The traditional rulers of Mercia were known as the Iclingas, descendants of the kings of the Angles from Germania. Though some believe him to be a real historical figure and not mythical, the legendary God Wōden is said to be the patriarch of the Angle royal bloodline. When the Iclingas became extinct in the male line, a number of unknown families or Iclingas Branches, labelled B, C and W by historians, competed for the throne. Eventually the Kingdom of Mercia became a principality of the Kingdom of Wessex. Their monarchs appointed sub-rulers until it became amalgamated into the other Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms, and henceforth became known as the Kingdom of England, ruled by a Wessex monarch.
Kingdom of Mercia Monarchs
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Dynasty
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Ruler
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Reign: A.D
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Notes
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Iclingas
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Icel
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c. 527 (or c. 515) to ?
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Son of Eomer, last King of
the Angles in Angeln. Led his people across the North Sea to
Britain; Great-grandson of Offa of Angel, who is traditionally
considered as a legendary figure. Also traditionally, Icel is also
considered a descendant of the Germanic god Wōden.
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Iclingas
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Cnebba
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?
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Son of Icel.
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Iclingas
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Cynewald
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?
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Son of Cnebba.
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Iclingas
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Creoda (Cryda
or Crida)
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c. 585 to c. 593
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Son of Cynewald. Probably
the founder of the Mercian royal fortress at Tamworth.
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Iclingas
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Pybba (Pibba,
Wibba or Wybba)
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c. 593 to c. 606
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Son of Creoda. Extended
Mercian control into the western Midlands.
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Unknown
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Cearl (Ceorl)
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c. 606 to c. 626
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Named as king by Bede, not
included in later regnal lists. Though Cearl ancestory is unknown,
it is speculated that he is a kinsman of Pybba.
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Iclingas
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Penda
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c. 626 to 655
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Son of Pybba. Raised Mercia
to dominant status amongst the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Last pagan
ruler of Mercia. Killed in the battle of Winwaed by king Oswiu of
Bernicia – One of two kingdoms that forms the kingdom of
Northumbria.
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Iclingas
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Eowa (Eawa)
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c. 626 to 642
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Son of Pybba. Joint-ruler
with his brother Penda, of which he is thought to have ruled
Northern Mercia. Killed in the battle of Maserfield.
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Iclingas
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Peada
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c. 653 to 656
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Son of Penda. In c. 653
Peada was made king of the Middle Angles by his farther and after
his farthers death was briefly king of Southern Mercia. Betrayed
by his wife and murdered.
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Leodwaldings
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Oswiu of
Bernicia
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655 to 658
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Briefly took direct control
of Mercia after the death of Penda. Oswiu is now King of
Northumbria (655 to 670).
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Iclingas
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Wulfhere
(Wulfar)
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658 to 675
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Son of Penda. Restored
Mercian dominance in England where he became the most powerful
king in southern britain. Was also the first Christian king of all
of Mercia.
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Iclingas
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Æthelred I
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675 to 704
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Son of Penda and brother of
Wulfhere and Peada. Wife was murdered in unknown circumstances,
but it is speculated she was murdered for the revenge of her
sister murdering her husband king Peada. Abdicated and retired as
a monk 7 years later to a monastery at Bardney.
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Iclingas
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Cœnred
(Coenred or Cenred)
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704 to 709
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Son of Wulfhere. Was a
religious and noble king. Abdicated and retired to Rome to become
a monk.
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Iclingas
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Ceolred
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709 to 716
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Son of Æthelred I and
cousin of Cœnred. Probably poisoned.
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Iclingas
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Ceolwald
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c. 716
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Presumed son of Æthelred I
(Ceolwald may not have existed).
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Iclingas
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Æthelbald
(Ethelbald, or Aethelbald)
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716 to 757
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Grandson of Eowa. Was in
exile during his cousins Ceolred reign, but return as ruler after
Ceolred death. Offically Æthelbald wasn’t titled a Bretwalda in
any of the chronicles, however, a charter in 736 title Æthelbald
as “Rex Britanniae”, meaning “king of Britain”.
Murdered by his bodyguards.
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B-dynasty
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Beornred
(Beornraed)
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757
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No known relation to his
predecessors. Deposed by Offa.
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Iclingas
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Offa
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757 to 796
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Many historians regard Offa
as the most powerful Anglo-Saxon king before Alfred the Great. He
was the greatest and most powerful of all Mercian kings, he
proclaimed himself King of the English in 774, built Offa’s Dyke,
and introduced the silver penny. Offa was the great-great-grandson
of Eowa.
