View source for Mercia

{{short description|Kingdom in the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy (527–918)}}
{{about|the Anglo-Saxon kingdom|the Spanish city|Murcia|other uses}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox former country
| native_name            = Mercian {{langx|ang|Mercna rīċe}}<br>{{langx|la|Merciorum regnum}}
| conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Mercia
| common_name            = Mercia
| status                 = Kingdom
| status_text            = Independent kingdom (527–879)<br/>[[Client state]] of [[Wessex]] (879–918)
| life_span              = 527–918
| era                    = [[History of Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon England]]
| year_start             = 527
| event_end              = Annexed by Wessex
| year_end               = 918
| p1                     = Sub-Roman Britain
| border_p1              = no
| p2                     = Hwicce
| p3                     = Kingdom of Lindsey
| s1                     = Kingdom of England
| border_s1              = no
| image_map              = Mercian Supremacy x 4 alt.png
| image_map_caption      = The Kingdom of Mercia (thick line) and the kingdom's greatest extent during the [[Mercian Supremacy]] (green shading)
| national_motto         = 
| national_anthem        = 
| official_languages     = [[Mercian Old English]]
| currency               = [[Sceat]] <br/>[[History of the English penny (c. 600 – 1066)|Penny]]
| religion               = [[Anglo-Saxon paganism|Paganism]]{{nowrap| (before 7th century)}}<br />[[Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England|Christianity]]{{nowrap| (after 7th century)}}
| leader1                = [[Icel of Mercia|Icel]] (first)
| leader2                = [[Penda of Mercia|Penda]]
| leader3                = [[Wulfhere of Mercia|Wulfhere]]
| leader4                = [[Æthelbald of Mercia|Æthelbald]]
| leader5                = [[Offa of Mercia|Offa]]
| leader6                = [[Coenwulf of Mercia|Coenwulf]]
| leader7                = [[Ceolwulf I of Mercia|Ceolwulf]]
| leader8                = [[Beornwulf of Mercia|Beornwulf]]
| leader9                = [[Burgred of Mercia|Burgred]]
| leader10               = [[Ceolwulf II of Mercia|Ceolwulf II]]
| year_leader1           = 527–{{circa|535}}
| year_leader2           = {{circa|626}}–655
| year_leader3           = 658–675
| year_leader4           = 716–757
| year_leader5           = 757–796
| year_leader6           = 796–821
| year_leader7           = 821–823
| year_leader8           = 823–826
| year_leader9           = 852–874
| year_leader10          = 874{{snd}}{{circa|879}}
| title_leader           = [[List of monarchs of Mercia|Monarch]]
| legislature            = [[Witan]]
| today                  = [[United Kingdom]]
}}
'''Mercia''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɜr|s|i|ə|,_|-|ʃ|ə}})<ref>Roach & Hartman, eds. (1997) ''English Pronouncing Dictionary'', 15th edition. (Cambridge University Press). p. 316; see also J.C. Wells, ''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary'' and Upton et al., ''Oxford Dictionary of Pronunciation for Current English''.</ref><ref>'{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/116678 |title=Mercian, ''n''. and ''adj.'' |encyclopedia=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |edition=3rd |date=September 2001 |access-date=3 October 2020 }}</ref><ref>Mercian {{langx|ang|Mercna rīċe}}, "kingdom of the border people"; {{langx|la|Merciorum regnum}})</ref> was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of [[Sub-Roman Britain]]; the area was settled by [[Anglo-Saxons]] in an era called the [[Heptarchy]]. It was centred on the [[River Trent]] and its tributaries, in a region now known as the [[Midlands]] of [[England]].

The [[royal court]] moved around the kingdom without a fixed capital city. Early in its existence [[Repton]] seems to have been the location of an important royal estate. According to the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'', it was from Repton in 873–874 that the [[Great Heathen Army]] deposed the King of Mercia. Slightly earlier, [[Offa of Mercia|King Offa]] seems to have favoured [[Tamworth, Staffordshire|Tamworth]]. It was there where he was crowned, and where he resided during multiple Christmases.

For the three centuries between 600 and 900, known as [[Mercian Supremacy]] or the "Golden Age of Mercia", having annexed or gained submissions from five of the other six kingdoms of the [[Heptarchy]] ([[Kingdom of East Anglia|East Anglia]], [[Kingdom of Essex|Essex]], [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]], [[Kingdom of Sussex|Sussex]] and [[Wessex]]), Mercia dominated England south of the [[Humber]] estuary. During [[King Offa]]'s reign, a [[Offa's Dyke|dyke]] was created as the boundary between Mercia and the Welsh kingdoms. [[Nicholas Brooks (historian)|Nicholas Brooks]] noted that "the Mercians stand out as by far the most successful of the various early Anglo-Saxon peoples until the later ninth century",<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Brooks |first=N. |title=The formation of the Mercian kingdom  |editor-first=Steven |editor-last=Bassett |encyclopedia=The Origins of Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms |location=Leicester |year=1989  |page=159}}</ref> and some historians, such as [[Sir Frank Stenton]], believe the unification of England south of the [[Humber]] estuary was achieved during Offa's reign.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Stenton |first=F. M. |title=The Supremacy of the Mercian kings |encyclopedia=Preparatory to Anglo-Saxon England |editor-first=D. M. |editor-last=Stenton |location=Oxford |year=1970 |pages=48–66}}</ref>

[[Peada of Mercia|King Peada]] converted to Christianity around 656. The [[Diocese of Mercia]] was founded in this year, with the first bishop ([[Diuma]]) based at [[Repton]]. The religion was firmly established in the kingdom by the late 7th century. After 13 years at Repton, in 669, [[Chad of Mercia|Saint Chad]] (the fifth bishop) moved the bishopric to [[Lichfield]] and, in 691, the Diocese of Mercia became the [[Diocese of Lichfield]]. There has been a diocese based in the city ever since. For a brief period between 787 and 799 or 803 the diocese was an [[archbishop of Lichfield|archbishopric]]. The current bishop, [[Michael Ipgrave]], is the 99th since the diocese was established.

At the end of the 9th century, following the invasions of the [[Vikings]] and their [[Great Heathen Army]], [[Danelaw]] absorbed much of the former Mercian territory. Danelaw at its height included London, all of East Anglia and most of the North of England.

