Online Encyclopedia

Life of St Guthlac (Anglo-Saxon version), were called Iclingas. Icel, their ancestor, may have been the founder of the kingdom, but nothing is known of him. Thm family, however, claimed descent from the See also:

ancient See also:

KINGS, FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF

kings of See also:

ANGLE (from the Lat. angulus, a corner, a diminutive, of which the primitive form, angus, does not occur in Latin; cognate are the Lat. angere, to compress into a bend or to strangle, and the Gr. ayKOS, a bend; both connected with the Aryan root ank-, to

Angle (cf. See also:

Offa I. and See also:

WERMUND

Wermund). The first Mercian See also:

king of whom we have any See also:

RECORD (Lat. recordari, to recall to mind, from cor, heart or mind)

record was Cearl, who apparently reigned about the beginning of the 7th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century, and whose daughter Coenburg married See also:

Edwin, king of See also:

DEIRA

Deira. During Edwin's reign Mercia was subject to his supremacy, though it may have been governed throughout by princes of its own royal family. Its first prominent See also:

APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance in See also:

ENGLISH

English See also:

HISTORY

history may be dated in the See also:

YEAR

year 633, when the Mercian See also:

prince See also:

PENDA

Penda joined the Welsh king Ceadwalla in overthrowing Edwin.

According to the Saxon See also:

CHRONICLE (from Gr. Xpovos, time)

Chronicle, Penda began to reign in 626, and fought against the See also:

West See also:

SAXONS

Saxons at See also:

CIRENCESTER (traditionally pronounced Ciceter)

Cirencester in 628. In the Mercian regnal tables, however, he is assigned a reign of only twenty-one years, which, as his See also:

DEATH

death took See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place in 6S4 or 655, would give 634 as the date of his See also:

ACCESSION (from Lat. accedere, to go to, to approach)

accession, presumably on the overthrow of Edwin, or perhaps on that of Ceadwalla. During the reign of See also:

Oswald Penda clearly reigned under the See also:

SUZERAINTY

suzerainty of that king. In 642, however, Oswald was slain by Penda in a See also:

BATTLE

battle at a place called Maserfeld, which has not been identified with certainty. During the See also:

early part of See also:

OSWIO (c. 612-670)

Oswio's reign the Northumbrian kingdom was repeatedly invaded and ravaged by the Mercians, and on one occasion (before 651) Penda besieged and almost captured the Northumbrian royal See also:

castle at Bamborough. At the same See also:

time he extended his See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence in other directions, and expelled from the See also:

THRONE

throne of Wessex Coenwalh, who had divorced his See also:

SISTER

sister. Indeed, at this time nearly all the English kingdoms must have acknowledged his supremacy. The kingdom of See also:

MIDDLE

Middle Anglia, which appears to have included the counties of See also:

Northampton, See also:

Rutland, See also:

Huntingdon, and parts of See also:

BEDFORDSHIRE [abbreviated Beds]

Bedfordshire, See also:

CAMBRIDGESHIRE

Cambridgeshire, See also:

LEICESTERSHIRE

Leicestershire and See also:

LINCOLNSHIRE

Lincolnshire, was formed into a dependent principality under his son Peada. At this time also the territory corresponding to the See also:

MODERN

modern counties of See also:

CHESHIRE

Cheshire, See also:

SHROPSHIRE (SALOP)

Shropshire and See also:

HEREFORDSHIRE

Herefordshire seems to have been occupied. The last of these counties is said some time later to have been under the See also:

government of another son of Penda, named Merewald. In 654 or 655 Penda again invaded See also:

NORTHUMBRIA (regnum Northanhymbrorum)

Northumbria, with a huge See also:

army divided into See also:

THIRTY

thirty legiones, each under a royal prince, among whom were AEthelhere, king of East Anglia, and several Welsh kings. He was defeated and slain, however, by Oswio, at a See also:

RIVER

river called the Winwaed.

