Mercia: The Rise and Fall of a Kingdom

March 26th, 2023

Beginning this book today. Read the introduction and the first chapter. It looks like it will discuss various chunks of time from the 7th century up to the end of the 11th. Chapter 1 tries to focus on Penda, who was a pagan and king for some time, and is notorious in the records written by churchmen (such as Bede). The chapter is kind of all over the place and I think it could have been structured a little better. That said, the written record is scant or unreliable. Mercians under a pagan house were illiterate, so there is no written record period. The sources come from elsewhere and later. I’ll try to structure the story chronologically. At the beginning of the 7th century, Northumbria was not a single kingdom. There was Bernicia in the north and Deira in the south (around York). There was also a Welsh/British kingdom called Elmet southwest of Deira, a buffer with Mercia. The king of Mercia (Aethelfrith or something) attacked Deira and killed the king. The king’s brother(?) Edwin, cousin(?) Oswald, and son(?) Hereric fled. Edwin was at the court of King Cearl in Mercia for some time and married his daughter. Penda may have been a child here, possibly the nephew of Cearl. Hereric was murdered in Elmet. Edwin then fled Mercia for some reason, possibly because Cearl was deposed by Aethelfrith, and possibly Penda’s brother was put on the throne as a puppet. Edwin went to the court of East Anglia, the southern powerhouse. Eventually the king helped Edwin regain his throne and Aethelfrith was killed. It seems that as king of the two kingdoms, Edwin was expansive and conquered Elmet (maybe to avenge Hereric). The king of Gwynedd attacked Edwin and Penda fought under him. Penda may have been king, but probably not. Edwin died in battle. Now the different heirs to the two crowns try to claim them. Shortly Oswald became king of both kingdoms and reclaimed Northumbrian supremacy. Bede, writing 100 years later, loves this guy. They’re both Northumbrian Christians. Oswald invaded Mercia and Gwynedd and Penda fought him at Heavensfield. The King of Gwynedd was killed and Northumbria won. A decade later, Oswald was killed in Mercia at Maserfield. By this time Penda is most likely king and a powerful ruler. He probably ha become the most powerful king in England. Though a pagan, he is tolerant of Christians and allowed missionaries in Mercia. He despised hypocritical Christians. Penda then fought another battle 10 years later, 655. The battle of Winwaed was against Northumbrian king Oswiu, son of Aethelfrith. The Mercians were joined by most of the southern kingdoms, including East Anglia, and some Welsh kingdoms. Clearly Oswiu was not liked, as he was probably another Northumbrian overlord looking for tribute. That makes it seem that Penda was not as powerful as they stories say. Either way, this coalition was doomed. Penda was killed in battle. Now we know that soon Mercia will reign supreme, but right now Northumbria has the English under its thumb. This is how I remember it. I may have gotten a lot of it wrong. As I said, it jumped around. But really this just covered about 600 to 655.

March 28th, 2023

The second chapter is about the formation of Mercia. Of course, this time period is even more obscured than the years of Penda. The name may come from the word for “marches”, signifying that the are named such because they are the “border people”. Because they border the British? Possibly, or possibly because they border north England. A big topic is the Tribal Hidage, which is a document that assess certain regions for how many hides of land they have. No one knows why this document exists. Did Mercians write it? Doubtful, as why would this one document survive where so many did not. Possibly the Northumbrians wrote it in their heyday to know how much tribute is owned. Once Northumbria eclipsed Kent and East Anglia as the powerhouse, they could assess them for tribute (cattle), though I don’t think Kent ever came under the sway of them. This document provides a lot of named regions which are separate from the Mercian section, which would imply they were at one point independent. I don’t remember all the names, but some of them are known kingdoms, like Hwicce and Lindsey. Wessex, East Anglia, Sussex, Essex, Elmet, and some others are listed. The bigger kingdoms have larger values. Missing is Middle Anglia, which was probably created by Penda and short lived. Speaking of, why was there no West Anglia? Possibly the Mercians were the West Angles. I don’t know, it’s all over the place and there are so many unreliable sources. Everything was written outside of Mercia decades or centuries later. The next chapter jumps back to where we left off. What happens after the death of Penda?