The final Mercian king, [[Ceolwulf II of Mercia|Ceolwulf II]], died in 879 with the kingdom appearing to have lost its political independence. Initially, it was ruled by a lord or [[ealdorman]] under the overlordship of [[Alfred the Great]], who styled himself "King of the Anglo-Saxons". The kingdom had a brief period of independence in the mid-10th century and in 1016, by which time it was viewed as a province with temporary independence. [[Wessex]] conquered and united all the kingdoms into the [[Kingdom of England]]. The kingdom became an [[Earl of Mercia|earldom]] until 1071.

==History==

===Early history===
[[File:Staffordshire hoard annotated.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Staffordshire Hoard]], discovered in a field in [[Hammerwich]], near [[Lichfield]] in July 2009, is perhaps the most important collection of [[Anglo-Saxon]] objects found in [[England]]]]

Mercia's exact evolution at the start of the [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] era remains more obscure than that of [[Northumbria]], [[History of Kent|Kent]], or even [[Wessex]]. Mercia developed an effective political structure and was [[Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England|Christianised]] later than the other kingdoms.<ref name="Cambridge466">{{harvp|Thacker|2005|p=466}}</ref> Archaeological surveys show that [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]] settled the lands north of the [[River Thames]] by the 6th century. The name "Mercia" is [[Mercian Old English]] for "boundary folk" (see [[Welsh Marches]]), and the traditional interpretation is that the kingdom originated along the frontier between the native Brythonic Speaking Romano-British [[Wales|Welsh]] and the Anglo-Saxon invaders. However, [[Peter Hunter Blair]] argued an alternative interpretation: that they emerged along the frontier between [[Northumbria]] and the inhabitants of the [[River Trent|Trent river valley]].{{sfn|Hunter Blair |1948|pp= 119–121}}

Although its earliest boundaries remain obscure, a general agreement persists that the territory that was called "the first of the Mercians" in the [[Tribal Hidage]] covered much of south [[Derbyshire]], [[Leicestershire]], [[Nottinghamshire]], [[Northamptonshire]], [[Staffordshire]] and northern [[Warwickshire]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Brooks |first=Nicholas |title=Anglo-Saxon myths: state and church, 400–1066}}<br />{{cite book |last=Hill |first=D.|title=Atlas of Anglo-Saxon England |location=Oxford |year=1981 |at=map 136 }}<br />{{cite book |last=Hooke |first=Della |title=Anglo-Saxon Territorial Organisation: The Western Margins of Mercia |publisher=University of Birmingham, Dept. of Geography |series=Occasional Paper 22 |year=1986 |pages=1–45}}</ref>

The earliest person named in any records as a [[List of monarchs of Mercia|king of Mercia]] is [[Creoda of Mercia|Creoda]], said to have been the great-grandson of [[Icel of Mercia|Icel]]. Coming to power around 584, he built a fortress at [[Tamworth, Staffordshire|Tamworth]] which became the seat of Mercia's kings.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsBritain/EnglandMercia.htm|title=Kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxons - Iclingas & Mercians|last=Kessler|first=P L|website=www.historyfiles.co.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-09-25}}</ref> His son [[Pybba]] succeeded him in 593. [[Cearl of Mercia|Cearl]], a kinsman of Creoda, followed Pybba in 606; in 615, Cearl gave his daughter Cwenburga in marriage to [[Edwin of Northumbria|Edwin]], king of [[Deira (kingdom)|Deira]], whom he had sheltered while he was an exiled prince.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yIdG9MbuK38C&pg=PA135|title=Ancestral Secrets of Knighthood|first= Brian Daniel |last=Starr|publisher=BookSurge Publishing|year=2007|isbn=978-1419680120|page=135}}</ref>

The Mercian kings were the only Anglo-Saxon [[Heptarchy]] ruling house known to claim a direct family link with a pre-migration Continental Germanic monarchy.<ref>Jolliffe, J. E. A.  ''The Constitutional History of Medieval England from the English Settlement to 1485'' London 1961 p. 32</ref>

===Penda and the Mercian Supremacy===
{{Main article|Penda|Wulfhere|Æthelbald of Mercia|Mercian Supremacy}}

[[File:Kingdoms in England and Wales about 600 AD.svg|200px|left|thumb|Mercia and the main Anglo-Saxon kingdoms at about 600]]

The next Mercian king, [[Penda of Mercia|Penda]], ruled from about 626 or 633 until 655. Some of what is known about Penda comes from the hostile account of [[Bede]], who disliked him – both as an enemy to Bede's own [[Northumbria]] and as a [[Paganism|pagan]]. However, Bede admits that Penda freely allowed [[Early Christianity|Christian]] [[missionary|missionaries]] from [[Lindisfarne]] into Mercia and did not restrain them from preaching. In 633 Penda and his ally [[Cadwallon ap Cadfan|Cadwallon of Gwynedd]] defeated and killed Edwin, who had become not only ruler of the newly unified Northumbria, but [[bretwalda]], or high king, over the southern kingdoms. When another Northumbrian king, [[Oswald of Northumbria|Oswald]], arose and again claimed overlordship of the south, he also suffered defeat and death at the hands of Penda and his allies – in 642 at the [[Battle of Maserfield]]. In 655, after a period of confusion in Northumbria, Penda brought 30 sub-kings to fight the new Northumbrian king [[Oswiu of Northumbria|Oswiu]] at the [[Battle of Winwaed]], in which Penda in turn lost the battle and his life.<ref>{{harvp|Thacker|2005|p=465}}</ref>

The battle led to a temporary collapse of Mercian power. Penda's son [[Peada]], who had converted to Christianity at [[Repton]] in 653, succeeded his father as king of Mercia; Oswiu set up Peada as an under-king; but in the spring of 656 he was murdered and Oswiu assumed direct control of the whole of Mercia. A Mercian revolt in 658 threw off Northumbrian domination and resulted in the appearance of another son of Penda, [[Wulfhere of Mercia|Wulfhere]], who ruled Mercia as an independent kingdom (though he apparently continued to render tribute to Northumbria for a while) until his death in 675. Wulfhere initially succeeded in restoring the power of Mercia, but the end of his reign saw a serious defeat by Northumbria. The next king, [[Æthelred of Mercia|Æthelred]], defeated Northumbria in the [[Battle of the Trent]] in 679, settling once and for all the long-disputed control of the former [[kingdom of Lindsey]]. Æthelred was succeeded by [[Cenred of Mercia|Cœnred]], son of Wulfhere; both these kings became better known for their religious activities than anything else, but the king who succeeded them in 709, [[Ceolred of Mercia|Ceolred]], is said in a letter of [[Saint Boniface]] to have been a dissolute youth who died insane. So ended the rule of the direct descendants of Penda.<ref name="Cambridge466"/>

