian people. But whenever it has come to our ears that you have suffered a setback either in the state of your realm, the outcome of war or, what is more dangerous, in the salvation of your soul, then we have been cast down with grief and sadness, because we share in your joys and suffer with you in your troubles. We have heard that you are generous in the giving of alms. On this we congratulate you ... We have heard, also, that you vigorously suppress robbery and crime, perjury and plundering, and that you are known to be a protector of the widows and the poor: hence peace is established in your kingdom. For this we rejoice and praise God ... But with these good tidings one grave accusation against your otherwise good conduct, and one which we would prefer to think was false, has reached our hearing and caused us sorrow. We have learned from several sources that you have never taken a lawful wife... if you wished to act in this manner for the sake of practising chastity and continence, and had refrained from taking a wife out of fear and love of God, and then had truly fulfilled your purpose, we should have been glad, because it is a laudable and not a reprehensible course to take. But if, as many say (which God forbid), you have not taken a lawful wife nor professed chastity for God's sake but have been driven by lust into the sins of fornication and adultery and have lost your good name before God and men, then we are deeply grieved. And what is much worse, those who told us add that you have committed these sins, to your greater shame, in various monasteries with holy nuns and virgins vowed to God. Let us put the matter this way. If a slave is guilty of a heinous crime against his master, if he commits adultery with his lord's wife, how much greater is the crime of the man who besmirches with his lust the spouse of Christ, Creator of heaven and earth? . . It would be tedious to enumerate how many teachers have denounced the dread poison of this sin and forbidden it with terrible threats. Fornication is more grave and repellent than almost any other sin and may truly be called the snare of death, an abyss of hell and a whirlpool of perdition. Wherefore, if you are still living in a state of sin, we beseech and entreat Your Grace through Christ, the Son of God, and through His coming, to amend your life by penance and cleanse it by purification. Bear in mind how vile a thing it is to change the image of God which has been created in you into the likeness of the devil through lust. Remember that you have been set as a king and ruler over many, not for your own deserts but through the overwhelming goodness of God, and that now by your lust you are making yourself the slave of the devil... If the English race, as people in the provinces say and as the French, Italians and even the heathens insultingly proclaim, are despising lawful marriage and living in open adultery like the people of Sodom, then we must expect that from such intercourse with harlots, a people degenerate, degraded and mad with lust will be begotten. In the end the whole race, turning to base and ignoble ways, will cease to be strong in war, steadfast in faith, honoured by men or pleasing in the sight of God. So has it befallen other peoples of Spain, Provence and Burgundy. They turned away from God and yielded to lust until Almighty God allowed the penalties of such crimes to destroy them, first by letting them lose the knowledge of God and then by loosing the attacks of the Saracens upon them. It should be noted that in this crime another and much greater crime is involved, because when these harlots, whether nuns or not, bring forth their children conceived in sin they generally kill them and so, instead of enlarging the Church by bringing in adoptive sons of Christ, they fill graves with corpses and hell with unhappy souls. We have also been informed that you have violated the privileges of churches and monasteries and filched away their revenues. If this is true, it must be regarded as a grievous sin ... he who robs or plunders the money of Christ and the Church will be regarded as a murderer in the sight of the just Judge... It is said that your governors and earls use greater violence and oppression towards monks and priests than any other Christian kings have ever done before. Ever since St.Gregory sent missionaries to convert the English people to the Catholic faith the privileges of the Church remained inviolate and sacrosanct until the days of Ceolred, King of Mercia and Osred, King of Deira and Bernicia. At the evil suggestion of the devil these two kings showed, by their accursed example, how these two deadly sins could be committed publicly against the commands of the Gospel and the teachings of our Saviour. They persisted in their crimes, namely, in the violation and seduction of nuns and the destruction of monasteries, until they were condemned by the just judgment of God and cast down from their royal state, overtaken by sudden and terrible death, deprived of eternal light and plunged into the depths of hell. For while Ceolred, Your Highness's predecessor, as those who were present testify, sat feasting amidst his nobles, an evil spirit which had seduced him into defying the law of God suddenly struck him with madness, so that still in his sins, without repentance or confession, raving mad, gibbering with demons and cursing the priests of God, he departed from this life and went certainly to the torments of hell. Osred, also, maddened and spurred on by his lust, outraged consecrated virgins in their convents until a shameful and ignominious death deprived him of his glorious kingdom, his young wife and his impure soul. Wherefore, beloved son, beware of the pit into which you have seen others fall before you. Beware the darts of the old foe with which you have seen your relatives fall wounded. Be on your guard against him who lays the snares that have entrapped your friends and companions, and by which you have seen them lose this life and the life to come. Follow not the example of such to your ruin. Such are they who, according to Holy Writ, have oppressed the good and taken away their works... Take these warnings to heart, my dear son; I pray you yield to the prudent Words of God's law and reform your life. Turn away from your vices, make an effort to acquire holy virtues. So shall you prosper in this world and receive eternal reward in the world to come. May Almighty God so turn your life to better things that you may be worthy of the grace of our Lord Himself for evermore."
Æthelbald may have been stung by this criticism, since, in 749, he released ecclesiastical establishments from all obligations, except the necessary maintenance of forts and bridges.
Eventually, in 752, according to the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle', Cuthred's struggle against Æthelbald's overlordship was successful. At an unidentified site called 'Beorhford', Cuthred "put him to flight". Cuthred's eventual successor, Cynewulf, however, was subject to Æthelbald, and it is possible that he attained the throne with the aid of Æthelbald's support. In the extension of the 'Ecclesiastical History', alongside the year 757, is the announcement: "Ethelbald, king of the Mercians, was treacherously and miserably murdered, in the night, by his own guards ..." The 'Chronicle' adds that he "... was slain at Seckington; and his body lies at Repton."757 Beornred
Beornred's pedigree is not known, but the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' states that Beornred "... succeeded to the kingdom, which he held but a little while, and unprosperously; for King Offa the same year put him to flight, and assumed the government ..."
Between the years 756 and 830 the majority of entries in all manuscripts of the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' are two years early. The above quote, therefore, appears against the year 755.
757 - 796 Offa
Son of Thingfrith, Thingfrith of Eanwulf, Eanwulf of Osmod, Osmod of EawaThe comment by the author of the extension to Bede's 'Ecclesiastical History' is: "... Offa, having put Beornred to flight, sought to gain the kingdom of the Mercians by bloodshed." Charters imply that, by 764, Offa had become overlord of Kent, but the situation is by no means clear. At any rate, in the year 776, there was a battle between Mercia and Kent at Otford, the outcome of which the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' fails to record, although traditionally it has been seen as a Mercian victory (a view challenged by Sir Frank Stenton in his 'Anglo-Saxon England'). Details of Offa's relationship with Sussex are similarly opaque. Charters hint at his supremacy over at least part of the kingdom from c.765, and, in 771, Symeon of Durham records his victory over the men of Hastings. It seems possible that Sussex was annexed by Offa shortly after - in a charter of 772, one Osmund, who was styled 'rex' in 770, is referred to as 'dux'. Alongside the year 777 (actually 779), the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' reports that: "This year Cynewulf [of Wessex] and Offa fought near Bensington [Benson, Oxfordshire], and Offa took possession of the town." In 789, Offa's daughter, Eadburh, was married to Cynewulf's successor, Beorhtric. Subsequently, the 'Chronicle' says that Offa and Beorhtric drove one Ecgberht (who was presumably challenging Beorhtric) out of England, into exile amongst the Franks.