March 29th, 2023

Now we’re getting to a more organized way of writing, and we’re also entering an era where the early chroniclers are contemporary or near contemporary. This third chapter covers roughly the second half of the 7th century and is mostly about the sons of Penda. It seems that all of Penda’s sons were Christians, and some of them were still quite young when he died (age 50 something most likely). Several sons were mentioned earlier. Peada, maybe the eldest, was made king of the Middle Angles by his father. Peada married a Northumbrian princess, I think a daughter of Oswiu. Peada died in 657, possibly murdered by his wife. The Northumbrian and Mercian dynasty have many familial ties, but there relationship is very complex. As stated, Middle Anglia never had a second king. Another man who may have been a son (step-son? Nephew? Adopted son?) of Penda, Merewahl, was king of Magonsaete, an area of northwest Mercia on the border with Wales. This territory eventually became Mercia. Oswiu seemed to allow Merewahl to maintain this territory after he subjugated Mercia. Merewahl married an Kentish princess, and their three daughters were saints. Oswiu never planted a new king in Mercia, only installing his ealdormen. A few years later, the Mercian ealdormen rebelled and put Penda’s son Wulfhere on the throne. Oswiu may have been occupied fighting the Welsh, because there were no consequences. Wulf here ruled until 675 and did very well. He essentially became overlord of all the southern kingdoms. He married a Kentish princess, the sister of Merewahl’s wife. Oswiu died and his son Ecgfrith was king. I think Wulfhere sometime after a battle against Aescwine of Wessex, but it may not be related. His brother Aethelred became king and ruled 30 years before retiring to a monastery. There had been several territorial disputes and it seems the Northumbrians took Lindsey. In 679, the Mercians regained it at the battle of Trent, where Ecgfrith’s brother, king of Deira, was killed. There were no more kings of Deira. Aethelred was married to Ecgfrith’s sister. He was also a good king who maintained overlordship of the south. He cemented the control of Hwicce and Surrey. I think his wife was murdered. After he abdicated, there is little said about the next kings. They were probably both sons of Wulfhere, but were not well liked and did not reign many years. Only negative things are written of them. In the early 8th century, a new Mercian line unrelated to Penda took the kingdom.

March 30th, 2023

After Aethelred, it looks like Wulfhere’s son was king, died, then Aethelred’s son, Ceorlred or something, and he died around 714. Then maybe there was a Ceorlwald or something. But the main man to talk about is Aethelbald. This was not a descendent of Penda, but of Penda’s father Pybba. Remember Eowa, the potentially puppet king installed by Edwin of Northumbria. Aethelbald is his grandson, I think. Aethelbald reigned for 41 years, but a lot about him is obscure. How did he come to power? He was in exile around East Anglia during his youth. Did he kill Ceorlwald (if he existed)? Or did the ealdorman tire of Penda’s line after the run of bad kings and seek him out? What we do know if that he was a warrior and a good one. He was not named Bretwalda by Bede, but he was essentially overlord of southern England. Even one charter styled him Rex Brittaniae. He left the Northumbrians alone mostly, only invading once while the king was fighting the Picts. He may have set fire to York. He might have left them alone because his grandfather had ties with them. Aethelbald himself had no ties, as he was unmarried. He was on good terms with East Anglia and most of his struggles seemed to be with Wessex. He potentially even conquered Powys. He was also pious and gave much to the church, though he was lambasted for “fornicating with nuns”. Seems like a cool dude. It’s not easy to have that much power for that long. Once he was old, power started to wane. Some of the satellites did a little more self-governing. In his 41st year, probably putting him in his mid or late 60s, he was killed. It seems a close associate tried to take his throne. Offa, a great-great grandson of Eowa, Aethelbald’s first-cousin twice-removed, took the throne from this usurper. Aethelbald was buried at Repton, where a large memorial stone may still be standing. He must have been highly respected.