At some point before the accession of [[Æthelbald of Mercia|Æthelbald]] in 716 the Mercians conquered the region around [[Wroxeter]], known to the Welsh as [[Pengwern]] or as "The Paradise of Powys". Elegies written in the persona of its [[Cynddylan|dispossessed rulers]] record the sorrow at this loss.{{sfn|Evans | Fulton|2019| p= 41}}

[[File:Mercian Supremacy x 4.svg|500px|thumb|A series of maps that illustrate the increasing hegemony of Mercia during the 8th century]]The next important king of Mercia, Æthelbald, reigned from 716 to 757. For the first few years of his reign he had to face two strong rival kings, [[Wihtred of Kent]] and [[Ine of Wessex]]. But when Wihtred died in 725, and Ine abdicated in 726 to become a monk in Rome, Æthelbald was free to establish Mercia's hegemony over the rest of the Anglo-Saxons south of the [[Humber]]. Æthelbald suffered a setback in 752, when the West Saxons under [[Cuthred of Wessex|Cuthred]] defeated him, but he seems to have restored his supremacy over Wessex by 757.<ref>Sharon Turner, ''The history of the Anglo-Saxons from the earliest period to the Norman conquest'', Volume 1 (Philadelphia: Carey & Hart, 1841), p. 267</ref>

In July 2009, the [[Staffordshire Hoard]] of [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] gold was discovered by Terry Herbert in a field at Hammerwich, near Brownhills and close to [[Lichfield]] in Staffordshire.<ref>Leahy, Kevin; Bland, Roger (2009). ''The Staffordshire Hoard'', British Museum Press, pp. 4, 6</ref> Lichfield functioned as the religious centre of Mercia. The artefacts have tentatively been dated by Svante Fischer and Jean Soulat to the 7th–8th centuries.<ref>Svante Fischer and Jean Soulat, 
[https://finds.org.uk/staffshoardsymposium/papers/svantefischerandjeansoulat The Typochronology of Sword Pommels from the Staffordshire Hoard] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407154239/https://finds.org.uk/staffshoardsymposium/papers/svantefischerandjeansoulat |date=7 April 2022 }}, The Staffordshire Hoard Symposium (March 2010).</ref> Whether the hoard was deposited by [[Anglo-Saxon paganism|Anglo-Saxon pagans]] or Christians remains unclear, as does the purpose of the deposit.<ref name="bbc">
{{cite news
|url= https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/staffordshire/8272058.stm
|title= Huge Anglo-Saxon gold hoard found
|publisher= [[News.bbc.co.uk]]
|access-date= 24 September 2009 | date= 24 September 2009
}}
</ref>

===Reign of Offa and rise of Wessex===
[[File:Anglo-Saxon Chronicle - Myrcna.jpg|thumb|left|A mention of Mercia in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'']]
After the murder of Æthelbald by one of his bodyguards in 757, a civil war broke out which concluded with the victory of [[Offa of Mercia|Offa]], a descendant of Pybba. Offa (reigned 757 to 796) had to build anew the hegemony which his predecessor had exercised over the southern English, and he did this so successfully that he became the greatest king Mercia had ever known. Not only did he win battles and dominate [[Southern England]], but also he took an active hand in administering the affairs of his kingdom, founding [[market town]]s and overseeing the first major issues of gold [[coin]]s in Britain; he assumed a role in the administration of the Catholic Church in England (sponsoring the short-lived [[archbishopric of Lichfield]], 787 to 799), and even negotiated with [[Charlemagne]] as an equal. Offa is credited with the construction of [[Offa's Dyke]], which marked the border between Wales and Mercia.<ref>{{cite book |last=Davies |first=John |author-link=John Davies (historian) |title=A History of Wales |publisher=Penguin |orig-year=1993 |year=2007 |location=London |pages=65–66}}</ref>

Offa exerted himself to ensure that his son [[Ecgfrith of Mercia]] would succeed him, but after Offa's death in July 796 Ecgfrith survived for only five months, and the kingdom passed to a distant relative named [[Coenwulf of Mercia|Coenwulf]] in December 796. In 821 Coenwulf's brother [[Ceolwulf I of Mercia|Ceolwulf]] succeeded to the Mercian kingship; he demonstrated his military prowess by his attack on and destruction of the fortress of [[Deganwy]] in [[Gwynedd]]. The power of the [[Wessex|West Saxons]] under [[Egbert of Wessex|Egbert]] (King of Wessex from 802 to 839) grew during this period, however, and in 825 Egbert defeated the Mercian king [[Beornwulf of Mercia|Beornwulf]] (who had overthrown Ceolwulf in 823) at [[Ellendun]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/travellers/Camden/10|first=William|last=Camden|title=A Chronological description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland|year=1610|location=London|publisher=George Bishop and John Norton}}</ref>

The Battle of Ellendun proved decisive. At this point, Mercia lost control of [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]], [[Kingdom of Sussex|Sussex]], [[Surrey#Formation of Surrey|Surrey]], and possibly also [[Kingdom of Essex|Essex]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yorke |first=Barbara |title=Kings and kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England |date=1990 |publisher=Seaby |isbn=1-85264-027-8 |location=London |pages=122 |oclc=26404222}}</ref> Beornwulf was slain while suppressing a revolt amongst the East Angles, and his successor, a former [[ealdorman]] named [[Ludeca of Mercia|Ludeca]] (reigned 826–827), met the same fate. Another ealdorman, [[Wiglaf of Mercia|Wiglaf]], subsequently ruled for less than two years before Egbert of Wessex drove him out of Mercia. In 830 Wiglaf regained independence for Mercia, but by this time Wessex had clearly become the dominant power in England. ''Circa'' 840 [[Beorhtwulf of Mercia|Beorhtwulf]] succeeded Wiglaf.<ref>Zaluckyj & Feryok, "Decline", pp. 238–239.</ref>

