Offa was the King of Mercia from 757 until his death in July 796. [57] Early names for the dyke in both Welsh and English also support the attribution to Offa. Handbook of British Chronology p. 221 Smith "Early Community" Charters dating from the first two years of Offa's reign show the Hwiccan kings as reguli, or kinglets, under his authority; and it is likely that he was also quick to gain control over the Magonsæte, for whom there is no record of an independent ruler after 740. The Schola Saxonum took its name from the militias of Saxons who served in Rome, but it eventually developed into a hostelry for English visitors to the city. It would, however, be a mistake to ignore the instances of women breaking the social stigma around power, and finding ways to ascend to positions of political authority. Offa was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death in July 796. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle informs us that Offa ordered the execution of King Ãthelberht of East Anglia "King Offa ordered King Ãthelberht's head to be struck off". But their relationship came to an end when Offa proposed (unsuccessfully) the marriage of his son, Ecgfrith to one of Charlemagne’s daughters. (d. 796) One of the greatest and longest ruling kings of Anglo Saxon England, Offa (r. 757 796) is also the great king about whom the least is known. Offa of Mercia. In the words of a recent historian: "Offa was driven by a lust for power, not a vision of English unity; and what he left was a reputation, not a legacy. Stenton suggests that the revolt in Kent began prior to Offa's death. Offa defeated the other claimant, Beornred. [81] The depictions of Offa on the coins include a "striking and elegant" portrait showing him with his hair in voluminous curls, and another where he wears a fringe and tight curls. It was in the battle of Maserfield that Oswald of Northumbria was defeated and killed by the Mercians under Penda. [79], Offa was a generous patron of the church, founding several churches and monasteries, often dedicated to St Peter. Margaret Worthington, "Offa's Dyke", in Lapidge. Offa is a legendary king of the Angles in the genealogy of the kings of Mercia presented in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.He is the son of Wermund and the father of Angeltheow.His name is also mentioned in the Old English poem Widsith.He has been identified with Uffo (also Uffe, Uffi of Jutland), a legendary Danish king in the Gesta Danorum by Saxo Grammaticus. Offa's line descends through Pybba's son Eowa and then through three more generations: Osmod, Eanwulf and Offa's father, Thingfrith. In 764, Offa granted land at Rochester in Kent, where Heahberht is recorded as king of Kent. In the early years of his reign it is likely that Offa consolidated his rule after defeating Beornred to become King. Clash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP "Offa" redirects here. Egbert of Wessex was another refugee from Offa who took shelter at the Frankish court. He was succeeded as King of Mercia by his son, Ecgfrith. Posts about Offa of Mercia written by liamfoley63. Offa of Mercia. Media in category "Offa of Mercia" The following 9 files are in this category, out of 9 total. A battle was fought at Orford in Kent in 776 which is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which has been interpreted as a Mercian victory, the chronicle, however, fails to mention the outcome of the battle, the cause of the conflict is also not known. Æthelburh's possession of these lands foreshadows Cynethryth's control of religious lands, and the pattern was continued in the early ninth century by Cwoenthryth, the daughter of King Coenwulf. According to the genealogies, the last king of Lindsey was named Aldfrith, and the identification of this king with an Aldfrith who witnesses a charter of Offa's in 787 led at one time to the belief that Aldfrith was still ruling at that date. These were probably derived from contemporary coins from the reign of the Byzantine emperor Constantine VI, who minted a series showing a portrait of his mother, the later Empress Irene,[113] though the Byzantine coins show a frontal bust of Irene rather than a profile, and so cannot have been a direct model. In Anglo-Saxon England, the kingdom of Mercia rose to power when two kings of stabilized kingdoms were removed and one took the power: King Offa (Keynes in McKitterick 1995; 28). This title appears in some charters and on some coins from the period. [36] This is likely to be an allusion to Ealhmund, and may imply that Ealhmund had a local overlordship of the southeastern kingdoms. "[111], In Anglo-Saxon England, Stenton argued that Offa was perhaps the greatest king of the English kingdoms, commenting that "no other Anglo-Saxon king ever regarded the world at large with so ... acute a political sense". Offa is perhaps most famous for the construction of Offa's Dyke. Offa of Mercia (730-29 July 796) was King of Mercia from 758 to 796, succeeding Aethelbald and preceding Ecgfrith.. Following the death of king ETHELBALD, Mercia was plunged into a period of civil war as rival claimants to the throne fought for the prize. Zaluckyj & Zaluckyj, "The Age of Mercian Supremacy", in Zaluckyj et al.. E.g. In the 780s he extended Mercian Supremacy over most of southern England, allying with Beorhtric of Wessex, who married Offa’s daughter Eadburh. In the early years of Offa's reign, it is likely that he consolidated his control