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78-475: Hunted like an animal by Norman invaders, Bran ap Brychan, heir to the throne of Elfael , abandoned his father's kingdom and fled to the greenwood. There, in the primeval forest of the Welsh borders, danger surrounded him, for this woodland is a living, breathing entity with mysterious powers and secrets. Bran needed to find a way to make it his own if he was to survive. Through the suffering of his pride-torn soul and

156-595: A Marcher Lordship , outside of either English or Welsh law. Phillip held the Lordship for the rest of his life, and it was inherited by his son. Idnerth's remaining lands were inherited by his son, Madog . In 1130, for unclear reasons, the Sheriff of Hereford, Pain fitzJohn , built an eponymous castle in southern Ferlix, not far from the Herefordshire border. In 1135, Pain's Castle was acquired by Madog; Pain

234-406: A fortress at Tamworth which became the seat of Mercia's kings. His son Pybba succeeded him in 593. Cearl , a kinsman of Creoda, followed Pybba in 606; in 615, Cearl gave his daughter Cwenburga in marriage to Edwin , king of Deira , whom he had sheltered while he was an exiled prince. The Mercian kings were the only Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy ruling house known to claim a direct family link with

312-534: 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 . The earliest person named in any records as a king of Mercia is Creoda , said to have been the great-grandson of Icel . Coming to power around 584, he built

390-539: 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. Leofric is sometimes attributed a black, single-headed eagle instead. The wyvern , a type of dragon , came to have a strong association with Mercia in

468-681: A heraldic visitation of the town in 1619. 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

546-838: 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 defeated him, but he seems to have restored his supremacy over Wessex by 757. In July 2009, the Staffordshire Hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold was discovered by Terry Herbert in a field at Hammerwich, near Brownhills and close to Lichfield in Staffordshire. Lichfield functioned as

624-572: A new football league was formed called the Mercian Regional Football League . Hits Radio Coventry & Warwickshire , a commercial radio station, was originally launched in 1980 as Mercia Sound , later becoming Mercia FM , and then Mercia . There is no authentic indigenous Mercian heraldic device, as heraldry did not develop in any recognizable form until the High Middle Ages . The saltire as

702-534: A pre-migration Continental Germanic monarchy. The next Mercian king, 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 pagan . However, Bede admits that Penda freely allowed Christian missionaries from Lindisfarne into Mercia and did not restrain them from preaching. In 633 Penda and his ally Cadwallon of Gwynedd defeated and killed Edwin, who had become not only ruler of

780-629: 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. 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

858-582: 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". It has been associated with Leicester since the time of 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

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936-407: A skilled and loyal companion, Will joined the heroic archer and his men. Scarlet is captured and imprisoned, however, for being a follower of the rebel, Raven. He is sentenced to death by hanging unless he delivers King Raven and his band of cohorts to Raven's enemies. That, of course, he would never do. Simultaneously, Wales is slowly falling under the control of the invading Normans and King William

1014-520: A symbol of Mercia may have been in use since the time of King Offa . By the 13th century, the saltire had become the attributed arms of the Kingdom of Mercia. The arms are blazoned Azure, a saltire Or , meaning a gold (or yellow) saltire on a blue field. The arms were subsequently used by the Abbey of St Albans , founded by King Offa of Mercia. With the dissolution of the Abbey and the incorporation of

1092-466: A unit. Manuscripts use various alternative spellings for this, such as Ferlix, Fferllys, Fferleg, and Fferreg; in his Hanes Cymru , the historian John Davies argued, based on these alternatives, that it was probably named Fferyllwg, and that the name may refer to ironworkers ( Fferyll in Welsh). Welsh tradition (as reported for example by the 1844 Topographical Dictionary of Wales ), claims that Ferlix

1170-671: Is Mercia...". 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

1248-463: Is etymologically related to viper . 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

1326-446: Is first recorded (as mydlonde-shiris ) in 1475. John Bateman, writing in 1876 or 1883, referred to contemporary Cheshire and Staffordshire landholdings as being in Mercia. 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

1404-513: The Battle of Winwaed , in which Penda in turn lost the battle and his life. 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

