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Mercia's exact evolution at the start of the Anglo-Saxon era remains more obscure than that of Northumbria, Kent, or even Wessex. Mercia developed an effective political structure and was Christianised later than the other kingdoms. [5] Archaeological surveys show that Angles settled the lands north of the River Thames by the 6th century.
The Heptarchy is the name for the division of Anglo-Saxon England between the sixth and eighth centuries into petty kingdoms, conventionally the seven kingdoms of East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Mercia, Northumbria, Sussex, and Wessex.
He gave each of his Wessex counties a fictionalised name, such as with Berkshire, which is known in the novels as "North Wessex". [citation needed] In the book and television series The Last Kingdom, Wessex is the primary setting, focusing on the rule of Alfred the Great and the war against the Vikings. [47] Wessex remains a common term for the ...
A series of maps illustrating the increasing hegemony of Mercia during the 8th century. The Mercian Supremacy was the period of Anglo-Saxon history between c. 716 and c. 825, [1] when the kingdom of Mercia dominated the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy in England.
After his father's death, Ecgberht was driven from England into exile by Offa, with the co-operation of Beorhtric of Wessex and his accession to the throne of Wessex on Beorhtric's death in 802 was immediately followed by a violent clash with Mercia. However, the available sources reveal no further conflict between the two kingdoms before 825.
The 8th century was a period of Mercian supremacy, but Wessex surpassed Mercia in the 820s during the reign of Ecgberht. [23] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle referred to Ecgberht as bretwalda ( ' wide-ruler ' or ' ruler of Britain ' ) and added his name to Bede's list of overlords. [ 24 ]
The Kingdom of Wessex controlled part of the Midlands and the whole of the South (apart from Cornwall, which was still held by the Britons), while the Danes held East Anglia and the North. [100] After the victory at Edington and resultant peace treaty, Alfred set about transforming his Kingdom of Wessex into a society on a full-time war footing ...
After the death of Offa of Mercia in 796, it was disputed between Mercia and Wessex. Viking invasions became frequent from the 830s, and a Viking army is believed to have camped in the old Roman walls during the winter of 871. Alfred the Great reestablished English control of London in 886, and renewed its fortifications.