===Arrival of the Danes===
[[File:Midland Map - 5 Boroughs 912 Ad.svg|thumb|right|300px|The Five Boroughs and English Mercia in the early 10th century<ref>{{harvp|Falkus|Gillingham|1989|p=52}}; {{harvp|Hill|1981}}</ref>]]

In 852, [[Burgred]] came to the throne, and with [[Ethelwulf of Wessex]] subjugated [[North Wales]]. In 868 Danish invaders occupied [[Nottingham]]. The Danes drove Burgred from his kingdom in 874 and [[Ceolwulf II of Mercia|Ceolwulf II]] took his place. In 877 the Danes seized the eastern part of Mercia, which became part of the [[Danelaw]].<ref>Frank Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', Oxford University Press, 1971, p. 254</ref> Ceolwulf, the last king of Mercia, left with the western half, reigned until 879.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first= Sean |last= Miller |title= Ceolwulf II (fl. 874–879), king of the Mercians | encyclopedia= Oxford Dictionary of National Biography | publisher= Oxford University Press |year= 2004 |url= http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/39145?docPos=1|doi= 10.1093/ref:odnb/39145 |url-access= subscription }} {{ODNBsub}}</ref> From about 883 until his death in 911 [[Æthelred, Ealdorman of Mercia|Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians]], ruled Mercia under the overlordship of Wessex. Alfred changed his title from 'king of the West Saxons' to 'king of the Anglo-Saxons' to reflect the acceptance of his overlordship of all southern England not under Danish rule. All coins struck in Mercia after the disappearance of Ceolwulf in {{circa | 879}} were in the name of the West Saxon king.<ref>Stewart Lyon, The coinage of Edward the Elder, in N. J. Higham & D.H. Hill, Edward the Elder 899–924, London 2001, p. 67.</ref> Æthelred had married [[Æthelflæd]] ({{circa}} 870 – 12 June 918), daughter of [[Alfred the Great]] of Wessex ({{reign | 871 | 899}}), and she assumed power when her husband became ill at some time in the last ten years of his life.<ref name=Costambeys>
{{cite encyclopedia
 |first= Marios |last= Costambeys
 |title= Æthelflæd (Ethelfleda) (d. 918), ruler of the Mercians
 |encyclopedia= Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
 |publisher= Oxford University Press |year= 2004
 |url= http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8907/?back=,52311
 |doi= 10.1093/ref:odnb/8907
|isbn= 978-0-19-861412-8
 |url-access= subscription
 }}{{Dead link|date= October 2019 |bot= InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted= yes }} {{ODNBsub}}
</ref>

After Æthelred's death in 911 Æthelflæd ruled as "Lady of the Mercians", but Alfred's successor as King of the Anglo-Saxons, [[Edward the Elder]] ({{reign | 899 | 924}}), took control of [[London]] and [[Oxford]], which Alfred had placed under Æthelred's control. Æthelflæd and her brother continued Alfred's policy of building fortified [[burh]]s, and by 918 they had conquered the southern Danelaw in East Anglia and Danish Mercia.<ref name=Costambeys/>

===Loss of independence===
When Æthelflæd died in 918, Ælfwynn, her daughter by Æthelred, succeeded as "Second Lady of the Mercians", but within six months Edward had deprived her of all authority in Mercia and taken her to Wessex.<ref name=Costambeys/> Edward was succeeded as king of the Anglo-Saxons by his eldest son [[Æthelstan]] ({{reign | 924 | 939}}), who had been brought up in Mercia, and he was immediately accepted as king, but not in Wessex until the following year. In 927 he conquered Northumbria and thus became the first king of all England.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Sarah|last =Foot  |publisher = Oxford University Press | encyclopedia= Oxford Dictionary of National Biography | accessdate=28 August 2021 | title=Æthelstan (Athelstan) (893/4–939), king of England  | year = 2011| url =http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/833?docPos=2 | doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/833  | url-access=subscription}}</ref> Mercia briefly regained a political existence separate from Wessex in 955–959, when Edgar became king of Mercia, and again in 1016, when [[Cnut]] and [[Edmund Ironside]] divided the English kingdom between themselves, with Cnut taking Mercia.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/sources/knytlinga.htm |title=Knut's Invasion of England in 1015–16, according to the Knytlinga Saga |publisher=De Re Militari |access-date=17 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110926225350/http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/sources/knytlinga.htm |archive-date=26 September 2011 }}</ref> Mercia maintained its separate identity as an earldom until the [[Norman Conquest]] in 1066.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Ann|last = Williams|authorlink=| publisher = Oxford University Press | encyclopedia= Oxford Dictionary of National Biography | title=Ælfgar, earl of Mercia (d. 1062?) | year = 2004 | url =https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-178 | accessdate=  26 September 2021|doi= 10.1093/ref:odnb/178  | isbn=978-0-19-861412-8 | url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== Mercian Old English ==
{{Main article|Mercian Old English|Old English|Anglic languages}}

The name 'Mercia' is a [[Latinisation (literature)|Latinisation]] of an [[Old English]] word derived from the [[Mercian Old English]], {{lang|ang|Merce}}, meaning "borderland".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Mercia |title=Mercia {{!}} historical kingdom, England |website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |language=en |access-date=2018-12-28 }}</ref> The dialect thrived between the 8th and 13th centuries and was referred to by [[John Trevisa]], writing in 1387:<ref name=rauer>{{Cite web |url=https://roep.web.ox.ac.uk/article/mercian-prose-by-christine-rauer |title=Mercian Prose: A Short Introduction|first=Christine |last=Rauer|publisher=Resources for Old English Prose, University of Oxford|year=2025}}</ref>

{{blockquote|For men of the est with men of the west, as it were undir the same partie of hevene, acordeth more in sownynge of speche than men of the north with men of the south, therfore it is that Mercii, that beeth men of myddel Engelond, as it were parteners of the endes, understondeth better the side langages, northerne and southerne, than northerne and southerne understondeth either other...}}