1482-579: The Kingdom of England . The kingdom became an earldom until 1071. 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. Archaeological surveys show that Angles settled the lands north of the River Thames by

1560-558: The 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, 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 ). The first kings of Mercia were pagans, and they resisted the encroachment of Christianity longer than other kingdoms in

1638-552: The Norman Conquest in 1066. The name 'Mercia' is a Latinisation of an Old English word derived from the Mercian Old English , Merce , meaning "borderland". The dialect thrived between the 8th and 13th centuries and was referred to by John Trevisa , writing in 1387: 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

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1716-765: 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, King Offa seems to have favoured Tamworth . It

1794-576: The late medieval period , it was a marcher lordship . However, after the Laws in Wales Act 1535 , it was one of the territorial units which went to make up the county of Radnorshire in 1536 (the others were Gwrtheyrnion , Maelienydd and Llythyfnwg, the latter being known in English as the lordship of Radnor). According to historic manuscripts, the region between Wye and Severn was once regarded as

1872-621: 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: After Mercia was annexed by Wessex in the early 10th century, the West Saxon rulers divided it into shires 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. The term "midlands"

1950-466: 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". The symbol appeared on numerous stations and other company buildings in the region, and was worn as

2028-583: 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 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 Trent river valley . Although its earliest boundaries remain obscure,

2106-568: The Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. 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. The conversion of Mercia to Christianity occurred in

2184-629: The Anglo-Saxon invaders, symbolised by the white dragon. 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 , though mostly hostile, eventually helps Giles found a realm of his own, the Little Kingdom. Shippey states further that "the Mark",

2262-654: The Mercian king Beornwulf (who had overthrown Ceolwulf in 823) at Ellendun . The Battle of Ellendun proved decisive. At this point, Mercia lost control of Kent , Sussex , Surrey , and possibly also Essex . Beornwulf was slain while suppressing a revolt amongst the East Angles, and his successor, a former ealdorman named Ludeca (reigned 826–827), met the same fate. Another ealdorman, 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

2340-540: The Red has given his ruthless barons control of the land. In desperation, the people turn to King Raven and his men for justice and survival in the face of the ever-growing onslaught. In 2008, Scarlet won a Christy Award in the category of Visionary Fiction. The story of Rhi Bran y Hud is concluded as Abbot Hugo and the Norman invaders attempted to wipe out King Raven and his flock once and for all. Their merciless attack,

2418-531: The Vikings, but died soon after. Hwgan's son, Dryffin succeeded him, but Elystan Glodrydd , god-son (and namesake) of King Athelstan , conquered Ferlix; Dryffin and his heirs would now only rule Brycheiniog. Elystan added Ferlix to his existing realm of Buellt . He was succeeded by his son, Cadwgan, who was succeeded by his eldest son, Idnerth; a younger son gave rise to the Cadogan family, who were raised to

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2496-721: The West Midlands, and the Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry , founded in 1992 as part of the 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. Telephone directories across the Midlands include a large number of commercial and voluntary organisations using "Mercia" in their names, and in 2012

2574-574: 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

2652-498: The accession of 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 dispossessed rulers record the sorrow at this loss. 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

2730-484: The appearance of another son of Penda, 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 , defeated Northumbria in the Battle of the Trent in 679, settling once and for all

2808-494: 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. 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. The flag also appears on street signs welcoming people to Tamworth , the "ancient capital of Mercia". It

2886-416: The brothers were hostile to one another, coveting each other's lands. In 1160 Cadwallon invaded Elfael, captured Einion Clud, and sent him as a prisoner to King Henry; Einion Clud escaped (or was released), and re-took his lands. However, when Hugh de Mortimer died, his son Roger arranged for Eilion Clud to be ambushed, and killed. In 1179 he killed Cadwallon as well. By now, New Radnor had been inherited by

2964-464: The conflict, as Elfael Is Mynydd came to be occupied by various Norman families soon after. In 1231, Pain's Castle was captured by Ralph Tosny , and rebuilt in stone. Althouogh this was officially settled by the Treaty of Woodstock , King Henry 's authority over his barons was in the process of gradual collapse, and the settlement could not be enforced immediately. In 1264, Pain's Castle was captured by

