Mercia was one of the main kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England, occupying the English Midlands, with its heartland around the rivers Trent and Severn. It rose to prominence in the seventh century under Penda, a pagan king who fought Northumbria, and in the eighth century it dominated the other southern English kingdoms under Aethelbald and especially Offa, who is associated with the great earthwork called Offa's Dyke on the Welsh border. Its power declined after defeats by Wessex and Viking invasions in the ninth century, when part of its territory fell to the Danes. Its last ruler, Aethelflaed, daughter of Alfred the Great and known as the Lady of the Mercians, led resistance to the Vikings, and after her death Mercia was absorbed into the growing kingdom of England.
Before and after
- from 511 CE to 977 CENeustria
- from 27 November 511 CE to 1 November 751 CEAustrasia
- from 519 CE to 927 CEKingdom of Wessex
- from 526 CE to 532 CEIberian War
- from 527 CE to 918 CEKingdom of Mercia
- 528 CECorpus Juris Civilis
- January 532 CENika Riots
- from June 533 CE to March 534 CEVandalic War
- from 535 CE to 554 CEGothic War of 535–554
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The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 6th century.