Mercia then came again under Northumbrian See also:

RULE

rule. Peada, the eldest son of Penda, was allowed to govern the part See also:

south of the Trent, while See also:

north Mercia was put in See also:

charge of Northumbrian officials. Penda, although he did not prohibit the See also:

PREACHING (Fr. preecher, from Lat. praedicare, to proclaim)

preaching of See also:

CHRISTIANITY

Christianity, had remained a See also:

HEATHEN

heathen to the end of his life. His death was followed by the See also:

CONVERSION (Lat. conversio, from convertere, to turn or ,change)

conversion of his kingdom. Peada had embraced Christianity on his See also:

MARRIAGE

marriage with a daughter of Oswio, and under him the first Mercian bishopric was founded. Shortly afterwards Peada was murdered; but in 658 the Mercians See also:

rose under his y aunger See also:

BROTHER

brother See also:

WULFHERE (d. 675)

Wulfhere and threw off the Northumbrian supremacy. Wulfhere seems to have been a vigorous ruler, for he extended the See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power of Mercia as far as it had reached in the days of his See also:

FATHER

father, and even farther. According to the Chronicle he invaded Wessex as far as Ashdown in See also:

Berkshire in the year 661. At the same time he conquered the Isle of See also:

WIGHT, ISLE OF

Wight, which he gave to lEthelwalh, king of See also:

Sussex. Between the years 661 and 665 he was defeated by the Northumbrian king See also:

ECGFRITH (d. 685)

Ecgfrith and had to give up See also:

LINDSEY, THEOPHILUS (1723—1808)

Lindsey. In 675 he again fought with the West Saxons under Aescwine, and shortly afterwards died. His brother /See also:

ETHELRED

Ethelred, who succeeded him, invaded See also:

Kent in the following year, and in 679 fought a battle on the Trent against Ecgfrith, by which he recovered Lindsey.

After this, however, we hear.little of Mercian interference with the other kingdoms for some time; and since it is clear that during the last 15 years of the 7th cen- tury Wessex, See also:

Essex, Sussex and Kent were frequently involved in strife, it seems likely that'the Mercian king had somewhat lost hold over the south of England. In 704 /Ethelred resigned the See also:

CROWN

crown and became a See also:

monk, leaving his kingdom to Coenred, the son of Wulfhere. Coenred also abdicated five years later and went to See also:

Rome. Ceolred, the son of /Ethelred, who succeeded, fought against the West Saxon king See also:

Ine in 715. On his death in the following year AEthelbald, a distant relative, came to the throne, and under him Mercian supremacy was fully restored over all the kingdom south of the Humber. He reigned for 41 years. After his See also:

MURDER

murder in 757 the Mercian throne was held for a See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short time by-Beornred. He was expelled the same year by Offa, who soon restored the power of Mercia, which seems to have suffered some diminution during the later years of /Ethel- - h.," Offa's policy was apparently the extinction of the depen- ngdoms. In his reign the dynasties of Kent, Sussex and •icce seem to have disappeared, or at all events to have p the kingly See also:

TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title. In 787 he associated his son Ecgfrith with him in the kingdom, and after his death (796) Ecgfrith reigned alone for a few months. On the death of Ecgfrith the. throne passed to Coenwulf, a descendant of Pybba, father of Penda. In 821 Coenwulf was succeeded by his brother Ceolwulf, who was deprived of the throne in 823, being succeeded by Beornwulf.