3042-844: The cross (i.e. join the crusade), like his cousin Maelgwn (ruler of Maelienydd) did afterwards at his castle of Crug Eryr (described by Gerald as 'Cruker'). Eineon rising up, said to Rhys, whose daughter he had married, "My father and lord! with your permission I hasten to revenge the injury offered to the great father of all." Upon his return from the crusade, Einion o'r Porth was murdered by his own brother, Gwalter, who then seized power in Elfael. William de Braose subsequently conquered Elfael, deposing Gwalter, and recapturing New Radnor and Pain's Castle. In 1196, Prince Rhys, grandfather of Anarawd, Einion's son and heir, attempted to re-capture Pain's Castle, but failed. When Rhys died soon after, Rhys had been

3120-540: The diocese was an 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 , died in 879 with

3198-539: The dominant power in England. Circa 840 Beorhtwulf succeeded Wiglaf. 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 took his place. In 877 the Danes seized the eastern part of Mercia, which became part of the Danelaw . Ceolwulf, the last king of Mercia, left with

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3276-555: The end of the century it was successfully suppressed by a number of Norman magnates; most Welsh princes then came (individually) to an agreement with the Normans, and were restored to their lands. Philip de Braose had conquered the region between Wye and Severn, and although most of Ferlix was returned to Idnerth, Braose kept Buellt and a small region around New Radnor for himself. Braose built Castles in these lands, ensuring that any further revolt would be difficult. This established

3354-568: The fifth 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. For knowledge of

3432-408: The first of many to come, heralded a dark and desperate day for the realm of Elfael. Bran and his few stalwarts desperately pray and search for encouragement and reinforcement from the people in order to survive. Bran and Friar Tuck, a most unconventional priest, ride north to rally the tribes of Wales to the battle, make new friends, and powerful enemies along the way. Tuck, the final installment of

3510-427: The forces of Llywelyn's grandson, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd , who now ruled Gwynedd , and in 1267 a formal complaint was sent to king Henry about the continued de Clare occupation of Elfael Is Mynydd. In 1275, Llywelyn married Eleanor de Montfort , the daughter of Henry's greatest enemy. The new King, Henry's son Edward , consequently declared Llywelyn a rebel, and in 1277 attacked Gwynedd with an enormous army. Llywelyn

3588-457: 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 towns and overseeing the first major issues of gold coins in Britain; he assumed

3666-494: 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 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

3744-463: 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

3822-568: The kingdom passed to a distant relative named Coenwulf in December 796. In 821 Coenwulf's brother 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 West Saxons under Egbert (King of Wessex from 802 to 839) grew during this period, however, and in 825 Egbert defeated

3900-609: The land of his ancestors being destroyed, Bran realized the dangerous paths through which his ambition was drawn and he soon succumbed to his fate. The book was dedicated to the Schloss Mittersill Community in Austria , which he and his wife were part of for a couple of years. After he lost everything he owned, forester Will Scarlet embarked on a search for King Raven, whose exploits had already become legendary. After he fulfilled his quest and proved himself

3978-604: 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. Decisive steps to Christianise Mercia were taken by Chad (Latinised by Bede as Ceadda ),

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4056-419: The long-disputed control of the former kingdom of Lindsey . Æthelred was succeeded by 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 , 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. At some point before

4134-517: The main part of Radnorshire . The main castles in Elfael were: Mercia Mercia ( / ˈ m ɜːr s i ə , - ʃ ə , - s i ə / , Old English : Miercna rīċe , "kingdom of the border people"; Latin : Merciorum regnum ) was one of the three main Anglic kingdoms founded after Sub-Roman Britain was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy . It was centred on

4212-414: The most powerful Welsh prince, and now Gwenwynwyn , the prince of Powys Wenwynwyn , sought to become the most dominant; in 1198 he attacked Pain's Castle. Pain's Castle was defended by William's wife Maud (aka. Matilda) until it was relieved by Geoffrey fitz Peter . On 12 August 1198 Anarawd became one of the thousands of Welsh soldiers killed in the fighting Anarawd left a son, Llywelyn ab Anarawd, who