April 1st, 2023

Offa reigned the second half of the 8th century. For one of the most famous Anglo-Saxon kings, little is written about him. It doesn’t seem that much writing exists, or survived, from his own court. He had no connections with saints, so he doesn’t appear in any “Life” like Aethelbald. Bede was decades dead, so I think most of Offa’s mentions come from after his reign. What is clear is that he was a powerful king. At the start of his reign, Northumbria was in a severe succession crisis. They were no competition, but Offa did not take advantage of the situation. I don’t know if he got involved with the northern kingdom. He minted coins, which is a big deal. Even his wife, who may have been a descendant of Penda, appeared on coin. Offa flexed his muscles in the south. He had trouble with East Anglia and Wessex. It seems he lost control over them and lost London. After the deaths of their kings, Offa was able to assert his authority again. He fought the West Saxons and fought in Kent and Sussex. He may have lost in Kent, if his lack of presence in the charters for a decade prove that. At the end of his reign, Offa murdered the visiting king of East Anglia. He beheaded him possibly at the command of his wife. This is a pretty big stain on Offa’s reign. He drove a contendor for the Wessex throne into exile and installed his son-in-law. This exile was Ecgbehrt, grandfather of Alfred the Great. He went to Charlemagne’s court, which may have caused tension between the future emperor and Offa. Offa clearly tried to compete with him, even being the first English king to have his son anointed as heir. Offa created a new archbishopric, probably because the one in Canterbury wouldn’t do it. During this time Mercia seems to have annexed Hwicce and Magonsaete. There was probably war with Wales and Offa’s Dyke may have been created as defensive measure. Offa died in 796, probably in his 60s, and his anointed son ruled for half a year before dying. Who’s next?

April 2nd, 2023

What happens after Offa is not great for Mercia. Like many other kingdoms, a dead strong leader leaves a vacuum, especially when there is no clear succession. With his son dead, a distant cousin named Cenwulf took the throne. He was likely a descendent of Pybba through a sister of Penda and Eowa. Possibly this sister was married to the king of Wessex and thus also a royal of that house. Regardless, he probably grew up in exile. Wessex gave no trouble while the son-in-law of Offa reigned, but he died in 802. Ecgberht then returned and was a powerful king. There was not a whole lot of trouble with Northumbria, but several against the Welsh. It seems that Mercia had a good foothold there and was likely losing it. Likewise in the south. With the rise of Wessex, Mercia would soon lose control over the southern kingdoms. It seems East Anglia and Kent were lost to Wessex. Cenwulf died, probably in campaign against the Welsh, then his brother Ceolwulf reigned a couple years before being deposed. Then things get crazy. These guys were the “C-dynasty”, and deposed by the “B-dynasty”, a competing faction. Then there was the “W-dynasty”, Ecgberht conquered for a year, then the Ws and Bs seemed to fight. The Ws had a good decade before one the 3rd was murdered (a saint now, of course). The Ws had married into the Penda family, I think, to legitimize their rule. The Bs then tried the same trick. During all this chaos, the Vikings begin their incursions. Mercia is doomed.

April 3rd, 2023

In the second half of the 9th century, we see our final two kings. Burgred, probably related to the other Bs, ruled for 20 or so years. For the most part, he worked closely with the kings of Wessex. King Aethelwulf had his daughter marry Burgred, showing who was doing who favors. He possibly asked Aethfwulf for aid in fighting the Welsh. The fun ends when the Vikings come to stay. After conquering East Anglia and Northumbria, the heathen army came for Mercia. Burgred fled or was exiled to Rome. The last king came from the Cs, Ceolwulf II and he played nicely with the Vikings. Possibly he was in cahoots with them. He may have been descended from Ceolwulf I and thus part of Pybba’s dynasty. He only ruled a few years before dying or disappearing. Despite deposing his brother-in-law, he got on well with Alfred the Great. They even minted coins together. He regularly “made peace” with Vikings and still seems to have fought the Welsh. The Viking army split and some kept marching to war, some settled and built a kingdom around York. The Danes decided to keep half of Mercia to link East Anglia and Northumbria, and there was not much Ceolwulf could do. In 879 he is gone from the records. After this, there were no more kings. As in the kingdoms Mercia had taken before, ealdormen ruled. Wessex was the sole remaining Anglo-Saxon power.