[[J. R. R. Tolkien]] is one of many scholars who have studied and promoted the Mercian dialect of [[Old English]] and introduced various Mercian terms into his [[Tolkien's legendarium|legendarium]] – especially in relation to the [[Rohan (Middle-earth)|Kingdom of Rohan]], otherwise known as the ''Mark'' (a name cognate with ''Mercia'').   The Mercian dialect is the basis of Tolkien's language of Rohan,<ref>{{cite book | last = Tolkien | first = J. R. R. | title = [[The Lord of the Rings]] | publisher = Houghton-Mifflin | year = 2005 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780618640157/page/1133 1133–1138] | isbn = 978-0-618-64561-9 }} For more on Tolkien's "translation" of the language of Rohan into [[Old English]], see especially page 1136.</ref> and a number of its kings are given the same names as monarchs who appear in the Mercian royal genealogy, e.g., Fréawine, Fréaláf and [[Éomer]] (see [[List of kings of the Angles]]).<ref>{{cite book |last=Shippey |first=Prof. Tom |title=The Road to Middle Earth |date=2005 <!-- (1982) --> |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=0-261-10275-3 |pages=139–140}} Shippey notes that Tolkien uses 'Mercian' forms of Anglo-Saxon, e.g., "''[[Saruman]]'', ''[[Hasufel]]'', ''[[Herugrim]]'' for 'standard' [Anglo-Saxon] ''Searuman'', ''Heasufel'' and ''Heorugrim''" Footnote page 140</ref>

==Mercian prose==

During the ninth century, Mercia was a major centre for the production of Old English prose texts, including translations of Bede's ''Ecclesiastical History'', Felix's ''Life of Guthlac'' and Gregory the Great's ''Dialogues'', as well as works such as the Old English Martyrology.<ref name=rauer/>

== Mercian religion ==
{{Main article|Religion in Mercia|Chad of Mercia|Cedd|Wulfhere|Merewalh}}[[Image:The Lichfield Angel.jpg|thumb|right|180px|The [[Lichfield Angel]] carving]]The first kings of Mercia were pagans, and they resisted the encroachment of Christianity longer than other kingdoms in the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy.<ref>{{cite book|author=Bede|title=Ecclesiastical History of the English People|pages= Book 3, chapter 21}}</ref>

Mercian rulers remained resolutely pagan until the reign of Peada in 656, although this did not prevent them joining coalitions with Christian Welsh rulers to resist Northumbria. The first appearance of Christianity in Mercia, however, had come at least thirty years earlier, following the [[Battle of Cirencester]] of 628, when Penda incorporated the formerly West Saxon territories of Hwicce into his kingdom.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3FRsBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA137|title=The Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare|first= Jim |last=Bradbury|page=137|publisher=Routledge|year=2004|isbn= 978-0415221269}}</ref>

The conversion of Mercia to Christianity occurred in the latter part of the 7th century, and by the time of Penda's defeat and death, Mercia was largely surrounded by Christian states. [[Diuma]], an Irish monk and one of Oswiu's missionaries, was subsequently ordained a bishop – the first to operate in Mercia. Christianity finally gained a foothold in Mercia when Oswiu supported Peada as sub-king of the Middle Angles, requiring him to marry Oswiu's daughter, Alchflaed, and to accept her religion.<ref>{{cite book |author=Bede |author-link=Bede |title=[[Ecclesiastical History of the English People]] |at=Book 3, chapter 21}}</ref>

Decisive steps to Christianise Mercia were taken by [[Chad of Mercia|Chad]] (Latinised by Bede as ''Ceadda''), the fifth<ref>{{cite book |author=Bede  |author-link=Bede |title=[[Ecclesiastical History of the English People]] |at=Book 3, chapter 24}}</ref> bishop to operate in Mercia. This controversial figure was given land by King Wulfhere to build a monastery at [[Lichfield]]. Evidence suggests that the [[Lichfield Gospels]] were made in Lichfield around 730. As in other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, the many small monasteries established by the Mercian kings allowed the political/military and ecclesiastical leadership to consolidate their unity through bonds of kinship.<ref>{{cite book|last=Fletcher |first=Richard |title=The Conversion of Europe |pages=172–174, 181–182 |publisher=HarperCollins |year=1997 |isbn=0-00-255203-5}}</ref>

== Subdivisions of Mercia ==
[[File:Kingdom of Mercia.PNG|right|thumb|250px|Subdivisions of Mercia]]
[[File:Mercia map.svg|right|thumb|250px|Mercian monasteries]]

For knowledge of the internal composition of the Kingdom of Mercia, we must rely on a document of uncertain age (possibly late 7th century), known as the ''[[Tribal Hidage]]'' – an assessment of the extent (but not the location) of land owned (reckoned in [[Hide (unit)|hides]]), and therefore the military obligations and perhaps taxes due, by each of the Mercian tribes and subject kingdoms by name. This hidage exists in several manuscript versions, some as late as the 14th century. It lists a number of peoples, such as the [[Hwicce]], who have now vanished, except for reminders in various placenames. The major subdivisions of Mercia were as follows:<ref>{{harvp|Zaluckyj|Feryok|2001}}{{pages needed |date=September 2019}}</ref>