If Frank Stenton's theory, that Offa was beaten at Otford and was unable to reestablish control of Kent until 785, is sound, then it seems possible that Ecberht took refuge in Wessex when Offa overthrew Ealhmund (whom Manuscript F of the 'Chronicle' says was Ecgberht's father), who it is known was king of Kent in 784.
There is no direct evidence of Offa's supremacy over Essex. By the time of his rule, however, London and the province of the Middle-Saxons (Middlesex and south-east Hertfordshire) had been detached from Essex (possibly achieved during the reign of Offa's predecessor, Æthelbald). Equally, there is no record of Offa's relationship with East Anglia, until the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' notes (alongside the year 792, but actually in 794) that: "... Offa, King of Mercia, commanded that King Ethelbert [Æthelberht] should be beheaded ..." The circumstances surrounding this bald statement were subsequently shrouded in legend, and Æthelberht became a saint. There is also no evidence that Offa had any authority north of the Humber, although, as Symeon of Durham reports, in 792, the king of Northumbria, Æthelred "... took as his queen Elfled [Ælflæd], daughter of Offa, king of the Mercians, at Catterick, on the third of the kalends of October [29th September]." Although he isn't listed as a Bretwalda, it is difficult to dispute Offa's supremacy south of the Humber.
In some of his charters, Offa is styled 'king of the English'. It is, perhaps, easy to attach too much importance to such titles, but Frank Stenton opines that "... the clerks who wrote his [Offa's] charters were at least trying to express realities, and a modern writer is not entitled to dismiss the style rex Anglorum as mere verbiage." Needless to say, this opinion has its opponents. For instance, D.P. Kirby, in 'The Earliest English Kings', says: "... the revival of a Northumbrian coinage at this time by Æthelred and the inauguration of a new West Saxon coinage by Beorhtric at Winchester or Southampton testifies to their continuing independence. It is not even certain that rex Anglorum is anything other than a later tenth or eleventh century interpolation ..."
The 'Annales Cambriae' record Offa's campaigns against the Britons of Wales:
[760] A battle between the Britons and the Saxons, that is the battle of Hereford ...[778] The devastation of the South Britons by Offa.
[784] The devastation of Britain by Offa in the summer.
Appearing only in the C-text of the 'Annales Cambriae' is a mention that, in 795, Offa devastated Rheinwg.
Part of the inscription on the remains of a free-standing cross, which stands near Llangollen, reads:
It is Eliseg whoannexed the inheritance of Powys ...
throughout nine [years?] from the power of the English
which he made into a sword-land by fire The cross (now known as Eliseg's Pillar) was erected by Concenn, king of Powys, in memory of his great-grandfather, Eliseg. Concenn (or Cyngen) died c.854, which would probably place Eliseg as a contemporary of Offa. It is against this background of Mercian/Welsh hostilities that Offa undertook the massive earthwork which bears his name. Asser, the Welsh biographer, and contemporary, of Alfred 'the Great', states that: "There was in Mercia, in recent times, a certain valiant king, who was feared by all the kings and neighbouring states around. His name was Offa, and it was he who had the great rampart made from sea to sea between Britain and Mercia."
Actually, Offa's Dyke does not extend "from sea to sea". There are gaps which have inspired the suggestion that the boundary was more symbolic than truly defensive. However, Dr. David Hill, writing in 'British Archaeology' (Issue 56, December 2000), believes this view to be wholly incorrect. He asserts that: "The Dyke was nothing less than Offa's Western Front... The Dyke need not have originally run from sea to sea. The famous 'gaps' in the Dyke are a red herring... The major section of what is today called Offa's Dyke runs for 64 miles from Rushock Hill near Kington in Herefordshire to Llanfynydd near Wrexham. Between these points it survives as a continuous earthwork except for a length along the River Severn in Montgomeryshire. To north and south of this section are gaps, followed by short intermittent sections of earthwork now called 'Offa's Dyke' - but which are no such thing. Fieldwork proves it. The section to the north, a few miles south of Prestatyn, was never connected to Offa's Dyke (I have excavated both ends, and it stops). It is also of completely different construction - parallel ditches with a bank between, as opposed to the bank and deep ditch to the Welsh side seen on Offa's Dyke. This earthwork is complete in itself and was, I believe, a late Norman boundary. To the south, intermittent short lengths of earthwork cross the Herefordshire Plain to reach the River Wye, but extensive geophysical survey and excavation have failed to provide even a hint that this was once a continuation of Offa's Dyke. The Dyke's ditches were 18 feet wide and 6 feet deep. If they were there, an archaeologist couldn't miss them. But they are not. Continuing south, there follows a 37 mile gap from the Wye to Redbrook in Gloucestershire, where a further 10-mile stretch of earthwork begins, again now called 'Offa's Dyke'. This is similar in construction to the main Offa's Dyke, but it faces south rather than west. Considering the gap of 50-odd miles between it and the main Dyke at Rushock Hill, there is no reason to believe it was once part of the same earthwork... A rational view would be that the main continuous section of Dyke along the central Welsh border is a complete earthwork in itself. So why just build this 64 mile stretch? The precise boundaries of the early Welsh kingdoms are uncertain, but it is highly plausible that this section of Offa's Dyke marks the border between 8th century Mercia and Powys. To the north was the frontier between Mercia and Gwynedd, and to the south between Mercia and Ercing and Gwent. There is evidence that Mercia was at war with Powys, but not with the other states to north and south. A defensive boundary was therefore needed only in the middle."
Another earthwork, the 40 mile/64 kilometre long Wat's Dyke (which runs, to the east of Offa's Dyke, between Basingwerk, on the Dee estuary, to the Morda Brook, south of Oswestry) has traditionally been thought to be a slightly earlier Mercian construction than Offa's Dyke (Frank Stenton proposes that it was built by Æthelbald), although David Hill writes that "Wat's Dyke, another Mercian earthwork to the north ... is very similar to Offa's Dyke, but better made... Its positioning suggests to me that it was built in the 850s, as the land to the west of it - Gwynedd and North Powys - briefly became a unified state at this time." However, excavations near Oswestry have uncovered the site of a small fire. The charcoal and burnt clay remains were radiocarbon dated to between 411 and 561. This would tend to suggest that Wat's Dyke was actually the work of a post-Roman British ruler.
