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144-565: While the precise period during which the Mercian Supremacy existed remains uncertain – depending upon whether one includes the reigns of Penda (c. 626–655) and Wulfhere (658–675) – the end of the era is generally agreed to be around 825, following the defeat of King Beornwulf at the Battle of Ellandun (near present-day Swindon ). Nicholas Brooks noted that "the Mercians stand out as by far

288-553: A Celtic and a Germanic origin. The names of members of a Northumbrian [spiritual] brotherhood are recorded in the ninth-century Liber vitae Dunelmensis ; the name Penda occurs in this list and is categorised as a British (Welsh) name. John T. Koch noted that "Penda and a number of other royal names from early Anglian Mercia have more obvious Brythonic than German explanations, though they do not correspond to known Welsh names." These royal names include those of Penda's father Pybba, and of his son Peada. It has been suggested that

432-534: A battle between Penda and the West Saxons under their kings Cynegils and Cwichelm taking place at Cirencester in 628. If he was not yet king, then his involvement in this conflict might indicate that he was fighting as an independent warlord during this period—as Stenton put it, "a landless noble of the Mercian royal house fighting for his own hand." On the other hand, he might have been one of multiple rulers among

576-690: A battle fought by Cenwealh in 652; this battle is mentioned in [A], [B] and [C], but not in [E]. He does mention a battle fought by Cenwealh at Wirtgernesburg , which is not in any of the extant manuscripts, so it is possible he had a copy now lost. One early edition of the Chronicle was Abraham Whelock's 1644 Venerabilis Bedae Historia Ecclesiastica , printed in Cambridge and based on manuscript G. An important edition appeared in 1692, by Edmund Gibson , an English jurist and divine who later (1716) became Bishop of Lincoln . Titled Chronicon Saxonicum , it printed

720-426: A canonical narrative of early English history; but its unreliability was exposed in the 1980s. The earliest non-Bedan material here seems to be based primarily on royal genealogies and lists of bishops that were perhaps first being put into writing around 600, as English kings converted to Christianity, and more certainly by the end of the reign of Ine of Wessex (r. 689–726). Such sources are best represented by

864-424: A copy of the Chronicle , which they adapted for their own purposes. Symeon of Durham also had a copy of the Chronicle . Some later medieval historians also used the Chronicle , and others took their material from those who had used it, and so the Chronicle became "central to the mainstream of English historical tradition". Henry of Huntingdon used a copy of the Chronicle that was very similar to [E]. There

1008-598: A crushing defeat by Oswald's successor and brother Oswiu and was killed at the Battle of the Winwaed in the course of a final campaign against the Bernicians. The source for Penda's life which can most securely be called the earliest, and which is the most detailed, is Bede 's Ecclesiastical History of the English People (completed c. 731; chapters II.20, III.7, III.16–18, III.21, III.24). Penda also appears prominently in

1152-418: A different picture, however: "When Egbert had obtained all the southern kingdoms, he led a large army into Northumbria, and laid waste that province with severe pillaging, and made King Eanred pay tribute." Similar divergences are apparent in how different manuscripts copy post-Common Stock continuations of the Chronicle . For example, Ælfgar , earl of East Anglia , and son of Leofric , the earl of Mercia,

1296-429: A genealogy, as does [A], but extends it to the late 10th century. [B] was at Abingdon in the mid-11th century, because it was used in the composition of [C]. Shortly after this it went to Canterbury, where interpolations and corrections were made. As with [A], it ends with a list of popes and the archbishops of Canterbury to whom they sent the pallium. C includes additional material from local annals at Abingdon, where it

1440-485: A greatly enhanced position of strength relative to the surrounding kingdoms. Stenton wrote that the battle left Penda as "the most formidable king in England", and observed that although "there is no evidence that he ever became, or even tried to become, the lord of all the other kings of southern England ... none of them can have been his equal in reputation". Defeat at Maserfield must have weakened Northumbrian influence over

1584-499: A hostile alliance of Penda and Powys." According to Reginald of Durham 's 12th century Life of Saint Oswald , Penda fled into Wales before the battle, at which point Oswald felt secure and sent his army away. This explanation of events has been regarded as "plausible" but is not found in any other source, and may, therefore, have been Reginald's invention. According to Bede, Penda had Oswald's body dismembered, with his head, hands, and arms being placed onto stakes (this may have had