*'''South Mercians'''
:The Mercians dwelling south of the River Trent. Folk groups within included the ''[[Tomsaete|Tomsæte]]'' around [[Tamworth, Staffordshire|Tamworth]] and the ''[[Pencersæte]]'' around [[Penkridge]] (roughly corresponding to southern [[Staffordshire]] and northern [[Warwickshire]]).
*'''North Mercians'''
:The Mercians dwelling north of the River Trent (roughly corresponding to eastern [[Staffordshire]], [[Derbyshire]] and [[Nottinghamshire]]).
*'''Outer Mercia'''
:An early phase of Mercian expansion, possibly 6th century (roughly corresponding to southern [[Lincolnshire]], [[Leicestershire]], [[Rutland]], [[Northamptonshire]] and [[Oxfordshire]]).
*'''[[Kingdom of Lindsey|Lindsey]]'''
:Once a kingdom in its own right, disputed with [[Northumbria]] in the 7th century before finally coming under Mercian control (roughly corresponding to the historic riding of Lindsey in [[Lincolnshire]]).
*'''[[Middle Angles]]'''
:A collection of many smaller folk groups under Mercian control from the 7th century, including the ''[[Spaldingas]]'' around [[Spalding, Lincolnshire|Spalding]], the ''Bilmingas'' and ''Wideringas'' near [[Stamford, Lincolnshire|Stamford]], the ''North [[Gyrwas|Gyrwe]]'' and ''South Gyrwe'' near [[Peterborough]], the ''West Wixna'', ''East Wixna'', ''West Wille'' and ''East Wille'' near [[Ely, Cambridgeshire|Ely]], the ''Sweordora'', ''Hurstingas'' and ''Gifle'' near [[Bedford]], the ''Hicce'' around [[Hitchin]], the ''[[Cilternsæte]]'' in the [[Chilterns]] and the ''Feppingas'' near [[Thame]] (roughly corresponding to [[Cambridgeshire]], [[Bedfordshire]], [[Hertfordshire]], [[Buckinghamshire]] and southern [[Oxfordshire]]).
*'''[[Hwicce]]'''
:Once a kingdom in its own right, disputed with [[Wessex]] in the 7th century before finally coming under Mercian control. Smaller folk groups within included the ''[[Stoppingas]]'' around [[Warwick]] and the ''Arosæte'' near [[Droitwich]] (roughly corresponding to [[Gloucestershire]], [[Worcestershire]] and southern [[Warwickshire]]).
*'''[[Magonsæte]]'''
:A people of the Welsh border, also known as the Westerna, under Mercian control from the 7th century. Smaller folk groups within included the ''Temersæte'' near [[Hereford]] and the ''Hahlsæte'' near [[Ludlow]] (roughly corresponding to [[Herefordshire]] and southern [[Shropshire]]).
*'''[[Wreocensæte|Wreocansæte]]'''
:A people of the Welsh border under Mercian control from the 7th century. Smaller folk groups within included the ''Rhiwsæte'' near [[Wroxeter]] and the ''Meresæte'' near [[Chester]] (roughly corresponding to northern [[Shropshire]], [[Flintshire]] and [[Cheshire]]).
*'''[[Pecsaetan|Pecsæte]]'''
:An isolated folk group of the [[Peak District]], under Mercian control from the 7th century (roughly corresponding to northern [[Derbyshire]]).
*'''[[Lancashire|Land Between Ribble and Mersey]]'''
:A disorganised region under Mercian control from the 7th century (roughly corresponding to [[Merseyside]], [[Greater Manchester]], and [[Lancashire]] south of the [[River Ribble]]). It was the most northern extent of the kingdom, and at certain times was claimed by [[Kingdom of Northumbria|Northumbria]] and [[Kingdom of York|Danelaw]]. 
*'''[[Middlesex|Middle Saxons]]'''
:Taken over from [[kingdom of Essex|Essex]] in the 8th century, including London (roughly corresponding to [[Greater London]], [[Hertfordshire]], and [[Surrey]]).

After Mercia was annexed by Wessex in the early 10th century, the West Saxon rulers divided it into [[shire]]s modelled after their own system, cutting across traditional Mercian divisions. These shires survived mostly intact until 1974, and even today still largely follow their original boundaries.

== Modern uses of the name Mercia ==
The term "midlands" is first recorded (as ''mydlonde-shiris'') in 1475.<ref>[https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/118201?redirectedFrom=midlands#eid "Midland", ''Oxford English Dictionary'']</ref> John Bateman, writing in 1876 or 1883, referred to contemporary [[Cheshire]] and [[Staffordshire]] landholdings as being in Mercia.<ref name="Bateman">{{harvp|Bateman|1971}}{{pages needed |date=September 2019}}</ref> The most credible source for the idea of a contemporary Mercia is [[Thomas Hardy]]'s [[Wessex]] novels. The first of these appeared in 1874 and Hardy himself considered it the origin of the conceit of a contemporary Wessex. [[Bram Stoker]] set his 1911 novel ''[[The Lair of the White Worm]]'' in a contemporary Mercia that may have been influenced by Hardy, whose secretary was a friend of Stoker's brother. Although 'Edwardian Mercia' never had the success of 'Victorian Wessex', it was an idea that appealed to the higher echelons of society. In 1908 Sir Oliver Lodge, Principal of [[Birmingham University]], wrote to his counterpart at [[Bristol]], welcoming a new university worthy of "...the great Province of Wessex whose higher educational needs it will supply. It will be no rival, but colleague and co-worker with this university, whose province is Mercia...".<ref name="Cottle & Sherborne">{{harvp|Cottle|Sherborne|1951}}{{pages needed |date=September 2019}}</ref>

The [[British Army]] has made use of several regional identities in naming larger, amalgamated formations. After the Second World War, the infantry regiments of [[Cheshire]], Staffordshire and [[Worcestershire]] were organised in the [[Mercian Brigade]] (1948–1968). Today, "Mercia" appears in the titles of two regiments, the [[Mercian Regiment]], founded in 2007, which recruits in Cheshire, [[Derbyshire]], Nottinghamshire, Worcestershire, and parts of Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, and the [[Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry]], founded in 1992 as part of the [[Army Reserve (United Kingdom)|Territorial Army]]. In 1967, the police forces of [[Herefordshire]], Shropshire and Worcestershire were combined into the [[West Mercia Constabulary]], which changed its name to West Mercia Police in 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.shropshirearchives.org.uk/collections/police-records/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001155246/https://www.shropshirearchives.org.uk/collections/police-records/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 October 2020 |title=Police Records |publisher=Shropshire Archives |access-date=21 May 2020}}</ref>

Telephone directories across the Midlands include a large number of commercial and voluntary organisations using "Mercia" in their names, and in 2012 a new football league was formed called the [[Shropshire Premier League|Mercian Regional Football League]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://full-time.thefa.com/Index.do?league=287177213 |title=The Sportsjam Regional Football League |publisher=The Football Association |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151126130741/http://full-time.thefa.com/Index.do?divisionseason=448491932 |archive-date=26 November 2015 |url-status=dead |access-date=26 November 2015}}</ref>

[[Hits Radio Coventry & Warwickshire]], a commercial radio station, was originally launched in 1980 as '''Mercia Sound''', later becoming '''Mercia FM''', and then '''Mercia'''.<ref>{{cite web |title='Local radio has lost a great man' - tributes made to founder of Mercia Sound |url=https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/local-radio-lost-great-man-11378825 |publisher=Coventry Telegraph |access-date=27 March 2022 |date=25 May 2016}}</ref>

