Penda King of Mercia

Penða King of Mercia

626~Penda succeeded to the kingdom of Mercia and ruled for 30 years. Penda was raised a pagan Saxon chieftain, who ruled from Tamworth, about 20 miles north of Birmingham in middle of England. He was a battle-hungry warrior, and conducted campaigns on all fronts at various times. He suppressed the under-kings of the lower Severn Valley (the Hwicce) and he formed an alliance with Cadwallon ap Cadfan of Gwynedd against Northumbria.

628~"In this year, Cynegils and Cwichelm fought Penda at Cirencester, and they came to terms."

633~King Edwin of Northumbria and his son Osfrith is slain by Cadwallon of Gwynedd and Penda of Mercia at Hatfield Chase on October 14. Cadwallon and Penda then ravage Northumbria. Bishop Paulinus took Edwins widow Aethylburgh and his young children to her brother King Eadbald in Kent. Edwin's second son was captured by Penda and executed.

642~Oswald of Northumbria is slain by Penda of Mercia at Maserfield/ Maes Cocboy/ Bellum Cocboy (Oswestry) and was buried at Bardney. Cenwalh, son of Cynegils, becomes king of Wessex and ruled for 21 years. He orders the church at Winchester to be built. "The battle of Cogfry in which Oswald, King of the Northmen, and Eawa king of the Mercians fell."~Penda of Mercia is the effective Bretwalda.

644~Bishop Paulinus died at Rochester. Oswine, son of Osric, becomes king of the Deirians and reigned 7years, he came to the throne with the permission of Penda. Oswy became king of northern Northumbria in 640 and reigned 28 years, but Penda retained control of southern Northumbria until 644.

645~Cenwalh is expelled from Wessex by Penda for putting aside his sister to remarry. Bede states that in 644 "The hammering of Dyfed, when the monastery of David was burnt."

646~Cenwalh is baptised in East Anglia.

651~Middle Angles (Mercians) under Peada, the ealdorman, son of Penda, become christain. Peada married Alchflæd, daughter of Oswy.

653~King Anna of East Anglia is killed by Penda. Archbishop Honorius dies on October 30.

654~Penda then turned on his former Welsh allies, annexing what is now Shropshire and parts of Herefordshire from them, and driving the people off the land. He set up a sympathetic king in Gwynedd, and it was subservient to him for some time.

655~By this time Northumbrian power had grown again under the leadership of Oswy who at the battle of Winwidfeld, on the river Winwaed, kills Penda of Mercia and 30 princes and kings with him, including Aethelhere, brother of King Anna of East Anglia. Penda had been betrayed when the Gwynedd Welsh under Cadafael ap Cynfedw withdraw on the eve of the battle. Peada, son of Penda, becomes King of Mercia. Oswy and Peada together found the monastery of Medeshamstede (Peterborough). Death of Penda has also been stated as 657 ~ 'Penda killed.'
Mercia was then ruled by Northumbria for some time. When independence was reasserted later, Christian kings came to the throne, so the Death of Penda in 655 marked the end of the last pagan kingdom.

656~King Peada of Mercia is killed after being betrayed by his wife. Mercia is ruled by Oswy's agents.

658~By know the Mercian kingdom developed as one of the major forces in early Saxon England, between Wessex and Northumbria. The exploits of Penda largely threw off Northumbrian overlordship, and helped lay claim to the rich lands of Lindsey and Hatfield. The disastrous Northumbrian defeat at the hands of the Picts at Nechtansmere in 658 left Mercia the dominant force in Britain. It was to remain the dominant power for over a century, with Offa in particular being hailed by the Holy Romand Emperor Charlemagne as ruler of all Britain. Only with the emergence of Wessex in the early 9th century, and then the Danish invasions, brought Mercian power to an end.