Roger of Wendover: "... Offa the most powerful king of the Mercians, having quarrelled with the people of Kent, sought to deprive Jainbert [Jænberht], archbishop of Canterbury, of the primacy, with a view to grace the kingdom of the Mercians with the Archbishopric. He sent, therefore, envoys to pope Adrian [Hadrian I, 772-95], requesting him, contrary to ancient custom, to confer the pall on Aldulf [Aldwulf], bishop of Lichfield, and to make all the bishops of his kingdom subject to him." (Roger is incorrect in his identification of Aldwulf as Bishop of Lichfield at this time. The bishop involved was actually Hygeberht; Aldwulf was his successor). Against the year 785, the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' notes that: "... legates were sent from Rome to England by Pope Adrian, to renew the blessings of faith and peace which St.Gregory sent us by the mission of Bishop Augustine, and they were received with every mark of honour and respect." The legates actually arrived in Britain in 786, and, although there is no record of the subject being on their official agenda, Frank Stenton opines that there would have been "... informal discussions about the establishment of a Mercian archbishopric in which the legates may be assumed to have taken part." At any rate, in 787, as the 'Chronicle' reports (although, incorrectly, against 785), "a litigious synod was holden at Chalk-hythe [Chelsea]", which resulted in Lichfield becoming an Archbishopric, with Hygeberht as archbishop. The sees of Worcester, Hereford, Leicester, Lindsey, Elmham and 'Dommoc' (possibly Dunwich or Felixstowe) became subject to Lichfield.
Later, in a letter to Pope Leo III (795-816), Offa's eventual successor, Cenwulf, writes: "The honour of this pre-eminence (i.e. of Canterbury), as you know, king Offa first attempted to take away, and to divide into two provinces, through enmity conceived against the venerable Lanbert [Jænberht] and the Kentish people; and your pious fellow-bishop and predecessor, Adrian, at the request of the aforesaid king, first did what no one had before presumed, and honoured the prelate of the Mercians with the pall."
Taken from William of Malmesbury's 'Gesta Regum Anglorum' (Deeds of the English Kings).
The 'Chronicle' tags onto the end of its report of the synod "... and Everth [Ecgfrith] was consecrated king." Ecgfrith was Offa's only son, and his consecration (presumably by Hygeberht) was a clear signal that he would also be Offa's successor. (It is possible that this was the first occasion in which the inauguration of an English ruler contained a Christian element).
Frank Stenton writes: "Between 784 and 796 Offa was the only ruler in western Europe who could attempt to deal on equal terms with Charlemagne." Charlemagne was king of the Franks (in 800 he was crowned emperor of the former western Roman empire - d.814), and was sheltering English exiles, so although communication between him and Offa was courteous, the relationship must have been uneasy.
Taken from William of Malmesbury's 'Gesta Regum Anglorum' (Deeds of the English Kings).
The eminent Northumbrian educator, scholar and theologian, Alcuin (d.804, Abbot of St.Martin's at Tours), who was an associate of Charlemagne, wrote to Offa: "I am delighted that you are so keen on encouraging reading, that the light of wisdom, now extinct in many places, may shine in your kingdom. You are the glory of Britain, the trumpet of the gospel, our sword and shield against the enemy."
Around 789, it was suggested, by Charlemagne, that his son, Charles, should be married to one of Offa's daughters. Offa insisted that the marriage proposed by Charlemagne could only go ahead if Charlemagne's daughter, Bertha, was married to Ecgfrith. Charlemagne took offence, broke off contact, and closed his ports to English traders. Eventually, normal relations were reestablished and the ports were reopened. Just a few years later, in 796, Charlemagne and Offa concluded the first commercial treaty known in English history.
Charlemagne discussed some provisions of the treaty in a letter to Offa, which he begins: "Charles, by the grace of God, king of the Franks and Lombards, and patrician of the Romans, to his respected and very dear brother Offa, king of the Mercians ..." In the body of the letter, he refers to a reciprocal arrangement whereby merchants from the other's country would be entitled to full protection under the law, but takes the opportunity to complain to Offa that cloaks recently exported by the English were not of the customary length.
During Offa's reign, English coinage (south of the Humber at any rate) underwent reforms which parallelled Frankish developments. The previous, small, dumpy, and rather informal (rarely carrying an inscription) silver coins (known as 'sceattas') were replaced by broader, thinner and heavier silver pennies which carried the name of the king and the moneyer. As well as producing coins in his own name, Offa's mints also produced coins bearing a portrait of his wife, Cynethryth, and the title 'regina Merciorum'.
One famous curiosity is the single surviving example of a gold coin, copied from a 774 dinar of the Kaliph Al-Mansur, complete with inaccurately executed Arabic inscription, and bearing the legend 'OFFA REX' on the reverse.
Offa died in 796 (on 26th or 29th July). Roger of Wendover writes: "... Offa, the magnificent king of the Mercians, having nearly completed his most noble monastery, died, according to the opinion of many, in the town of Offley, and his body is said to have been conveyed to the town of Bedford, and to have been buried in a royal manner in a certain chapel outside the city, situated on the bank of the river Usk. It is reported by nearly all the people of that neighbourhood, even to the present day, that the aforesaid chapel, from decay and the violence of that river, was precipitated, together with the king's tomb, into the stream; and that the sepulchre is now seen by bathers in the summer time deep beneath the waters, but though it has been sought with the greatest diligence, yet, as if by a fatality, it cannot be found."
The monastery referred to by Roger of Wendover is St.Albans Abbey, where Roger himself was based. According to the long, fanciful, yarn told by Roger, in 793, Offa (whilst "residing in Bath") was prompted by an angel to "... disinter Alban, the saint of God and proto-martyr of the English or Britons, and to place his relics in a shrine more worthy of them." Roger asserts that: "The memory of the martyr had perished, and the place of his burial been forgotten, for about three hundred and forty-four years ..." despite Bede, who, in his 'Ecclesiastical History' (which he finished in 731) wrote that, at St.Alban's shrine: "... the cure of sick persons and the frequent working of wonders cease not to this day." At any rate, Roger says that, following the discovery of the remains (their resting place revealed by a heavenly light), and in order to get papal blessing for his plans to establish a monastery on the site, Offa undertook a journey to Rome. Roger incorporates an anecdote concerning Offa's purchase of a field in Flanders, so that pilgrims might freely graze their horses. Unfortunately, there is no record that Offa ever made a journey to Rome.
796 Ecgfrith
Son of OffaEcgfrith had actually been consecrated king in 787, but his chance at government was not to last long. Florence of Worcester (incorrectly against the year 794) notes that: "Offa, king of the Mercians, dying on the 4th of the kalends of August (29th July) ....
Symeon of Durham says 26th July, but correctly places the year at 796.
