Mercia | historical kingdom, england

Mercia (from Old English Merce, "People of the Marches"), one of the most powerful kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England; Despite the power struggles within the ruling Dynasty had them held a dominant position during much of the period from the mid-7th to early 9th centuries . Mercia included original the borderlands (modern Staffordshire , Derbyshire , Nottinghamshire and northern West Midlands and Warwickshire) that lay between the districts of Anglo-Saxon settlement and the Celtic tribes who had driven them west . It later absorbed the Hwicce- area (the rest of the West Midlands and Warwickshire , east Hereford and Worcester and Gloucestershire) and also spread into later Cheshire , Salop and western Hereford and Worcester. Mercia eventually denoted an area separated from the borders of Wales , the River Humber , East Anglia and the River Thames .

The first known Mercian king was Penda (d. 655), which is in the was dominant throughout southern England . His sons Wulfhere and Aethelred maintained the tradition of Mercian warfare, but under Aethelbald (r. 716–757), who gained control of London, and his cousin Offa (r. 757–796) the kingdom reached its zenith. Offa effectively created a single state covering the entire country from the Humber to the Column covered, and dealt with minor kings (from west Sussex , East Anglia, Essex and - at times - Kent) as his subjects. His reign was the greatest advance yet towards political unification of England, and this may have been reflected in his relations with continental rulers, particularly Charlemagne, reflected which treated it almost the same. After Offa's death, Mercia gradually declined before the rising power of Wessex. It suffered most from the Danish attacks of the late 9th century and was divided into English and Danish areas from 877. After King's reconquest of Danish lands in the early 10th century Edward the Elder Mercia was ruled by Eldormen for the Wessex kings, who became kings of all England.