Mercia (redirected from Mercian)

Mercia (mûr`shə), one of the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England, consisting generally of the region of the Midlands. It was settled by Angles c.500, probably first along the Trent valley. Its history emerges from obscurity with the reign of Penda, who extended his power over Wessex (645) and East Anglia (650) to gain overlordship of England S of the Humber River. After his death Mercia suffered a three-year loss of ascendancy during which it was converted to Christianity by a Northumbrian mission. Penda's son, Wulfhere, then reestablished a Greater Mercia that finally, under Æthelbald in the 8th cent., extended over all S England. This hegemony was strengthened by Offa (reigned 757–96), who controlled East Anglia, Kent, and Sussex and maintained superiority of a sort over Wessex and Northumbria. He had the great Offa's Dyke built to protect W Mercia from the Welsh. After his death, Mercian power gradually gave way before that of Wessex. The victories of Egbert of Wessex in Mercia established him briefly as overlord. In 874, Mercia weakly succumbed to the invading Danish army, and ultimately the eastern part became (886) a portion of the Danelaw, while the western part was controlled by Alfred of Wessex. Thereafter Mercia had no independent history, although it had one more distinguished ruler in Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians.

Bibliography

See F. M. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England (2d ed. 1947).

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Mercia

Ancient kingdom, central England. One of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of the Heptarchy, it comprised the border areas, corresponding to modern Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and northern West Midlands and Warwickshire. Offa, who ruled from 757 to 796, created a single state from the River Humber to the English Channel. After Offa's death, Mercia declined, overshadowed by Wessex. In 877 the Danes divided Mercia into English and Danish sections. After the reconquest of the Danish lands in the early 10th century, it came under the rule of Wessex.

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Mercia

a kingdom and earldom of central and S England during the Anglo-Saxon period that reached its height under King Offa (757--96)

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Mercia 

one of the kingdoms that arose during the Anglo-Saxon conquest of Britain; founded by Angles in the late sixth century. At the height of its power Mercia occupied the area between the Humber River and the Thames River in central England. It achieved its greatest power in the eighth century, after subordinating other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. It was captured in the 820’s by Wessex.