.... his son Egferth [Ecgfrith] succeeded to his splendid kingdom, and died in the same year, having reigned one hundred and forty-one days." Alcuin wrote to a Mercian acquaintance: "The noble youth did not die through his own sins, I believe; it was the vengeance of the father's blood that fell upon the son. For you know well how much blood the father shed to secure the kingdom for his son. It proved the undoing, not the making of his reign." In another letter, to Ecgfrith's successor, Cenwulf: "Never forget the fine character of your noble predecessor [Offa], his modest way of life and his concern to reform the life of a Christian people. You should adhere scrupulously to the good arrangements he made in the kingdom God has given you, but do not follow him in any cruel or greedy act. For it was not without reason that his noble son lived so short a time after his father. Sons often receive the punishment their fathers earned."796 - 821 Cenwulf (Coenwulf)
Alcuin's letters allude to Offa's removal of any potential rival who might have been able to prevent his son, Ecfrith, from succeeding to the throne of Mercia. Offa must have been assiduous in his purges, since, when Ecgfrith died, he was succeeded by a very distant relative: Cenwulf (Mercian genealogies show his descent from one Cenwalh, an otherwise unknown brother of Penda). Cenwulf appears to have immediately faced challenges to his authority. The 'Annales Cambriae' ends its annal recording the death of Offa with "... and the battle of Rhuddlan." Two years later (i.e. in 798), the 'Annales' note: "Caradog king of Gwynedd is killed by the Saxons." It would seem then that Cenwulf secured his western frontier, but during the same period he also faced a rebellion in Kent. In 796 Eadberht Præn established himself on the throne. He had, apparently, been ordained as a priest, and had also been an exile at Charlemagne's court. (In 'The Earliest English Kings', D.P. Kirby calls him "the Carolingian protégé").
The incumbent Archbishop of Canterbury was Æthelheard. When Jænberht, his predecessor, had died (792), Offa made sure that his replacement was someone sympathetic to himself. Æthelheard appears to have feared for his safety under Eadberht's regime, and fled.
Alcuin wrote to Æthelheard leaving him in no doubt that he disapproved of his departure. In a letter to the people of Kent, urging them to recall Æthelheard, Alcuin comments on the calibre of contemporary English rulers: "Scarcely anyone is found now of the old stock of kings, and I weep to say it; the more obscure their origin, the less their courage."
In the meantime, Cenwulf entered into correspondence with Pope Leo III (795-816) regarding the organisation of the Church in England. Under Offa, and with the consent of Leo's predecessor, Hadrian I (772-95), the Archbishop of Canterbury's territory had been divided, and a third archbishopric created at Lichfield. According to Cenwulf, his "bishops and learned men" objected to this arrangement, since it contravened the structure of the Church outlined by Pope Gregory I (590-604). Cenwulf proposed that, as was originally intended by Pope Gregory, there should be two archbishop's seats, located in York and London (rather than Canterbury - London being firmly in Mercian hands). Although Cenwulf's argument was sound, the pope would not entertain the prospect of transferring the Archbishop of Canterbury to London. However, Leo did recognise that Eadberht Præn had indeed been ordained, and, as such, was ineligible to rule. Eadberht was excommunicated, and Cenwulf had a papal greenlight to take action against him.
In 798, as Symeon of Durham reports: "... Kenwlf [Cenwulf], king of the Mercians, entering the province of the Kentish men with the whole force of his army, mightily devastated it in a lamentable pillage, almost to its utter destruction. Eadbert [Eadberht Præn], king of the men of Kent, was at that time taken prisoner, whose eyes the king of the Mercians ordered to be put out, and his hands to be cut off without pity, on account of the arrogance and deceit of his people." (Not all chroniclers mention the maiming of Eadberht). William of Malmesbury (d.c.1143), in his 'Gesta Regum Anglorum' (Deeds of the English Kings), says that Cenwulf took Eadberht captive, but "... not long after, moved with feelings of pity, he released him: for at Winchelcombe, where he had built a church to God, which yet remains, on the day of its dedication he freed the captive king at the altar ... Cuthred [Cenwulf's brother], whom he had made king over the Kentish people, was present to applaud this act of royal munificence."
Incidentally, Symeon notes that, also in 798 "... London was destroyed by an accidental fire, with a great multitude of people."
With Kent back under Mercian control, perhaps Cenwulf no longer felt the necessity to pursue his plans to move the archbishop's seat from Canterbury to London. Pope Leo also had his own problems, as reported by the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle', against the year 797 (actually 799): "This year the Romans cut out the tongue of Pope Leo, put out his eyes, and drove him from his see; but soon after, by the assistance of God, he could see and speak, and became pope as he was before." Symeon of Durham takes up the story: "... Charles [Charlemagne], king of the Franks, of renowned valour, entered the walls of the city of Rome with a great multitude of his army, and remained there for some months ... He also gave magnificent presents to the venerable pope Leo, and dispersed his adversaries; some he destroyed or condemned to banishment, some he killed, who wickedly raised a conspiracy against him... on the day of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ [25th December 800], this mighty emperor ... was robed with the royal purple by the lord pope Leo, a crown of gold was placed on his head, and a sceptre in his hand. This dignity he deserved on that day to receive from every people, that he should be called, as he was, emperor of the whole world." Anyway, in 801, Archbishop Æthelheard travelled to Rome, and persuaded Pope Leo to restore Canterbury's position. On 12th October 803, at the 'Synod of Clofesho', this was enacted and the Archbishopric of Lichfield was abolished.
Later in his reign, Cenwulf became estranged from Æthelheard's successor, Wulfred. Their dispute seems to have centred on the control of the monasteries of Reculver and Minster-in-Thanet, and escalated to the point where Wulfred was suspended from duty (817). Sir Frank Stenton ('Anglo-Saxon England') writes that: "The dispute was ended in 821, when Cenwulf invited the archbishop to a council at London, and imposed a settlement upon him." Certainly, Cenwulf threatened to despoil and exile Wulfred if he didn't agree to his terms, and by 17th September 822 (the consecration of Cenwulf's successor, Ceolwulf) Wulfred had been reinstated.
East Anglian pennies, minted in the name of Eadwald, suggest that the East-Angles also enjoyed a short period of independence from Mercia, before Cenwulf, once more, established control. Symeon of Durham reports that, in 801, Eardwulf of Northumbria invaded Mercia because Cenwulf "... had given an asylum to his enemies." However: "At length, with the advice of the bishops and chiefs of the Angles on either side, they made peace ..." In 802, Beorhtric, king of Wessex died. His place was taken by Ecgberht, who Offa and Beorhtric had driven into exile in the Frankish kingdom. (D.P. Kirby, in 'The Earliest English Kings', opines that Ecberht's accession was "probably a consequence of Carolingian and possibly even papal influence"). The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' (incorrectly against the year 800) records that "Egbert [Ecgberht] succeeded to the West-Saxon kingdom; and the same day Ethelmund [Æthelmund], ealdorman of the Wiccians [the Mercian province of the Hwicce], rode over the Thames at Kempsford; where he was met by Ealdorman Woxtan [Weohstan], with the men of Wiltshire, and a terrible conflict ensued, in which both the commanders were slain, but the men of Wiltshire obtained the victory." In the later years of his reign, Cenwulf turned his attention, once more, to Wales. The 'Annales Cambriae' (B-text) says that, in 816: "Saxons invaded the mountains of Eryri [Snowdonia] and the kingdom of Rhufoniog" The following year, a battle on Anglesey is recorded, which may have been part of the same campaign. A year later (i.e. 818): "Cenwulf devastated the Dyfed region." It seems likely that Cenwulf was planning further action against the Welsh when, in 821, he died (in Basingwerk, at the northern end of Wat's Dyke).