of midland peoples such as the Hwicce and the Magonsæte. Offa was a supporting character in both The Saxon Stories novel series, and The Last Kingdom television series. [78] In letters dating from the late 780s or early 790s, Alcuin congratulates Offa for encouraging education and greets Offa's wife and son, Cynethryth and Ecgfrith. [47] In 789, Beorhtric married Eadburh, a daughter of Offa;[46] the Chronicle records that the two kings combined to exile Egbert to Francia for "three years", adding that "Beorhtric helped Offa because he had his daughter as his queen". [70] Æthelheard himself later said that the award of a pallium to Lichfield depended on "deception and misleading suggestion". [38] However, doubts have been expressed about the authenticity of the charters which support this version of events, and it is possible that Offa's direct involvement in Sussex was limited to a short period around 770–771. It was constructed at the end of the eighth century and consisted of a great defensive earthwork, with a ditch on the Welsh side, and it ran for 140 miles from the mouth of the River Dee in the north to that of the Wye in the south. Both Æthelbald and Offa granted land in Middlesex and London as they wished; in 767 a charter of Offa's disposed of land in Harrow without a local ruler as witness. [3], The power and prestige that Offa attained made him one of the most significant rulers in Early Medieval Britain,[4] though no contemporary biography of him survives. [129] A letter written by Alcuin in 797 to a Mercian ealdorman named Osbert makes it apparent that Offa had gone to great lengths to ensure that his son Ecgfrith would succeed him. [68] Both Coenwulf and Leo had their own reasons for representing the situation as they did: Coenwulf was entreating Leo to make London the sole southern archdiocese, while Leo was concerned to avoid the appearance of complicity with the unworthy motives Coenwulf imputed to Offa. Other substantial construction projects of a similar date do exist, however, such as Wat's Dyke and the Danevirke, in what is now Denmark, as well as such sites as Stonehenge from millennia earlier. [51], If Offa did not gain the advantage in Wessex until defeating Cynewulf in 779, it may be that his successes south of the river were a necessary prerequisite to his interventions in the southeast. Media in category "Offa of Mercia" The following 9 files are in this category, out of 9 total. The later Mercian kings Æthelbald, Offa and Ecgfrith were descended from Eowa; the period of their rule began in 716 following the death of Penda's grandson Ceolred and ended with Ecgfrith's death in December 796. [1] In 787, Ecgfrith had been consecrated king, the first known consecration of an English king, probably arranged by Offa in imitation of the consecration of Charlemagne's sons by the pope in 781. [49] Eadburh is mentioned by Asser, a ninth-century monk who wrote a biography of Alfred the Great: Asser says that Eadburh had "power throughout almost the entire kingdom", and that she "began to behave like a tyrant after the manner of her father". Pronunciation of Offa of Mercia with and more for Offa of Mercia. This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on April 6, 2012. "[130] It is apparent that in addition to Ecgfrith's consecration in 787, Offa had eliminated dynastic rivals. Cynewulf succeeded as King of Wessex in 757. It has been argued that Offa's authority was recognised early in his reign by local kings in western Sussex, but that eastern Sussex (the area around Hastings) submitted to him less readily. However, Beorhtric was supported by Offa. [11] In 749, Æthelbald of Mercia had issued a charter that freed ecclesiastical lands from all obligations except the requirement to build forts and bridges — obligations which lay upon everyone, as part of the trinoda necessitas. Ecgfrith was king of Mercia from 29 July to December 796. Brihtwulf would also bring other men to her so that they might, as she puts it, 'enjoy the pleasure o… Here you go: Between 757 and his death in 796, Mercia was ruled by Offa. G2NJ74 Offa was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death in July 796. He consolidated his position by marrying his daughters to the kings of Wessex and Northumbria, and was the first ruler to be called 'king of the English'. [114], Around the time of Jaenberht's death and replacement with Æthelheard in 792-3, the silver currency was reformed a second time: in this "heavy coinage" the weight of the pennies was increased again, and a standardised non-portrait design was introduced at all mints. A further alliance was formed Offa's daughter Ãlfflæd was married Ãthelred I of Northumbria in 792. Offa explains that Uhtred is Alfred’s sword and shield. 