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Iclingas
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Ecgfrith
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787 to 796
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Son of Offa. joint-ruler,
died suddenly a few months after his father.
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C-dynasty
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Cœnwulf
(Cenwulf, Kenulf, or Kenwulph)
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796 to 821
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Seventh generation
descendant of Pybba. Was the only Anglo-Saxon king to have Claimed
the title of ’emperor’ before the 10th century. Coenwulf was also
the last king of Mercia to exercise substantial dominance over
other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Within a decade of his death, the rise
of Wessex had begun under King Egbert, and Mercia never recovered
its former position of power.
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C-dynasty
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Cynehelm
(Kenelm)
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c. 798 to 812
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Son of Cœnwulf. Although he
existed, his status as joint-ruler and his murder are legendary.
Canonised St Cynehelm (St Kenelm).
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C-dynasty
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Ceolwulf I
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821 to 823
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Though the Kingdom of
Mercia’s dominance began to decline, Ceolwulf was still king of
the Kingdoms of Mercia, East Anglia and Kent. Was deposed by
Beornwulf. Brother of Cœnwulf.
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B-dynasty
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Beornwulf
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823 to 826
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Beornwulf’s short reign saw
the collapse of Mercia’s supremacy over the kingdoms of the
Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. Conjectured kinsman of Beornred. Killed in
battle against the East Anglians.
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Unknown
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Ludeca
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826 to 827
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No known relation to his
predecessors. Was killed in battle a year later after his
predecessor, Beornwulf, in a failed attempt to subjugate the East
Anglians.
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W-dynasty
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Wiglaf (1st
reign)
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827 to 829
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No known relation to his
predecessors. Deposed by Ecgberht of Wessex.
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Cerdicing (House of Wessex)
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Ecgberht
(Ecgberht, Ecgbert, or Ecgbrih)
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829 to 830
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Briefly took direct control
of Mercia after the deposition of Wiglaf. Also King of Wessex
(802–839).
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W-dynasty
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Wiglaf (2nd
reign)
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830 to 839
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Restored. Although Mercia
regained its independence, its dominance in England was lost.
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W-dynasty
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Wigmund
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c. 839 to c. 840
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Son of Wiglaf and son-in-law
of Ceolwulf I. Probably joint-ruler.
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W-dynasty
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Wigstan
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c. 840
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Son of Wigmund. Declined the
kingship and was later murdered by Beorhtwulf. Canonised (St
Wystan).
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C-dynasty
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Ælfflæd
(Queen)
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c. 840
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Daughter of Ceolwulf I, wife
of Wigmund and mother of Wigstan. Appointed regent by Wigstan.
Deposed by Beorhtwulf.
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B-dynasty
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Beorhtwulf
(Berhtwulf)
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840 to 852
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Claimed to be a cousin of
Wigstan. Usurped the kingship and forced Ælfflæd to marry his
son, Beorhtfrith.
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B-dynasty
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Burgred
(Burhred or Burghred)
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852 to 874
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Conjectured kinsman of
Beorhtwulf. Married Æthelswith, daughter of king Æthelwulf of
Wessex. Fled to Rome after the invasion of the Great Heathen Army
drove Burgred from his kingdom.
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Unknown
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Ceolwulf II
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874 to 879 or c. 883
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Possibly a descendant of the
C-dynasty, of which Ceolwulf I was a member, perhaps via
intermarriage with W-dynasty. Lost eastern Mercia to the Danes in
877 and was the last king of an independent Mercia.
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Ealdorman of unknown
ancestry
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Æthelred II
(Lord or Ealdorman of the Mercians)
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c. 881 to 911
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Recognised Alfred of Wessex
as his overlord and married his daughter Æthelflæd. Regarded as
an ‘ealdorman’ by West Saxon sources. Æthelred rule was confined
to the western half, as eastern Mercia was then part of the
Viking-ruled Danelaw.
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Cerdicing (House of Wessex)
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Æthelflæd
(Lady)
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911 to 918
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Wife of Æthelred and eldest
daughter of Alfred of Wessex. Possibly descended from earlier
Mercian kings via her mother. With her brother, Edward the Elder,
reconquered eastern Mercia.
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Cerdicing (House of Wessex)
– on her mother side
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Ælfwynn (Lady)
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918
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Daughter of Æthelred II and
Æthelflæd. Deposed by her uncle, Edward the Elder, Dec 918, who
annexed Mercia to Wessex.
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