The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' simply states: "This year died Cenwulf, King of Mercia; and Ceolwulf succeeded him." There is, however, a rather more whimsical version of events. Florence of Worcester says that Cenwulf died "... leaving his son Kenelm [Cynehelm], then seven years of age, the heir to his kingdom. But after the lapse of a few months, he was, through the traitorous contrivance of his sister, Quendrith [Cwenthryth] whose fierce mind was swayed by an outrageous lust for supreme power, and by the hand of his barbarous tutor Ascbert, cruelly and secretly slain under a thorn-tree, in a vast and darksome wood: but as heaven alone was witness to his murder, so heaven afterwards revealed the deed by means of a column of light. Milk-white in innocence, and pure as when born, fell the head of Kenelm: from it a milk-white dove, with golden pinions, soared to heaven. After his blessed martyrdom, Ceolulf [Ceolwulf] succeeded to the Mercian kingdom." (Both the 'Chronicle' and Florence are two years adrift, placing Cenwulf's death in 819). In the elaborated version of the legend carried by Roger of Wendover, Cwenthryth receives a suitable comeuppance: "... both her eyes burst from their sockets and fell on the page she was reading." Actually, Cwenthryth was Abbess of Minster-in-Thanet, and was embroiled in the dispute between her father and Archbishop Wulfred. Cynehelm himself figures in charters between 798 and 811. It is presumed that he died in 812.
 |
In 2001 a metal-detector user found a unique gold coin, by the River Ivel, at Biggleswade in Bedfordshire. The coin has a diameter of 20mm and weighs 4.33g. It is of a type which was known as a 'mancus', and had a value of thirty silver pennies. The obverse legend reads: COENVVLF REX M - Cenwulf, king of Mercia. The reverse reads: DE VICO LVNDONIAE - from the wic of London. On 8th February 2006 it was announced that the British Museum had acquired the coin (which is thought to have been struck 805x810) at a cost of £357,832. |
821 - 823 Ceolwulf I
Brother of CenwulfWilliam of Malmesbury opines that, after Cenwulf "... the kingdom of the Mercians declining, and if I may use the expression, nearly lifeless, produced nothing worthy of historical commemoration." Actually, Mercia did have one further moment of glory that William was unaware of. The 'Annales Cambriae' (822): "The fortress of Degannwy [in Gwynedd] is destroyed by the Saxons and they took the kingdom of Powys into their own control." The English chronicles only record the fact that, in 823, Ceolwulf was deposed.
D.P. Kirby ('The Earliest English Kings') suggests that, since it would be unlikely for Ceolwulf to have been deposed after such great military success, the campaign noted by the 'Annales Cambriae' should be assigned to the beginning of, Ceolwulf's successor, Beornwulf's reign.
823 - 826 Beornwulf
From their recent triumphs against the Welsh, it can be judged that the Mercian army was a formidable force. It must have been with a high degree of confidence, therefore, that, in 825 (the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' incorrectly says 823), Beornwulf marched against the West-Saxons. There followed what Sir Frank Stenton ('Anglo-Saxon England') describes as "one of the most decisive battles of Anglo-Saxon history". The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle': "Egbert [Ecgberht], king of the West-Saxons, and Bernwulf [Beornwulf], King of Mercia, fought a battle at Ellendun, in which Egbert gained the victory, but there was great slaughter on both sides....
The site of Ellendun is believed to be near Wroughton, Wiltshire.
.... Then sent he [Ecgberht] his son Ethelwulf [Æthelwulf] into Kent, with a large detachment from the main body of the army, accompanied by his bishop, Elstan [Ealhstan], and his alderman, Wulfherd [Wulfeard]; who drove Baldred, the king, northward over the Thames. Whereupon the men of Kent immediately submitted to him; as did also the inhabitants of Surrey, and Sussex, and Essex ... The same year also, the king of the East-Angles, and his subjects besought King Egbert to give them peace and protection against the terror of the Mercians; whose king, Bernwulf, they slew in the course of the same year." Presumably, the East-Angles took the opportunity provided by Beornwulf's defeat at Ellendun, and the subsequent submission of other subject provinces, to reclaim their own independence from Mercia. Although it appears from the report in the 'Chronicle' that all these events occurred in a single year, there is a charter which indicates that Beornwulf's authority was still recognised in Kent on 27th March 826. It would, therefore, have been in 826 that Beornwulf was killed attempting to quash the East Anglian Rebellion.826 - 827 Ludeca
Nothing is known of Ludeca, except that he figures, with the title 'dux', in two charters dated 824. The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' simply states that he "was slain, and his five ealdormen with him", but Florence of Worcester (who, incidentally carries the same two year error as the 'Chronicle' - both place this event in 825 instead of 827) fleshes out the story: "Ludecan [Ludeca], king of the Mercians, mustered his forces and led an army into the province of the East Angles, for the purpose of taking vengeance for the death of king Beornulf [Beornwulf], his predecessor. He was quickly met by the natives and their king, who in a severe battle slew him and five of his ealdormen, and very many of his troops, and put to flight the remainder. Wiglaf succeeded to his splendid kingdom."827 - 829
830 - 840 Wiglaf
In 829, as Florence of Worcester says, Ecgberht "... brought the Mercian kingdom under his own rule, its king, Wiglaf, having been driven out." Ecgberht proceeded to receive the submission of the Northumbrians, at Dore near Sheffield. He appears to have overreached himself, however, since, a year later (830), as reported by the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle': "... Wiglaf recovered his Mercian kingdom ..."
830 - 840 Wiglaf
The 'Chronicle' is still generally two years behind in its chronology at this point. Therefore, the above quote appears against the year 828, instead of 830. Much of Florence's material is taken from the 'Chronicle', and where this occurs, so too does the chronological error. Thus, Florence places Wiglaf's expulsion in 827, instead of 829.
The low key announcement of Wiglaf's return to power by the 'Chronicle' makes it likely that it was achieved by a rebellion against the rule of Ecgberht, rather than in the manner described by Roger of Wendover: "... Egbert [Ecgberht], king of the West-Saxons, moved with compassion, granted to Wilaf [Wiglaf], king of the Mercians, that he should hold his kingdom of him under tribute." Charters indicate that Wiglaf ruled independently (certainly by 836). A 'minister' called Sigeric, who is styled king of the East-Saxons, figures in one charter, raising the possibility that Wiglaf, for a time anyway, managed to regain control of Essex.840 - 852 Berhtwulf
During Berhtwulf's reign comes the first mention in the chronicles of Viking raiders impinging on Mercian territory. In 842, they were apparently responsible for "... great slaughter in London ..." ('Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' 839) Then, in 851 "... came three hundred and fifty ships into the mouth of the Thames; the crew of which went upon land, and stormed Canterbury and London; putting to flight Bertulf [Berhtwulf], king of the Mercians, with his army; and then marched southward over the Thames into Surrey." ('Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' 851) Subsequently, they were defeated by Æthelwulf, king of Wessex.