== Symbolism and attributed heraldry ==
{{anchor|Flag of Mercia}}
[[Image:Flag of Mercia (2014).svg|250px|right|thumb|[[Saint Alban's Cross|Cross of St Alban]]]]
[[File:UK COA St Albans.png|137px|right|thumb|Arms of [[St Albans]] City Council]]

There is no authentic indigenous Mercian heraldic device, as [[heraldry]] did not develop in any recognizable form until the [[High Middle Ages]].<ref>{{harvp|Fox-Davies|1909|pp=1–18}}</ref>

The [[saltire]] as a symbol of Mercia may have been in use since the time of [[Offa|King Offa]].<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-12991778 | publisher=BBC News | title=Photo-gallery: Saxon trail across Mercian Staffordshire | date=7 April 2011}}</ref> By the 13th century, the saltire had become the [[attributed arms]] of the Kingdom of Mercia.<ref>College of Arms Ms. L.14, dating from the reign of [[Henry III of England|Henry III]]</ref> The [[coat of arms|arms]] are [[blazon]]ed ''Azure, a saltire Or'', meaning a gold (or yellow) saltire on a blue field. The arms were subsequently used by the [[St Albans Cathedral|Abbey of St Albans]], founded by King Offa of Mercia. With the dissolution of the Abbey and the incorporation of the borough of [[St Albans]] the device was used on the town's corporate seal and was officially recorded as the arms of the town at an [[heraldic visitation]] in 1634.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/herts.html |title=Civic heraldry of England and Wales – Hertdordshire |publisher=civicheraldry.co.uk |access-date=15 January 2008 |archive-date=16 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016085818/http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/herts.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The saltire is used as both a flag and a coat of arms. As a flag, it is flown from [[Tamworth Castle]], the ancient seat of the Mercian Kings, to this day.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> 
[[File:Mercia flag.jpg|alt=Mercia flag created by community groups hung over the motte of Tamworth castle to celebrate Athelstan 1100|250px|right|thumb|Giant Mercia flag on Tamworth castle created by community groups in 2024]]

The flag also appears on street signs welcoming people to [[Tamworth, Staffordshire|Tamworth]], the "ancient capital of Mercia". It was also flown outside [[Council House, Birmingham|Birmingham Council House]] during 2009 while the [[Staffordshire Hoard]] was on display in the city before being taken to the [[British Museum]] in London. The cross has been incorporated into a number of [[coat of arms|coats of arms]] of Mercian towns, including [[Tamworth, Staffordshire|Tamworth]], [[Leek, Staffordshire|Leek]] and [[Blaby]]. It was recognised as the Mercian flag by the [[Flag Institute]] in 2014.<ref>[https://www.flaginstitute.org/wp/flags/mercia/ Flag Institute: Mercia, St Alban's Cross].</ref>

The silver double-headed eagle surmounted by a golden three-pronged Saxon crown has been used by several units of the [[British Army]] as a heraldic device for Mercia since 1958, including the [[Mercian Regiment]]. It is derived from the [[attributed arms]] of [[Leofric, Earl of Mercia]] in the 11th century.<ref>A.L. Kipling and H.L. King, ''Head-dress Badges of the British Army'', Vol. 2, reprinted, Uckfield, 2006</ref> Leofric is sometimes attributed a black, single-headed eagle instead.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ngw.nl/int/gbr/c/coventry.htm |title=Heraldry of the world - Coventry |publisher=ngw.nl |access-date=17 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080628051751/http://www.ngw.nl/int/gbr/c/coventry.htm|archive-date=28 June 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[wyvern]], a type of [[European dragon|dragon]], came to have a strong association with Mercia in the 19th century. The [[Midland Railway]], which used a white (silver) wyvern ''sans legs'' (legless) as its crest, having inherited it from the [[Leicester and Swannington Railway]], asserted that the "wyvern was the standard of the Kingdom of Mercia", and that it was "a quartering in the town arms of Leicester".<ref>Geoffrey Briggs, ''Civic & Corporate Heraldry'', London 1971<br />C. W. Scot-Giles, ''Civic Heraldry of England and Wales'', 2nd edition, London, 1953<br />A. C. Fox-Davies, ''The Book of Public Arms'', London 1915<br />Cuthbert Hamilton Ellis, ''The Midland Railway'', 1953<br />Frederick Smeeton Williams, ''The Midland Railway: Its rise and progress: A narrative of modern enterprise'', 1876<br />''The Railway Magazine'', Vol. 102, 1897<br />{{harvp|Dow|1973}}{{pages needed|date=September 2019}}<br />Clement Edwin Stretton, ''History of The Midland Railway'', 1901</ref> The symbol appeared on numerous stations and other company buildings in the region, and was worn as a silver badge by all uniformed employees. However, in 1897 the ''Railway Magazine'' noted that there appeared "to be no foundation that the wyvern was associated with the Kingdom of Mercia".<ref>''The Railway Magazine'', Vol. 102, 1897</ref> It has been associated with [[Leicester]] since the time of [[Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster|Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster and Leicester]] (c. 1278–1322), the most powerful lord in the Midlands, who used it as his personal crest, and was recorded in a heraldic visitation of the town in 1619.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.thiswasleicestershire.co.uk/2012/09/what-is-origin-of-leicester-wyvern.html |title=Leicestershire History: What is the Origin of the Leicester Wyvern? |access-date=12 June 2019 |archive-date=26 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190826100948/http://www.thiswasleicestershire.co.uk/2012/09/what-is-origin-of-leicester-wyvern.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In [[Bram Stoker]]'s 1911 novel ''[[The Lair of the White Worm]]'', explicitly set in Mercia (see above), the Mercian white wyvern ''sans legs'' of the Midland Railway was transformed into a monstrous beast, the eponymous worm of the title. The word "worm" is derived from [[Old English]] ''wyrm'' and originally referred to a dragon or serpent. "Wyvern" derives from [[Old Saxon]] ''wivere'', also meaning serpent, and is etymologically related to [[Viperidae|viper]].<ref>[https://lccn.loc.gov/13026102 "The lair of the white worm"] (1st ed). LC Online Catalog. [[Library of Congress]] (loc.gov). Retrieved 2016-09-16.</ref>