April 6th, 2023

I forgot to write yesterday, but I read half of the chapter that I finished today. Now we see one of the most interesting periods of Anglo-Saxon England. Wessex is barely surviving fighting the Vikings. As mentioned, the Vikings have settled in England, and also around Dublin. Aethelwulf of Wessex is dead. Is sons become kings, each one dying in turn until Alfred the Great reigns. But this is not a story of Wessex. In Mercia, a complete unknown (to we modern readers) comes to the scene. Aethelred is in charge of Mercia, no records show how this came to be. He may have been of Hwicce, if he is in any way royal. Regardless, there was not much opposition to him. He is called Lord of Mercia, but some annals call him King. He cooperates with Alfred against the Vikings and is given Alfred’s eldest daughter, Aelthelflaed in marriage. This is one of the most important moments in history for England. Alfred, his son Edward the Elder, and Athelred & Aethelflaed act in beautiful concert to stem and push back the Viking tide. In 899, Alfred dies at the young age of 50. Shortly after, or around the same time, Aethelred becomes ill and is incapacitated. The chronicles show Edward acting alone, though possibly they are biased. Aethelred dies in 911. After this, the Mercian chronicles show Aethelflaed leading the nation as Lady of Mercia. Some may have called her Queen. She was to live for only 7 more years before dying in her late 40s, but they were a very impactful 7 years. The noble beauty led her armies, whether in person or from afar we do not know. Brother and sister acted as partners fighting the invaders turned settlers. Edward was likely superior, and he had taken London and Oxford from Mercian control, but in general he left Mercia to his sister and brother-in-law. He even sent his son, future King Aethelstan, to be raised at the Mercian court. After the death of Aethelflaed, Mercian independence was waning rapidly. Her daughter Aelfwynn was removed from any sort of power within months. Edward would rule Mercia now. We know, however, that Aethelstan will continue in the tradition of his father and aunt and take the Viking lands back for the Anglo-Saxon.

April 9th, 2023

I read a short 8-page chapter but I can’t really remember it. How much can you say in 8 pages? I think it was about the “end” of Mercia as a kingdom. We already read about the Alfred years and the years of Aethelflaed. After her death, Edward ruled a few more years. Once he died, there may have been conflict. Aethelstan, raised in Mercia by his aunt and uncle, was not the heir. His half-brother Aelfweard seems to have been heir. Maybe Aethelstan was to govern Mercia? Whatever happened, Aelfweard didn’t live much longer. Aethelstan then became king of Mercia and Wessex, though Aelfweard’s full-brother may have had a stronger claim to the throne. This brother died at sea a few years later, possibly in exile. Aethelstan lived up to his predecessors. Aethelstan took back more of Danelaw and even fought a Dublin invasion. He claimed Northumbria and called himself Rex Totius Britanniae. That’s a big deal. He died childless and his half brothers struggled with a Viking resurgence in the north. To continue the story of Mercia, it seems at this time Aethelstan had reduced the number of ealdormen in the kingdom and gave them larger holdings to maintain. This gave them an increase in power, and next we will learn of the powerful ealdormen of Mercia, especially the so-called half-king Aethelstan.

April 10th, 2023

So we got past Aethelstan, his half brothers Edmund and Eadred, whose mother was the strong woman Eadgifu. Edmund died, then Eadred reigned. Then Edmund’s teen sons reigned, Eadwig and Edgar. The book jumps around a bit for these two generations. For future refernce, Edgar’s kid is the Unraed, and his grandson is the Confessor. I guess uncle Eadred, or one of his generation, appointed some certain men as ealdormen in Mercia and East Anglia. Aethelwold and Eahlhelm in Mercia, I think, and Aethelstan the Half-King in East Anglia. Maybe Aethelwold was Aethelstan Rota, I don’t remember. In the next gen, Eadwig was not well received and Edgar, the younger, was. Maybe by plan, maybe by force, these two split the kingdom. Eadwig was stuck with Wessex, while Edmund controlled Mercia and East Anglia, and by now I guess Northumbria. The ealdormen picked their sides, probably based on land. By this time, Eahlhelm was dead and his son Aelfhere took his spot. Eadwig also died at 19, with Edmund smoothly taking control of the country. Aelfhere was given more lands, at the expense of the half-king. This seems like it doesn’t line up, because Edgar was raised in his court in East Anglia. The timeline is probably off. The half-king retired, seeing the writing on the wall, and his son Aethelwold(?) got his ealdordom. Edgar married this son’s, his foster brother’s, widow. Aelfhere had western Mercia, and I guess he was getting more and more. There’s also at this time some big fighting among the churchmen and laymen. The hardline churchers are trying to enforce all the monastic rules and all that. So far, Edgar doesn’t seem to be particularly keen on reform and gives lands to whoever. Eadwig was pretty bad with handing out lands, too. To be continued.