4290-684: The name of the West Saxon king. Æthelred had married Æthelflæd ( c. 870 – 12 June 918), daughter of Alfred the Great of Wessex ( r.  871–899 ), and she assumed power when her husband became ill at some time in the last ten years of his life. 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 ( r.  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 burhs , and by 918 they had conquered

4368-478: The newly unified Northumbria, but bretwalda , or high king, over the southern kingdoms. When another Northumbrian king, 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 at

4446-697: The nobility many centuries later. Due to their allegiances to the Saxon Kings, once the Normans invaded England, many Welsh princes had assisted anti-Norman revolts like that of Eadric the Wild . Hence, in 1080, when a revolt broke out in Northern England, the Normans pre-emptively occupied Wales , to prevent any further Welsh assistance to the Saxons. In turn, this led to a Welsh revolt in 1094, but by

4524-453: 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 legendarium – especially in relation to

4602-404: The patrilineal grandson of Philip de Braose, William de Braose . When William's other grandfather, Henry FitzMiles , was murdered, he undertook a notorious act of revenge - inviting the alleged murderer and other Welsh dignitaries to Abergavenny Castle for reconciliation, he had them all killed in the hall. This set off anti-Norman attacks on a number of local castles, including New Radnor, which

4680-638: The previous king of Brycheiniog, only had daughters, so it is possible that Tangwydd obtained Brycheiniog by marriage. Hwgan, Tangwydd's son and successor, attempted to invade Mercia, while King Edward the Elder was distracted by the Viking invasion ; Hwgan, however, hadn't reckoned with Edward's sister, Æthelflæd , who lead an army against him. Æthelflæd defeated Hwgan, in battle, then invaded his lands, captured Hwgan's castle (in Brycheiniog). and took his wife prisoner. Hwgan decided to form an alliance with

4758-459: The prince of Gwynedd; consequently, in 1215, he returned Elfael to Iorwerth Clud , another of Gwalter's brothers. Iorwerth died soon after, and Gwalter seized Elfael. When Gwalter died in about 1222, he was succeeded by his nephew, Owain ap Maredudd. Following the repudiation of the Treaty of Gwerneigron by the Gwyneddian prince, Dafydd ap Llywelyn , Elfael appears to have been caught up in

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4836-430: The process of capturing Pain's Castle, killed Maredudd, another of Madog's sons. In 1155, Matilda's son, Henry became King, and was able to force Hugh to surrender his Welsh castles. The two remaining sons of Madog re-divided Ferlix between them; Einion Clud received the southern half (including Radnor), which became Elfael, while his brother Cadwallon ruled the northern half, which became Maeliennydd . Nevertheless,

4914-452: The religious centre of Mercia. The artefacts have tentatively been dated by Svante Fischer and Jean Soulat to around AD 600–800. Whether the hoard was deposited by Anglo-Saxon pagans or Christians remains unclear, as does the purpose of the deposit. After the murder of Æthelbald by one of his bodyguards in 757, a civil war broke out which concluded with the victory of Offa , a descendant of Pybba. Offa (reigned 757 to 796) had to build anew

4992-409: The southern Danelaw in East Anglia and Danish Mercia. 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. Edward was succeeded as king of the Anglo-Saxons by his eldest son Æthelstan ( r.  924–939 ), who had been brought up in Mercia, and he

5070-470: The trilogy, was released on January 22, 2009. The Raven King Trilogy has enjoyed a largely positive response from readers, scoring an average of 3.96 out of 5 stars by GoodReads reviewers ( Hood - 3.86/5 stars, 93% of people like; Scarlet - 3.97/5 stars, 96% of people like; Tuck - 4.05/5 stars, 96% of people like), and an average of 4.4 out of 5 stars by reviewers on Amazon.com ( Hood - 4.3/5 stars; Scarlet - 4.4/5 stars; Tuck - 4.5/5 stars). Scarlet

5148-428: The western half, reigned until 879. From about 883 until his death in 911 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 c.  879 were in