The ultimate source for the symbolism of white dragons in England would appear to be [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]'s fictional work, ''The History of the Kings of Britain'' (c. 1136), which recounts an incident in the life of Merlin where a red dragon is seen fighting a white dragon and prevailing. The red dragon was taken to represent the Welsh and their eventual victory over the Anglo-Saxon invaders, symbolised by the white dragon.<ref>{{cite book |author=Geoffrey of Monmouth |title=The History of the Kings of Britain |publisher=Penguin |year=1973 |isbn=9780140441703}}</ref>

The philologist and Tolkien scholar [[Tom Shippey]] has suggested that the Middle Kingdom in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''[[Farmer Giles of Ham]]'', a story dominated by a dragon, is based on Mercia, the part of England where Tolkien grew up. This dragon, [[Chrysophylax Dives|Chrysophylax]], though mostly hostile, eventually helps Giles found a realm of his own, the Little Kingdom. Shippey states further that "the Mark", the land of the [[Riders of Rohan]] – all of whom have names in the Mercian dialect of Old English – was once the usual term for central England, and it would have been pronounced and written "marc" rather than the West Saxon "mearc" or the Latinized "Mercia".<ref>{{cite book |last=Shippey |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Shippey |title=[[The Road to Middle-Earth]] |date=2005 |edition=Third |orig-year=1982 |publisher=Grafton (HarperCollins) |isbn=9780261102750 |pages=111, 139–140}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Anglo-Saxon England}}
*[[Lichfield]]
*[[List of monarchs of Mercia]]
*[[List of Anglo-Saxon Mercians]]
*[[Mercian Old English]]
*[[Mercian Trail]]
*[[Old English]]
*[[Repton Abbey]]
*[[Staffordshire Hoard]]
*[[Tamworth, Staffordshire]]
*[[Wessex]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{Cite book | last = Bateman | first = John | title = The Great Landowners of Great Britain and Ireland | publisher = Leicester University Press | year = 1971 | isbn= 0-391-00157-4 }}
* {{Cite book | author-link = Basil Cottle | last1 = Cottle | first1 = Basil | last2 = Sherborne | first2 = J.W. | title = The Life of a University | publisher = University of Bristol | year = 1951 |oclc =  490908616 }}
* {{Cite book | last = Dow | first = George | title = Railway Heraldry: and other insignia | year = 1973 | isbn = 978-0715358962  |publisher=David and Charles |location=Newton Abbot  }}
* {{Cite book | last = Elmes | first = Simon | title = Talking for Britain: A Journey Through the Nation's Dialects | publisher = Penguin | year = 2005 | isbn = 0-14-051562-3 }}
* {{cite book | last1= Evans|first1=Geraint|last2=Fulton|first2=Helen|title=The Cambridge History of Welsh Literature|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2019|isbn=978-1107106765}}
* {{Cite book | last1=Falkus |first1=Malcolm |last2=Gillingham |first2=John |year=1989 |title=Historical Atlas of Britain |publisher=Kingfisher |isbn=0-86272-295-0 }}
* {{cite book | last=Fox-Davies |first=Arthur Charles |year=1909 |url = https://archive.org/details/completeguidetoh00foxdrich |title=A Complete Guide to Heraldry |location=London |publisher=T.C. & E.C. Jack |lccn=09023803 |via=Internet Archive }}
* {{Cite book | last = Hunter Blair|first=Peter |title=The Northumbrians and their Southern Frontier. Archaeologia Aeliana, 4th series 26|year=1948|pages= 98–126}} DOI: https://doi.org/10.5284/1060107
* {{Cite book |url=https://roep.web.ox.ac.uk/article/mercian-prose-by-christine-rauer |title=Mercian Prose: A Short Introduction|first=Christine |last=Rauer|publisher=Resources for Old English Prose, University of Oxford|year=2025}}
* {{Cite book | last=Thacker|first=Alan|chapter=England in the Seventh Century|editor-last=Fouracre |editor-first=Paul |title=The New Cambridge Medieval History |volume=c. 500 – c. 700 |location=Cambridge |publisher= Cambridge University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0521362917 }}
* {{Cite book | first1=Sarah |last1=Zaluckyj |first2=Marge |last2=Feryok |title=Mercia: The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Central England |year=2001 |publisher=Logaston |isbn=1-873827-62-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/merciaanglosaxon0000zalu }}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book | last = Baxter | first = Stephen | title = The earls of Mercia: lordship and power in late Anglo-Saxon England | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-0199230983 }}
* {{Cite book  |editor-first=Michelle |editor-last=Brown |editor-first2=Carol |editor-last2=Farr |title=Mercia: An Anglo-Saxon Kingdom in Europe |year=2005 |isbn=0826477658 }}
* {{Cite encyclopedia  |first=Margaret |last=Gelling |title=The Early History of Western Mercia |pages=184–201 |encyclopedia=The Origins of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms |editor-first=S. |editor-last=Bassett |year=1989 |isbn=978-0718513177 }}
* {{Cite book |first=Ian W. |last=Walker |title=Mercia and the Making of England |year=2000 |publisher=Sutton |isbn=0-7509-2131-5 }} Also published as {{Cite book |title=Mercia and the Origins of England |year=2000 |isbn=0750921315|last1=Walker |first1=Ian W. |publisher=Sutton }}

==External links==
*[https://roep.web.ox.ac.uk/article/mercian-prose-by-christine-rauer, Mercian Prose: A Short Introduction, by Christine Rauer, ''ROEP: Resources for Old English Prose'', University of Oxford, 2025]
*[http://www.btinternet.com/~simonmarchini/History/History_Measham.htm Mercian History: History Project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070621175054/http://www.btinternet.com/~simonmarchini/History/History_Measham.htm |date=21 June 2007 }}
*[http://www.georgetown.edu/labyrinth/library/oe/texts/hidage.html Recensions of manuscripts of the "Hidage"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040414144817/http://www.georgetown.edu/labyrinth/library/oe/texts/hidage.html |date=14 April 2004 }}
*[http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/ The Staffordshire Hoard] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120902013039/http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/ |date=2 September 2012 }}

{{heptarchy}}

{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:Mercia| ]]
[[Category:States and territories established in the 520s]]
[[Category:918 disestablishments]]
[[Category:Peoples of Anglo-Saxon England]]
[[Category:Regions of England]]
[[Category:527 establishments]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 910s]]
[[Category:Former monarchies of Europe]]