40 years each. Offa was the King of Mercia from 757 until his death in July 796. He conquers the area from the Humber to the Channel. In one charter Offa refers to Æthelbald as his kinsman, and Headbert, Æthelbald's brother, continued to witness charters after Offa rise to power. Hengist and Horsa PreviousNext Cerdic of Wessex, Copyright © 2004 - 2022 www.englishmonarchs.co.uk All rights reserved All rights reserved ®. [2] Æthelbald was one of a number of strong Mercian kings who ruled from the mid-seventh century to the early ninth, and it was not until the reign of Egbert of Wessex in the ninth century that Mercian power began to wane. He went on to rule for 39 years and consolidated much of England and Wales. [41] Accounts of the event have survived in which Aethelberht is killed through the machinations of Offa's wife Cynethryth, but the earliest manuscripts in which these possibly legendary accounts are found date from the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and recent historians do not regard them with confidence. About Offa of Mercia in brief. In 787, Offa succeeded in reducing the power of Canterbury through the establishment of a rival archdiocese at Lichfield. The house was named after Icel, the great-grandson of the legendary Offa, king of the Angles, mentioned in several epic poems, including Beowulf (not to be confused with King Offa of Mercia, who reigned from 757 to his death in 796). [75] Other precedents did exist: Æthelred of Mercia is said to have nominated his son Coenred as king during his lifetime, and Offa may have known of Byzantine examples of royal consecration. There was a battle between the Mercians and the Welsh at Hereford in 760, and Offa is recorded as campaigning against the Welsh in 778, 784 and 796 in the tenth-century Annales Cambriae. The dyke can be regarded in the light of these counterparts as the largest and most recent great construction of the preliterate inhabitants of Britain. The limited evidence for Offa's direct involvement in the kingdom between 765 and 776 includes two charters of 774 in which he grants land in Kent; but there are doubts about their authenticity, so Offa's intervention in Kent prior to 776 may have been limited to the years 764–765. Either Ine or Offa of Mercia is traditionally supposed to have founded the Schola Saxonum there, in what is today the Roman rione, or district, of Borgo. [109] Coin portraits of Offa have been described as "showing a delicacy of execution which is unique in the whole history of the Anglo-Saxon coinage". The variety of these depictions implies that Offa's die-cutters were able to draw on varied artistic sources for their inspiration. [19] It has been speculated that Æthelburh was the abbess who was a kinswoman of King Ealdred of the Hwicce, but there are other prominent women named Æthelburh during that period. It has been suggested that this synod was the same gathering as the second council held by the legates, but historians are divided on this issue. Some of his coins carry images of his wife, Cynethryth — the only Anglo-Saxon queen ever depicted on a coin. [11] Other surviving sources include a problematic document known as the Tribal Hidage, which may provide further evidence of Offa's scope as a ruler, though its attribution to his reign is disputed. [45] No indisputably authentic charters from before this date show Cynewulf in Offa's entourage,[37] and there is no evidence that Offa ever became Cynewulf's overlord. Offa of Mercia was the king of Mercia from 757 until his death in July 796. Offa, an outstanding figure in Anglo-Saxon history, referred to as 'of blessed memory' by Alcuin, was born into the Mercian Royal House circa 730, the son of Thingfrith, who was the son of Eanulf. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of Æthelbald after defeating the other claimant Beornred. Mercia was a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England that existed between the years 527 and 918. [117] There are other Western copies of Abbasid dinars of the period, but it is not known whether they are English or Frankish. Saltwic, Mercia; Offa leads a group of Danes to kill Uhtred and Æthelflæd. [58] Despite Asser's comment that the dyke ran "from sea to sea", it is now thought that the original structure only covered about two-thirds of the length of the border: in the north it ends near Llanfynydd, less than five miles (8 km) from the coast, while in the south it stops at Rushock Hill, near Kington in Herefordshire, less than fifty miles (80 km) from the Bristol Channel. Offa is considered the greatest king of Mercia and the most significant Anglo-Saxon monarch before the rise of Alfred the Great. He has Offa's dyke constructed, a 238 km long dyke to protect against attacks from Wales. Jaenberht had been a supporter of Egbert II of Kent, which may have led to conflict in the 760s when Offa is known to have intervened in Kent. Offa minted pennies in East Anglia in the early 790s, so it is likely that Æthelberht rebelled against Offa and was beheaded as a result. Kwenthrith was a Princess, and the daughter of the late King Offa of Mercia. Offa, (died July 796), one of the most powerful kings in early Anglo-Saxon England. [128] He was succeeded by his son, Ecgfrith, but according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Ecgfrith died after a reign of only 141 days. King Offa Consolidated His Power Offa came to the throne through a civil war which started with the murder of his predecessor Ethelbert. , Southeastern England showing locations connected with Offa, king of Mercia Mercia! The sea at Prestatyn 18 ], `` Offa '' redirects here the out! Are not named his cousin, king of Mercia is similar to these monarches: of... Clear whether Eadberht casme to the charters and on some coins from Offa dyke... Pybba, who was Bishop of Worcester, which was settled in the 790s... 92 ] Alternatively, it is clear it had been sent by Pope Gregory Great! 56 ] the legates were George, the Hwicce and the daughter of the eighth century Bensington, Lapidge... [ 5 ] that power can be identified before the rise of Alfred the Great 597... 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