In 825 Beornwulf was defeated by Ecgberht, king of Wessex, and in the same year he was overthrown and slain by the East Angles. The supremacy now passed to Wessex. In 827 Ludeca, the successor of Beornwulf, was slain in battle with five of his earls. Wiglaf, who succeeded him, was expelled two years later by Ecgberht, but regained the throne in the following year. He died, probably in 839, and as succeeded by Berhtwulf, who reigned until 852. Under these later kings Mercia seems to have extended from the Humber to the Thames, including See also:

LONDON

London, though East Anglia was See also:

INDEPENDENT

independent, and that part of Essex which corresponds to the modern See also:

COUNTY (through Norm. Fr. comae, cf. O. Fr. cunte, conk', Mod. Fr. comae, from Lat. comitatus, cf. Ital. comitato, Prov. comtat; see COUNT)

county of that name had been annexed to Wessex after 825. Berhtwulf was succeeded in 852 by See also:

BURGRED

Burgred, who married /Ethelswith, daughter of /See also:

ETHELWULF

Ethelwulf. His power seems to have been more or less dependent on the West Saxons. In 853, with the assistance of lEthelwulf he reduced North See also:

WALES (Cymru, Gwalia, Cambria)

Wales to subjection. Again in 868 he called upon the West Saxon king /Ethelred for assistance against the Danes under Lo5brok's sons, who at this time invaded Mercia after their overthrow of the Northumbrians at See also:

York. No battle took place, and the Mercians subsequently made See also:

peace with the Danes. In 872 the Danes occupied London on their return from invading Wessex, after which a truce was again made.

In 873 the Danes encamped at Torksey in See also:

Lincoln-shire, and although another truce ensued, they advanced in the following year to See also:

REPTON

Repton, and Burgred was driven from the kingdom. He went to Rome, where he remained until his death. In 874 Ceolwulf, a king's See also:

THEGN, or THANE

thegn or See also:

baron, was made king by the Danes, and definitely acknowledged their overlordship. In 877, after the second invasion of Wessex, the Danes seem to have taken the eastern part of Mercia into their own hands. How See also:

long Ceolwulf reigned over the western portion is unknown. About the year 884 the most important See also:

PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person in English Mercia was an See also:

EARL

earl, /Ethelred, who accepted the suzerainty of See also:

ALFRED

Alfred, and in or before the year 887 married his daughter /Ethelflaed. /Ethelred and /Ethelflaed appear to have had practically See also:

REGAL

regal power, though they did not use the royal title. In 886 London, which had been recovered by Alfred from the Danes, was re-stored to !Ethelred. During the invasion of 893–97 English Mercia was again repeatedly ravaged by the Danes; but in the last of these years, by the See also:

UNITED

united efforts of Alfred and /Ethelred, they were at length expelled. With this exception, Watling See also:

Street, the See also:

OUSE

Ouse and the See also:

LEA, HENRY CHARLES (1825–1909)

Lea, continued to be the boundary between Mercia and the Danish kingdom of East Anglia down to the death of /Ethelred, between 910 and 912. The government was then carried on by /Ethelflaed, who built a number of fortresses, and in See also:

CONJUNCTION (from Lat. conjungere, to join together)

conjunction with her brother, King See also:

EDWARD

Edward the See also:

Elder, succeeded in expelling the Danes from See also:

Derby and Leicester by the year 917–18. After her death in the latter year her daughter /Elfwyn was soon deprived of the government by Edward, and Mercia was definitely annexed to Wessex.

From this time onwards its existence as a See also:

SEPARATE

separate kingdom was at an end, though during the last years of Eadwig's reign the Mercians and Northumbrians set up Eadgar as king. In the last century of the Saxon See also:

period the earls of Mercia frequently occupied a semi-royal position. The most important of these were /Elfhere under Eadgar, Edward and /Ethelred, Eadri Streona, under the last-mentioned king, and See also:

LEOFRIC (d. 1057)

Leofric, under the Danish kings. AuTltoxlTlns.—See also:

Bede, Historic ecclesiastica (ed. C. Plummer, See also:

Oxford, 1896) ; Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (ed. See also:

Earle and Plummer, Oxford, 1899) ; W. de G. See also:

Birch, Cartularium saxonicum (London, 1885-1893). (F. G. M.

End of Article: MERCIA

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.

» Add information or comments to this article.

Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.

Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
MERCHANT (O. Fr. marcheant, modern marchand; from L...

[next]
MERCIE, MARIUS JEAN ANTONIN (1845– )