Offa and the Mercian Wars: The Rise and Fall of the First Great English Kingdom

by Chris Peers

Overview

In England in the eighth century, in the midst of the so-called Dark Ages, Offa ruled Mercia, one of the strongest Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. For over 30 years he was the dominant warlord in the territory south of the Humber and the driving force behind the expansion of Mercia’s power. During that turbulent period he commanded Mercian armies in their struggle against the neighboring kingdoms of Northumbria and Wessex and against the Welsh tribes. Yet the true story of Offa’s long reign and of the rise and fall of Mercia are little known although this is one of the most intriguing episodes in this little-recorded phase of England’s past. It is Chris Peers’s task in this new study to uncover the facts about Offa and the other Mercian kings and to set them in the context of English history before the coming of the Danes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526711502
Publisher:	Pen and Sword
Publication date:	07/10/2017
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Chris Peers is a leading expert on the history of ancient and medieval warfare and has written widely on the subject. He has contributed many articles to military history, wargaming and family history magazines, and his major publications include Warlords of China: 700BC-AD1662, Warrior Peoples of East Africa, Soldiers of the Dragon, The African Wars: Warriors and Soldiers of the Colonial Campaigns, Offa and the Mercian Wars: The Rise and Fall of the First Great English Kingdom, and Genghis Khan and the Mongol War Machine.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vii

Maps viii

Prologue 1

Introduction 3

Rulers of Mercia, c. AD 600-874 11

1 Offa's Country 12

The Landscape 14

2 The People of the Frontier 21

3 Kingdoms and Armies 36

Mercia and the Tribal Hidage 39

'How the Folk-Kings Flourished' 42

The Warrior Class 46

4 Penda's Wars 53

The Northumbrian Menace 56

'Not Angles but Angels' 59

Penda and Cadwallon 64

'The Heathen' 70

The Battle of the Winwaed 75

5 Two Treasures 80

The 'Sutton Hoo Man' 80

The 'Staffordshire Hoard' 83

6 Penda's Successors and the Rise of Offa 88

Wulfhere 88

Aethelred and Victory in the North 91

Coenred and Ceolred 93

Aethelbald 94

Offa's Pedigree 102

7 The Warrior in the Age of the Mercian Kings 104

Offensive Weapons 104

Defensive Equipment 112

Battle Tactics 118

The Aftermath of Battle 125

Fortifications, Earthworks and Sieges 125

8 'The Glory of Britain' 129

The Challenge from Kent 130

Aethelberht the Martyr 134

Offa's Dyke 136

Offa's Towns 140

Offa and Charlemagne 143

The Coming of the Vikings 145

9 Offa's Successors and the Danish Invasions 149

The 'Bretwaldas' 155

Mercia Eclipsed 156

The Great Army 162

10 The 'Liberation' and the Triumph of Wessex 175

The Lady of the Mercians 181

Conclusion 185

Bibliography 187

Index 191

Editorial Reviews

"This account of Offa of Mercia and his battles against the other kingdoms of ancient Britain is as thrilling as a Bernard Cornwell novel..."

Books Monthly

"an excellent look at life in Anglo-Saxon times, and at an overlooked but very important ruler"

The NYMAS Review

Peers often explains his conclusions, since the evidence is frequently uncertain, a practice which helps make this book more useful than some others. An excellent introduction to Britain in the so-called “Dark Ages”.

Winter 2018 The NYMAS Review

Much of this period is unrecorded but the author effectively fills in the gaps through his extensive research. Often histories of England begin with the Norman Conquest, but this work effectively argues that England was truly created hundreds of years earlier.

Military Heritage

"an excellent look at life in Anglo-Saxon times, and at an overlooked but very important ruler"

NYMAS Review

"an excellent look at life in Anglo-Saxon times, and at an overlooked but very important ruler"

NYMAS