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1728-436: A manuscript that was similar to [E], though it appears that it did not contain the entries focused on Peterborough. The manuscript of the chronicle translated by Geoffrey Gaimar cannot be identified accurately, though according to historian Dorothy Whitelock it was "a rather better text than 'E' or 'F'". Gaimar implies that there was a copy at Winchester in his day (the middle of the 12th century); Whitelock suggests that there

1872-401: A northern recension was to be found at Worcester. By the 16th century, parts of the manuscript were lost; eighteen pages were inserted containing substitute entries from other sources, including [A], [B], [C] and [E]. These pages were written by John Joscelyn , who was secretary to Matthew Parker. The Peterborough Chronicle : In 1116, a fire at the monastery at Peterborough destroyed most of

2016-455: A number of small peoples inhabiting the region, and Penda's establishment of Peada as a subking there may have marked their initial union under one ruler. The districts corresponding to Shropshire and Herefordshire , along Mercia's western frontier near Wales, probably also fell under Mercian domination at this time. Here a king called Merewalh ruled over the Magonsaete ; in later centuries it

2160-482: A pagan himself, there is evidence that the contemporary Mercian elite contained significant Christian and British elements. Penda must have been intimate with many Britons and may have been bilingual himself. Penda was the last great pagan warrior-king among the Anglo-Saxons. Higham wrote that "his destruction sounded the death-knell of English paganism as a political ideology and public religion." After Penda's death,

2304-406: A pagan religious significance ); Oswald thereafter came to be revered as a saint , with his death in battle as a Christian king against pagans leading him to be regarded as a martyr . Eowa was killed at Maserfield along with Oswald, although on which side he fought is unknown. It may well be that he fought as a dependent ally of Oswald against Penda. If Eowa was dominant among the Mercians during

2448-400: A raiding ship-army from Norway ; it is tedious to tell how it all happened." In this case other sources exist to clarify the picture: a major Norwegian attempt was made on England, but [E] says nothing at all, and [D] scarcely mentions it. It has sometimes been argued that when the Chronicle is silent, other sources that report major events must be mistaken, but this example demonstrates that

2592-470: A reference to the Mercians under Penda, although conceivably it could be a derisive misnomer meant to refer to the Christian British—burned a church and town at Campodonum , although the time at which this occurred is uncertain. Penda might have withdrawn from the war at some point before the defeat and death of Cadwallon at the Battle of Heavenfield , about a year after Hatfield Chase, since he

2736-564: A reign of only ten years, perhaps dating it from the time of the Battle of Maserfield ( see below ) around 642, although according to the generally accepted chronology this would still be more than ten years. Given the apparent problems with the dates given by the Chronicle and the Historia , Bede's account of the length of Penda's reign is generally considered the most plausible by historians. Nicholas Brooks noted that, since these three accounts of

2880-482: A secular household outside the court), and Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge commented that we should "resist the temptation to regard it as a form of West Saxon dynastic propaganda ". Yet there is no doubt that the Common Stock systematically promotes Alfred's dynasty and rule, and was consistent with his enthusiasm for learning and the use of English as a written language . It seems partly to have been inspired by

3024-548: A set of 8th-century Northumbrian annals. It is thought that some of the entries may have been composed by Archbishop Wulfstan . [D] contains more information than other manuscripts on northern and Scottish affairs, and it has been speculated that it was a copy intended for the Anglicised Scottish court. From 972 to 1016, the sees of York and Worcester were both held by the same person— Oswald from 972, Ealdwulf from 992, and Wulfstan from 1003, and this may explain why

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3168-438: A single leaf, containing annals for 1113 and 1114. In the entry for 1113 it includes the phrase "he came to Winchester"; hence it is thought likely that the manuscript was written at Winchester. There is not enough of this manuscript for reliable relationships to other manuscripts to be established. Ker notes that the entries may have been written contemporarily. Easter Table Chronicle : A list of Chronicle entries accompanies

3312-514: A table of years, found on folios 133–37 in a badly burned manuscript containing miscellaneous notes on charms, the calculation of dates for church services, and annals pertaining to Christ Church, Canterbury. Most of the Chronicle' s entries pertain to Christ Church, Canterbury. Until 1109 (the death of Anselm of Canterbury ) they are in English; all but one of the following entries are in Latin. Part of [I]

3456-405: A transcript of the manuscript. Previous owners include William Camden and William L'Isle ; the latter probably passed the manuscript on to Laud. The Canterbury Bilingual Epitome (London, British Library, Cotton Domitian A.viii, folios 30-70): In about 1100, a copy of the Chronicle was written at Christ Church, Canterbury , probably by one of the scribes who made notes in [A]. This version