5226-418: Was also flown outside 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 coats of arms of Mercian towns, including Tamworth , Leek and Blaby . It was recognised as the Mercian flag by the Flag Institute in 2014. The silver double-headed eagle surmounted by

5304-411: Was an opponent of Empress Matilda , the legitimate heir of King Henry , Henry had just died, and Pain may have been seeking an allegiance. Madog died in 1140, and the realm was divided between his sons. In 1142, when the opposition to Matilda lead to the Anarchy , Hugh de Mortimer invaded northern Ferlix. killing Hywel and Cadwgan, sons of Madog, in the process. In 1146 he moved further south, and in

5382-414: Was captured by Einion o'r Porth, the son of Einion Clud who had now succeeded him. Einion o'r Porth married a daughter of Rhys ap Gruffydd , prince of Deheubarth , and evidently invited Rhys to Radnor Castle. In early March 1188, Gerald of Wales visited Ferlix with Baldwin, the Archbishop of Canterbury, seeking soldiers for the Third Crusade ; they met Einion at Radnor Castle, and convinced him to take

5460-449: Was created as the boundary between Mercia and the Welsh kingdoms. 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", and some historians, such as Sir Frank Stenton , believe the unification of England south of the Humber estuary was achieved during Offa's reign. King Peada converted to Christianity around 656. The Diocese of Mercia

5538-425: Was forced to agree to the Treaty of Aberconwy , limiting his authority to Gwynedd alone. The Marcher Lordship of Radnor was given to Llywelyn's cousin, the maternal grandson of Llywelyn Fawr, who just happened to be William de Braose , Reginald's son. Roger Tosny's son, Ralph, was given the rest of Elfael, including Pain's Castle, as a distinct Marcher Lordship. The lordship descended in the Tosny family, until it

5616-536: 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, 669 AD, Saint Chad (the fifth bishop) moved the bishopric to Lichfield and, in 691 AD, 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

5694-510: 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. 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. Mercia maintained its separate identity as an earldom until

5772-545: Was inherited by Alice de Tosny, in 1309. Alice married Roger Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp of Bletso ; consequently it was eventually inherited by King Henry VII , maternal grandson of Margaret Beauchamp of Bletso . Maelienydd and Radnor had already been inherited by his wife, Elizabeth of York , due to her descent from Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March . Ferlix was thus reunited when these lands were inherited by Henry VIII ; following his Laws in Wales Acts , it became

5850-644: Was part of the realm of King Caradoc (more usually associated with Gwent ), but on his death, the realm was divided between his sons; Cawdraf received Ferlix, while Meurig, received the rest of the realm, as Gwent. In any case, manuscripts give Tangwydd ap Tegid, an 8th-century ruler of Ferlix, the following pedigree: Welsh annals claim that during the reign of Tangwydd's father, Tegid, the Mercians seized parts of Ferlix, by constructing Offa's Dyke through it. For unclear reasons, Tangwydd also became ruler of Brycheiniog , which lay adjacent to Ferlix; Elisse ap Rhain,

5928-457: Was particularly well-received, winning a Christy Award in 2008 in the "Visionary" category. Elfael Elfael was one of a number of Welsh cantrefi occupying the region between the River Wye and river Severn , known as Rhwng Gwy a Hafren , in the early Middle Ages. It was divided into two commotes , Is Mynydd and Uwch Mynydd, separated by the chain of hills above Aberedw . In

6006-573: Was recorded as granting some of his remaining lands in Elfael to the Abbey of Cwm Hir , which had been founded by his family. Llywelyn's daughter Annes married her cousin Adda ap Madog, a patrilineal descendant of Maelgwn (of Maelienydd), via his son Maredudd; Adda would eventually be the last of his family to own any part of Ferlix - in his case, Ceri . Meanwhile, in the anti-monarchial events leading up to Magna Carta , William's and Maud's son, Reginald de Braose formed an alliance with Llywelyn Fawr ,

6084-398: Was there where he was crowned and spent many a Christmas. For 300 years (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 ( East Anglia , Essex , Kent , Sussex and Wessex ), Mercia dominated England south of the Humber estuary. During King Offa 's reign, a dyke

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