April 13th, 2023

The rest of this chapter isn’t that interesting. It mostly talks about people grabbing land after the death of Edgar. I guess Edgar was throwing land to bishops at the expense of ealdormen. This probably annoyed them, but Edgar had a peaceable reign regardless. He dies at 31, his oldest son Edward the Martyr reigns for 3 years and is murdered, maybe by the orders of his stepmom. Then Aethelred Unraed is king. Both were very young. It looks like in this period and even during Aethelred’s reign, ealdormen like Aelfwere were taking back land that was taken from them or their fathers. Some chroniclers paint them as heathens stealing from the church. Some put back the old non-celibate priests who were kicked out. It was probably more personal than just church garbage. This Aelfwere was pretty close with the Welsh, like some Penda and other Mercian lords of the past. I don’t really have a better picture of what’s going on. Aelfwere was very powerful and that after his death, his ealdermanship passed to his relation. Maybe a brother or brother-in-law, he probably had no kids. Now what?

April 15th, 2023

This chapter was kind of confusing, but I think I got the gist of it. The time is the reign of Aethelred Unraed and the Danish invaders of Sweyn Forkbeard and his son Cnut. We’re mostly talking about three guys in Mercia: Wulfic, Eadric, and Leofwine. It seems Aelfric cild was ealdorman of Mercia, but was banished soon after. This Leofwine, probably of Hwicce, was ealdorman of all Mercia. He may have had ties to Wulfric’s family.

Wulfric Spott was very rich and I don’t know if there is any other importance to him other than his will survives. He asked his brother, Aelfhelm, to take care of his daughter. This Aelfhelm was earl of Northumbria. Aelfhelm’s and Wolfric’s niece, Ealdgyth, was married to a guy named Morcar, brother of Sigeferth. These brothers were close friends of the aetheling and his brother Edmund (Ironside). Back to this family later. Aelfhelm and these two brothers probably had holdings in the Five Boroughs and the East Midlands.

Eadric seems to come from nowhere, possibly low-born. He must have been a smooth-talker, because he somehow became highly favored by the Unraed King. Most chroniclers say nothing but terrible things about this man, though we was probably a decent general. He was given an ealdordom in Western Mercia at the expense of Leofwine, who was demoted to just the Hwicce. Eadric is accused of many crimes and cruelties. In 1004, Aelfhellm was murdered and his sons Wulfheah and Ufegeat were blinded. In 1015, Morcar and Sigeferth were murdered. It is possible Eadric was responsible, or someone convinced the king these men were in league with Danes. In 1014, Sweyn had invaded and exiled the king.

Edmund’s brother died, and he was now next in line, though his step-mother, Emma of Normandy, was pushing for her own sons. In Sweyn’s short reign, he married his son Cnut to Aelfgifu, daughter of Aelfhelm. When Cnut invaded, Eadric chose to side with Cnut against Aethelred and Edmund. Edmund was a fierce warrior and the war lasted some time. After the murder of his friends, he married Morcar’s widow. If all this is correct, then he was at war with his wife’s cousin’s husband. Weird how everyone is connected. In 1016, the Unraed died and Edmund was king. Eadric had switched sides back and forth and a couple times and may have brokered peace after a battle in East Anglia. The kingdom was split between Cnut in the north and Edmund in the south. Like always in history, one king, Edmund, dies shortly after. Murder? War wounds? No one will ever know.

Cnut was king of all England. Edmund’s sons were sent to Norway to be murdered, but were given sympathy and sent to the court of Hungary as exiles. Cnut cast away his wife and married Emma of Normandy. Edmund’s brother Eadwig was murdered, but his half-brothers of Emma, Cnut’s stepsons, were spared. Eadric was not. He was killed by Cnut in 1017. Leofwine kept his holdings but was not restored to pre-Eadric days. Cnut put his own men in charge around the country, keeping Wessex as his personal holding. Leofwine’s family were the only Anglo-Saxons to stay in power. Was this because of the supposed connection to Wulfric and Aelfhelm, and thus Cnut’s first wife Aelfgifu? Well, we only have 50 years until the Norman’s put all this fun to an end. What happens to Mercia next? I read another chapter and I made this a separate entry since I wrote so damn much already. Might as well copy-paste Wikipedia.

