A Chronological History of Britain
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Northumbria was no stranger to problems… blood feuds, regicide, and kinslaying… they really have it all up there. But as 793 began, it was clear that things were taking an even darker turn. As the new year dawned, a massive whirlwind slammed into the northeastern coast. The sky was ignited with flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder could be heard throughout the land.
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When we left off things were looking pretty good for Mercia. Wessex was now acting as a subkingdom, with their King (Beohtric) married to Offa’s daughter… Kent was thoroughly dominated, East Anglia appears to have been brought fully under Offa’s control. Really, Offa’s only neighbors that he didn’t have command over, appear to have been the Northumbrians and the Welsh. He had his own Archbishopric located in Lichfield, the Papacy was interested in maintaining a good relationship with Mercia. All in all, it was pretty good.
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Back to our story, when we last left off, King Offa of Mercia was doing pretty well. He had just received Papal support for his plans of succession and he was demonstrating that he was a mover and shaker not just among the English kingdoms, but on the world’s stage. On his southern border, King Cynewulf of Wessex was dead and there was a friendly King that now sat on the West Saxon throne. All in all, it was looking pretty good.
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Today we’re covering more about King Offa, and the reason is that he’s a really big deal. He reigned for about as long as King Henry VIII, he constructed one of the wonders of the world, he was the starting point for the continuous use of currency in England, Alfred the Great ranked Offa’s laws along side AEthelberht of Kent and Ine of Wessex, he was the first English king to deal with continental politics as an independent leader (if not an equal), and frankly he had a much bigger impact upon British History than virtually every other monarch or Roman emperor we’ve covered so far…
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As you might have guessed, today we’re talking mostly about Offa. But before we get into some of the cool things that were going on under Offa’s reign… lets start with something shady.
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Today we begin in Northumbria.
King AEthelred of Northumbria, son of AEthelwold Moll, was sitting the throne, having taken it from a man who claimed to be from the Line of Ida. And initially it seems that many people were quite happy with AEthelred, and we’re told that he was put in power with a great deal of pomp and circumstance.
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Alright, where did we leave off. We had a new Archbishop of Canterbury, King Offa of Mercia was on the rise, Kent was in decline, and the minor kingdoms were being brought to heel by… yep, Offa of Mercia.
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Today’s episode is going to go all over the kingdoms of the Heptarchy. We have the Kings of Kent, Wessex, East Anglia, Northumbria, and of course, Mercia all involved. It’s a busy one. But Offa will continue to be our main character.
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Today we’re starting a series on one of the most influential Mercian kings in history. King Offa. But before we start this story, I need to fess up to a couple things.
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Alright, as you already know, King AEthelbald of Mercia had a bit of a rough start… what with being exiled and living in a swamp. But once he was able to take the throne, he hit the ground running and it wasn’t long before he was the supreme power in the South with even Bede writing of how he dominated the kingdoms south of the Humber.