It is possible that the Viking threat persuaded Mercia and Wessex to cooperate. It seems that the border territory of Berkshire was finally transferred to Wessex during the reign of Æthelwulf (839-856). This transfer would appear to have been achieved by diplomatic means, and the Mercian ealdorman (another Æthelwulf) retained his position when it was complete. It is difficult to find any one point that the transfer occurred. In a charter of 844, Berhtwulf would still appear to be in control, but, according to his biographer, Asser, Alfred (future king of Wessex) was born in Wantage in 849.
There is a unique coin which bears the name of Berhtwulf, king of Mercia, on one face and Æthelwulf, king of Wessex, on the other, and it has been suggested that this may commemorate the transfer of Berkshire.
Roger of Wendover and Florence of Worcester both carry (in abbreviated form) the tale of the martyrdom of one Wigstan (St.Wistan). Florence incorrectly places the deed in 850, when it should be 849, however, he says: "On the eve of Pentecost, being the kalends of June [1st June], Berhtferth [Berhtfrith], son of Berhtulf [Berhtwulf], king of the Mercians, unjustly put to death his kinsman, St.Wistan. He was the grandson of two of the Mercian kings; for his father, Wigmund, was the son of king Wiglaf, and his mother, Ælfled [Ælfflæd], was the daughter of king Ceoluulf [Ceolwulf I]. His corpse was carried to the monastery of Repton, which was then very celebrated, and was buried in the mausoleum of his grandfather, king Wiglaf. But miracles from heaven were not wanting at the place of his martyrdom; for, from the spot where he was slain in his innocence, a column of light shot up to heaven, and remained visible to the inhabitants of that place for thirty days."
Roger of Wendover: "In the year of our Lord 852, Bertulf, king of the Mercians departed this life, and was succeeded by Burchred [Burgred], who reigned twenty-two years."852 - 874 Burgred
That there was a spirit of cooperation between Mercia and Wessex seems to be born out by the events of 853. Asser says that "... Burhred [Burgred] king of the Mercians, sent messengers, and prayed Ethelwulf (Æthelwulf), king of the West Saxons, to come and help him in reducing the midland Britons, who dwell between Mercia and the western sea [i.e. the Welsh], and who struggled against him most immoderately. So without delay, king Ethelwulf, having received the embassy, moved his army, and advanced with king Burhred against Britain, and immediately, on entering that country, he began to ravage it; and having reduced it under subjection to king Burhred, he returned home... In the same year also, after Easter, Ethelwulf, king of the West-Saxons, gave his daughter [Æthelswith] to Burhred, king of the Mercians, and the marriage was celebrated royally at the royal vill of Chippenham."
Shortly after the English coalition's defeat of the Welsh, Concenn (or Cyngen), king of Powys, is reported to have died in Rome ('Annales Cambriae', 854). Concenn was responsible for erecting the monument now known as Eliseg's Pillar. Eliseg was Concenn's great-grandfather, and he succeeded in taking back territory from Mercia (possibly during the reign of Offa). It is quite plausible that it was Concenn who provoked the Mercians to seek the aid of Wessex, and also that his departure for Rome was as a result of his defeat.
In 865, Burgred appears to have, again, campaigned successfully in Wales, as the 'Annals of Ulster' report: "The Britons were driven from their land by the Saxons and were placed in bondage in Móin Chonáin [Anglesey]." The Mercian army appears to have still been a force to be reckoned with, but when, in the autumn of 867, the "heathen army" of Danes set up camp in Mercia, Burgred, once more turned to Wessex for assistance.
The Danes employed a modus operandi whereby they would establish winter-quarters in the autumn, extract what they could from the surrounding area during the following year, and then move on to pastures-new the following autumn. During this period, it is clear that the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' adopts the convention of starting the year in September, so each annual cycle of the "heathen army" is contained in one annal. Their arrival in Mercia, though occurring in the autumn of 867, is recorded, therefore, against the year 868.
The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' reports that, in the autumn of 867, having conquered York: "... the same army went into Mercia to Nottingham, and there fixed their winter-quarters; and Burhred [Burgred], king of the Mercians, with his council, besought Ethered [Æthelred], king of the West-Saxons, and Alfred, his brother; that they would assist them in fighting against the army. And they went with the West-Saxon army into Mercia as far as Nottingham, and there meeting the army on the works, they beset them within. But there was no heavy fight; for the Mercians made [i.e. bought] peace with the army." In the autumn of 868, the Danes returned to York. V
The following autumn (i.e. 869), according to the 'Chronicle' "... the army rode over Mercia into East-Anglia ..." Roger of Wendover asserts that "... they destroyed all the monasteries of monks and virgins that were in the marshes, and slew their inmates." Manuscript E (the 'Peterborough Manuscript') of the 'Chronicle' reports that the Danes went "... to Medeshamstede [Peterborough], burning and breaking, and slaying abbot and monks, and all that they there found. They made such havoc there, that a monastery, which was before full rich, was now reduced to nothing."
Having agreed, for a price, to leave Wessex, in the autumn of 871 the Danes set up winter-quarters in London. The Mercians bought peace. The following autumn (872), the "army" fleetingly moved back to Northumbria V but then returned to Mercia, and established winter quarters at Torksey in Lindsey.
The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' notes that, when the Danes fixed their winter-quarters at Torksey "... the Mercians again made peace with the army." A year later (autumn 873), the Danes, as usual, moved to new quarters: "This year went the army from Lindsey to Repton, and there took up their winter-quarters, drove the king, Burhred [Burgred], over sea, when he had reigned about two and twenty winters, and subdued all that land. He then went to Rome, and there remained to the end of his life."
Asser notes that Burgred "did not long live after his arrival". Burgred's wife, Æthelswith, apparently died whilst travelling to Rome in 888. She was buried at Pavia.
874 - 879x883 Ceolwulf II
The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' reports that, having driven out King Burgred, the Danes "... gave Ceolwulf, an unwise king's thegn, the Mercian kingdom to hold; and he swore oaths to them, and gave hostages, that it should be ready for them on whatever day they would have it; and he would be ready with himself, and with all those that would remain with him, at the service of the army."
The 'Chronicle' disparagingly describes Ceolwulf II as "an unwise king's thegn", however, he might possibly have been from the same branch of the Mercian nobility as Cenwulf (796-821) and his brother Ceolwulf I (821-823). Charters also appear to show that Ceolwulf II's reign was recognised by the Church and that he was served by, at least, some of Burgred's ealdormen. Furthermore, Ceolwulf II and Alfred of Wessex apparently issued a joint coinage.