To add something from the last chapter, one of Leofwine’s sons, Northman, was killed at the same time as Eadric. Also important was that Eadric married a daughter of the king. There were some Danish earls of Mercia. Leowine’s son Leofric may have been a deputy under one of the norsemen. Another son, Eadwine, served his father. There was also a Godwine, but he is not the Godwine. After Cnut died in 1035, his sons, who were half-brothers, split the kingdom. Harthaknut, son of Emma, was king of Denmark and Wessex. Harold Harefoot, son of Aelfgifu, ruled the north. Harthaknut was away and the northerners wanted Harold to rule all England. Leofric supposed Harold, and it is possible his son married Edmund’s and Morcar’s widow Aelfgifu, thus they’d all be one family. Godwine somehow gained power in the Cnut regime and supported the absent Harthaknut. Godwine may have been a friend of Edmund and his older (dead) brother Aethelstan, so it would be surprising he supported the Emma family. Emma turned coat for the exiled sons of Unraed, and Godwine panicked and switched to Harold. Godwine likely had Emma’s son Alfred blinded when he returned to England.

This affair was short lived. Harold died in 1040 and Harthaknut died in 1042. Harthaknut invited Edward the Confessor back to England, who then became king. During his reign, Harthknut made Godwine’s sons Swein an earl, with lands in Wessex and Merica, and Harold earl of East Anglia. Edward took his mother’s lands and married a daughter of Godwine. Clearly, Godwine had become immensely powerful. Godwine’s Danish nephew Beorn was made an earl in East Mercia. Swein was a real bastard, fought the Welsh, kidnapped a nun, and killed Beorn.

Shit hit the fan in 1051 with some French count arriving in England and being attacked. Edward ordered some revenge and Godwine refused, with Tolstig being a married to a rival. Leofric and Siward (an earl in Northumbria?) joined the king against Godwine and his family. They were exiled. Aelfgar son of Leofric got East Anglia. They were back next year, forgiven somehow. Aelfgar lost out, but Godwine died, Harold got Wessex, and Aelfgar was back in place. Then Siward dies and Tostig is placed in Northumbria. Aelfgar was outlawed, then rebelled and invaded with some Irish, then it’s all good. There is no control.

Leofric dies, so does this Ralf of Hereford. Aelfgar is allowed to get Leofric’s land. Gyrth Godwineson gets East Anglia, Leofwine Leofricson gets some other land. Clearly these two houses control England. The book then mentions that Leofric’s wife was Godgifu, also known as Lady Godiva. She must have been hot. Then the book mentions that Aelfgar was the son who may have married Aelfgifu (why wait until now?). A family tree from 30 pages ago lists Aelfgar married to Aelfgifu and as earl of Mercia. His sons are Edwin, earl of Mercia and Morcar (after his grandfather?), earl of Northumbria. A daughter, Ealdgyth, first married Gruffudd of Gwynedd, then Harold Godwineson. It’s all family trees. The whole book.

In 1058 Aelfgar is banished, again, and with Gruffudd, again, fight. Harald Hardrada of Norway aided them. Within the next couple years, Aelfgar is dead. Gruffudd raids England and his men kill him when Harold and Tostig fight back. 1064 Harold does his thing with William the Bastard. In 1065, the north rises up against Tostig for his actions. Tostig blamed Harold for plotting against him. Tostig fled for Flanders. Mercia and Northumbria were united against Wessex. Maybe, with Harold a brother-in-law of Edwin of Mercia and Morcar of Northumbria, he had good reason to flee.

We know 1066. Edward dies, Harold is elected king. Tostig joins Harald Hardrada to attack England. Edwin and Morcar fought at Gate Fulford, outside York, and lost. The men of York made terms and the Norse moved forward. Edward and Morcar survived, but had no more forces for war. In 1067, Edwin, Morcar, Edward the Aetheling, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Waltheof son of Siward were taken to Normandy as hostages. In 1068, Northumbria and Mercia rebelled. They were brutally put down. Edwin dies under strange circumstances fleeing to Scotland. Morcar joins Hereward the Wake at the fenlands in Ely. The rebels were surrounded and Morcar was taken. His fate is unknown, but he may have been a captive for decades. It is said Edwin died trying to rescue his brother. Harold and Ealdgyth may have had sons, Ulf and Harold. If so, they are lost to history in their youth. Likely they died young men. If they had no children, then that ends the house of Leofric, the last Anglo-Saxon earls of Mercia.

April 16th, 2023

The book ends with an epilogue and some appendixes. There’s not much to say about it. The epilogue was a 10 page summary of the book. The first appendix was on the Danes. Most of this was discussed earlier in the book. The last appendix was about the shiring of Mercia. It was not interesting, especially to someone who doesn’t know where most of these towns are. Needs a map.