In the autumn of 874, The Danes divided their forces. The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' notes that "... the three kings, Guthrum, Oscytel, and Anwynd [Anund], went from Repton to Cambridge with a vast army, and sat there one year." Another section of the Danish army, however, went to Northumbria. V
After spending the year at Cambridge, that division of the Danish army invaded Wessex. It seems that the Danes' reduced numbers (exacerbated by the wreck of a fleet off Swanage) tipped the scales in favour of the West-Saxons, and, in the summer of 877, the Danes pulled back to Mercia. The 'Chronicle' reports that: "In the harvest the army entered Mercia; some of which they divided among them, and some they gave to Ceolwulf." Roughly speaking, the Danes settled the eastern half of Mercia, leaving the west to the Anglo-Saxons. Not all of the Danes were content to settle in Mercia and to abandon the idea of conquering the West-Saxons, though. In early January 878 (apparently under the leadership of Guthrum), a Danish force, from their base at Gloucester, mounted a surprise invasion of Wessex. After initial success, the Danes were decisively defeated by King Alfred. In the autumn of 878, Guthrum's forces withdrew to Mercia - spending the following year at Cirencester. It was the autumn of 879, therefore, that "... went the army from Cirencester into East-Anglia, where they settled, and divided the land."
Although Ceolwulf II is assigned a five year reign in a Mercian regnal list preserved at Worcester, the coin evidence suggests that this may be too short. The first evidence that he was not ruling is a charter of 883.
Lord of the Mercians
879x883 - 911 Æthelred
In a charter of 883, the ealdorman Æthelred appears as ruler of Mercia (the Anglo-Saxon, western, part, of course) with the consent of Alfred of Wessex.
In 'Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England', Barbara Yorke opines that "... the variety of titles given in his [Æthelred's] Mercian charters indicate some difficulty in defining his exact position which seems to have been less than fully regal but more than that of an ealdorman."
In the 'Life of King Alfred', Asser, himself a Welshman, records how several Welsh rulers submitted to Alfred's overlordship: "... king Hemeid [Hyfaidd], with all the inhabitants of the region of Demetia [Dyfed], compelled by the violence of the six sons of Rotri [Rhodri Mawr], had submitted to the dominion of the King....
Previously, the 'Annales Cambriae' had mentioned that Rhodri had been "killed by the Saxons" (in 878), and then, three years later (881): "The battle of Conwy. Vengeance for Rhodri at God's hand." Presumably the "Saxon" forces involved on both occasions were Mercian.
.... Howel [Hywel] also, son of Ris [Rhys], king of Gleguising [Glywysing], and Brocmail [Brochfael] and Fernmail [Ffernfael], sons of Mouric [Meurig], kings of Gwent, compelled by the violence and tyranny of earl Ethered [Æthelred] and of the Mercians, of their own accord sought king Alfred, that they might enjoy his government and protection from him against their enemies. Helised [Elisedd], also, son of Tendyr [Tewdwr], king of Brecon [Brycheiniog], compelled by the force of the same sons of Rotri, of his own accord sought the government of the aforesaid king; and Anarawd, son of Rotri, with his brother, at length abandoning the friendship of the Northumbrians [i.e. the Danes], from which he received no good but harm, came into king Alfred's presence and eagerly sought his friendship. The king received him honourably, received him as his son by confirmation from the bishop's hand, and presented him with many gifts. Thus he became subject to the king with all his people, on the same condition, that he should be obedient to the king's will in all respects, in the same way as Ethered with the Mercians. Nor was it in vain that all these princes gained the friendship of the king. For those who desired to augment their worldly power, obtained power; those who desired money, gained money; and in like way, those who desired his friendship, or both money and friendship, succeeded in getting what they wanted. But all of them gained his love and guardianship and defence from every quarter, even as the king with his men could protect himself."
The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' for 886: "... King Alfred fortified the city of London; and the whole English nation turned to him, except that part of it which was held captive by the Danes. He then committed the city to the care of Ealdorman Ethered, to hold it under him." Asser notes that Alfred's eldest daughter "Ethelfled [Æthelflæd], when she arrived at a marriageable age, was united to Ethered [Æthelred], earl of Mercia ..." The date of the marriage cannot be reliably pinpointed. In his 'Anglo-Saxon England', Sir Frank Stenton says "before the end of 889", and, in 'Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England', Barbara Yorke simply says "in the 880s".
In 'British Archaeology' (Issue 44, May 1999), Dr. John Schofield writes: "Of all the periods in London's history, the Saxon has produced the most surprises from excavations of recent years... The most important advance has been the discovery over recent years of the 7th/8th century trading settlement of Lundenwic west of the Roman city walls. Within the city itself, however, evidence remains meagre from the collapse of the Roman administration in 410 until the late Saxon reoccupation under King Alfred in the 9th century. The extent to which the city was occupied during these intervening centuries, with its great Roman buildings slowly crumbling, remains one of London's - as yet - great unsolved mysteries... Until the mid-1980s, nobody knew the location of Lundenwic, the London described in the 8th century by Bede as "a mart of many peoples coming by land and sea". Then, the plotting of finds from many previous sites suggested that Lundenwic lay around Aldwych, west of the Roman city. Subsequent excavations have produced evidence for a riverside settlement with buildings, lanes, pits, ditches, and much environmental material such as large amounts of butchered animal bone. Lundenwic was flourishing by 700, and was possibly earlier in origin than similar trading places at Ipswich and Hamwich (Southampton). It extended from the west side of the Roman city round the river bank south and west to Westminster, and north to present-day Oxford Street. It was a point of entry from mainland Europe into the Mercian kingdom of central England - imported pottery includes pieces from France and the Rhineland... Why Lundenwic was founded outside the city walls remains a matter of debate. Some say the surviving Roman buildings may have acted as an obstacle to town planning; others emphasise a Saxon 'mistrust' of former Roman towns. There is contemporary documentary evidence of a possible Mercian palace in the Roman fort at Cripplegate, suggesting perhaps a royal and religious focus within the city with a trading settlement outside, but no hard evidence for the palace has come to light. In the late 9th century the area within the Roman walls was extensively resettled and the extramural settlement apparently abandoned. This was perhaps as a result of Viking attack - a great slaughter at London is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 842. With the notable exception of the town walls and associated gates, it seemed until recently that the development of the late Saxon town was little affected by the earlier Roman urban topography. But examples have come to light where substantial Roman buildings, or roads, survived to form points of continuity. One recent example was at Number 1, Poultry, where a late Saxon building was constructed against the wall of a ruined Roman building; and there have been several others. The archaeological and documentary evidence suggest that in the late 9th and 10th centuries a series of north-south streets was laid out between the Thames and what later became the market streets of Eastcheap and Cheapside. It is possible that the new settlement was at first only on the western of London's two hills, Ludgate Hill. The first market and harbour was established at Queenhithe, upstream of the former London Bridge, as mentioned in charters of 889 and 899. Tree-ring dating of recently excavated waterfront structures at Bull Wharf immediately to the east is of this period."
It was probably in 886 that Alfred concluded a famous treaty with Guthrum, the Viking king of East Anglia. Amongst other things, the treaty defines the border between their territories. Just a few years later, however, a new Danish army arrived in Britain: The Danish Invasion of 892.
In 903, the East Anglian Danes ransacked Mercia and northern Wessex, incited by the rebel Æthelwold, cousin of Edward (Alfred's son and successor). In the ensuing reprisals, Æthelwold and the Danish king of East-Anglia, Eohric, were amongst those killed.
In manuscripts B and C of the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle', after the annal for 915, is inserted a block of material known as the 'Mercian Register', which covers the years 902-924. (In manuscript D, a not entirely successful attempt has been made to integrate it with the rest of the 'Chronicle').
The entry for the year 907, in the 'Mercian Register', simply says: "Chester was rebuilt." The circumstances surrounding the refurbishment of Chester (the derelict, walled, Roman city) would appear to be described in an Irish source often called the 'Three Fragments': Ingimund's Invasion. According to the 'Three Fragments', by this time, Æthelred was incapacitated by the illness which would eventually kill him, and his wife, Æthelflæd, was holding the reins of government.
In 909, Edward sent a combined army of Mercia and Wessex on a five week campaign against the Danes in Northumbria. The following year, believing that most of Edward's forces were on board ships headed to Kent, where he was waiting for them, the Northumbrian Danes mounted a raid on Anglo-Saxon Mercia. Edward despatched an army of Mercians and West-Saxons in pursuit of the raiders. The English forces overtook the "enemy" near Tettenhall, Staffordshire (the 'Chronicle of Æthelweard' says at Wednesfield and provides a precise date of 5th August), and, according to the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle': "... there fought with him and put him to flight, and slew many thousands of his men."
Manuscripts B and C (but not in the 'Mercian Register') contain the most comprehensive list of Danish nobles killed in the battle - including two kings, Eowils and Halfdan. Æthelweard adds another king, "Inwær [Ivar]" to the list of dead. Florence of Worcester, though not listing Ivar amongst the dead, notes that Eowils and Halfdan were "brothers of king Hinguar [Ivar]".
Frank Stenton asserts that: "In fact, the Danish armies in Northumbria never recovered from the disaster of 910 ..." During the following year, Æthelred died (Æthelweard says he was buried in Gloucester), and Edward assumed control of London, Oxford and, as the 'Chronicle' says "... all the lands that thereunto belonged."Lady of the Mercians
911 - 918 Æthelflæd
Æthelflæd (daughter of Alfred 'the Great') apparently wielded considerable power in Mercia even before the death of her husband, Ealdorman Æthelred, who was in poor health towards the end of his life. According to an Irish source, the 'Three Fragments', it was her who had to defend Chester against a Hiberno-Norse Viking, Ingimund, who had settled in the Wirral peninsula. The so called 'Mercian Register' (found inserted into Manuscripts B and C of the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle') places the refurbishment of Chester in 907, although it makes no mention of Æthelflæd. It does, however, report that she built a stronghold at a site called Bremesbyrig (possibly Bromesberrow, near Ledbury, Herefordshire) in 910, the year before Æthelred's death. Sir Frank Stenton ('Anglo-Saxon England') Writes: "The record of the fortresses which she built for the protection of Mercia shows that she had an eye for country, and the ability to forecast the movements of her enemies. It was through reliance on her guardianship of Mercia that her brother [Edward] was enabled to begin the forward movement against the southern Danes which is the outstanding feature of his reign." The 'Mercian Register' records:
| 912 | "... came Ethelfleda [Æthelflæd], lady of the Mercians, on the holy eve called the invention of the holy cross [2nd May], to Scergeat [unidentified], and built the fortress there, and the same year that at Bridgnorth." |
| 913 | "This year by the permission of God went Ethelfleda, lady of Mercia, with all the Mercians to Tamworth; and built the fort there in the fore-part of the summer; and before Lammas that at Stafford." |
| 914 | "... that at Eddisbury, in the beginning of the summer; and the same year, late in the autumn, that at Warwick." |
| 915 | "... was built, after mid-winter, that at Chirbury and that at Weardbyrig [perhaps Warburton]; and the same year before mid-winter that at Runcorn." |
Sir Frank Stenton asserts that: "There is little doubt that this offer was intended to obtain her support against the Norse raiders from Ireland, who are known to have been at large in the north at the time... So far as is known, no proposal of the kind was ever made to King Edward, her brother, and no English army intervened to prevent the establishment of the Norse kingdom of York."
The 'Three Fragments' contain an account of a battle fought against Viking forces, which may equate with a battle fought at Corbridge, Northumbria, in 918. Though the story is obviously embroidered, it does not seem an unreasonable claim (though it is recorded nowhere else) that Æthelflæd entered into an alliance with the "men of Alba" (i.e. the Picts and Scots) and the Strathclyde Britons to counter the threat posed by Hiberno-Norse invaders.
.... But very soon after they had done this, she died at Tamworth, twelve days before midsummer, the eighth year of her having rule and right lordship over the Mercians; and her body lies at Gloucester, within the east porch of St.Peter's church."
The 'Three Fragments' suggest that Æthelflæd achieved great renown as a result of her military success at the battle of 918. Indeed, her death is recorded in the 'Annales Cambriae' (Annals of Wales), and the 'Annals of Ulster' comment: "Ethelfled, a very famous queen of the Saxons, dies."
William of Malmesbury (d.c.1143), in his 'Gesta Regum Anglorum' (Deeds of the English Kings) writes: "... Ethelfleda, sister of the king and widow of Ethered [Æthelred], ought not to be forgotten, as she was a powerful accession to his [i.e. Edward's] party, the delight of his subjects, the dread of his enemies; a woman of an enlarged soul, who, from the difficulty experienced in her first (or rather only) labour, ever after refused the embraces of her husband, protesting that it was unbecoming the daughter of a king to give way to a delight, which after a time produced such painful consequences. This spirited heroine assisted her brother greatly with her advice; she was of equal service in building cities, nor could you easily discern whether it were more owing to fortune or her own exertions, that a woman should be able to protect men at home, and to intimidate them abroad."
918 - 919 Ælfwynn
Daughter of Æthelred and ÆthelflædAccording to the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle', following the death of Æthelflæd, 'Lady of the Mercians', her brother Edward, king of Wessex, rode "... to the borough of Tamworth; and all the population in Mercia turned to him, who before were subject to Ethelfleda [Æthelflæd]." Presumably, as a gesture to Mercian independence, Æthelflæd's daughter, Ælfwynn, was allowed to rule in her mother's stead. However, as the entry for 919 in the 'Mercian Register' element of the 'Chronicle' says: "... the daughter of Ethelred [Æthelred], lord of the Mercians, was deprived of all dominion over the Mercians, and carried into Wessex, three weeks before mid-winter; she was called Elfwina [Ælfwynn]." Edward assumed direct control of Mercia.