3600-847: A translation of the [E] text in The Peterborough Chronicle (New York, 1951). Beginning in the 1980s, a set of scholarly editions of the text in Old English have been printed under the series title "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A Collaborative Edition". They are published by D. S. Brewer under the general editorship of David Dumville and Simon Keynes . As of 2021, the volumes published are: The Collaborative Edition did not include MS G because an edition by Angelika Lutz, described by Pauline Stafford as "excellent", had recently been published. Other modern scholarly editions of different Chronicle manuscripts are as follows. The [C] manuscript has been edited by H. A. Rositzke as "The C-Text of

3744-524: A version of the manuscript from which [E] descends. The last entry in the vernacular is for 1070. After this comes the Latin Acta Lanfranci , which covers church events from 1070 to 1093. This is followed by a list of popes and the Archbishops of Canterbury to whom they sent the pallium . The manuscript was acquired by Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury (1559–1575) and is in the collection of

3888-616: A war with Edwin of Northumbria, the most powerful king in Britain at the time. Cadwallon apparently was initially unsuccessful, but he joined with Penda, who is thought to have been the lesser partner in their alliance, to defeat the Northumbrians in October 633 at the Battle of Hatfield Chase . Penda was probably not yet king of the Mercians, but he is thought to have become king soon afterwards, based on Bede's characterisation of his position. Edwin

4032-497: Is also sometimes known as [W], after Wheelocke. Nowell's transcript copied the genealogical introduction detached from [B] (the page now British Library MS. Cotton Tiberius Aiii, f. 178), rather than that originally part of this document. The original [A ] introduction would later be removed prior to the fire and survives as British Library Add MS 34652, f. 2. The appellations [A], [A ] and [G] derive from Plummer, Smith and Thorpe, respectively. The Cottonian Fragment [H] consists of

4176-474: Is evidence that a manuscript that has not survived to the present day was at Winchester in the mid-tenth century. If it survived to Gaimar's time that would explain why [A] was not kept up to date, and why [A] could be given to the monastery at Canterbury. John of Worcester's Chronicon ex chronicis appears to have had a manuscript that was either [A] or similar to it; he makes use of annals that do not appear in other versions, such as entries concerning Edward

4320-602: Is known about Penda is primarily derived from the history written by the Northumbrian Bede, a priest not inclined to objectively portray a pagan Mercian who engaged in fierce conflict with Christian kings, and in particular with Northumbrian rulers. Indeed, Penda has been described as "the villain of Bede's third book" (of the Historia Ecclesiastica ). From the perspective of the Christians who later wrote about Penda,

4464-457: Is likely he had either the original from which [E] was copied, or a copy of that original. He mentions that the chronicles do not give any information on the murder of Alfred Aetheling , but since this is covered in both [C] and [D] it is apparent he had no access to those manuscripts. On occasion he appears to show some knowledge of [D], but it is possible that his information was taken from John of Worcester's account. He also omits any reference to

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4608-414: Is no evidence in his work of any of the entries in [E] after 1121, so although his manuscript may actually have been [E], it may also have been a copy—either one taken of [E] prior to the entries he makes no use of, or a manuscript from which [E] was copied, with the copying taking place prior to the date of the last annal he uses. Henry also made use of the [C] manuscript. The Waverley Annals made use of

4752-478: Is of especial historical interest. From the first annal, for 60BC, down to 449, the Common Stock mostly presents key events from beyond Britain, a body of material known as the "world history annals". These drew on Jerome 's De Viris Illustribus , the Liber Pontificalis , the translation of Eusebius 's Ecclesiastical History by Rufinus, and Isidore of Seville 's Chronicon. Alongside these, down to

4896-446: Is said to have been fought "at Easter", a precision which implies a contemporary record. Similar but separate sources would explain the dates and genealogies for Northumbrian and Mercian kings. The entry for 755, describing how Cynewulf took the kingship of Wessex from Sigeberht , is far longer than the surrounding entries, and includes direct speech quotations from the participants in those events. It seems likely that this

5040-566: Is today the Midlands . A pagan at a time when Christianity was taking hold in many of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Penda took over the Severn Valley in 628 following the Battle of Cirencester before participating in the defeat of the powerful Northumbrian king Edwin at the Battle of Hatfield Chase in 633. Nine years later, he defeated and killed Edwin's eventual successor, Oswald , at

5184-523: Is unknown, and it is also unclear whether they were related, and if so how closely; Henry of Huntingdon , writing in the 12th century, claimed that Cearl was a kinsman of Pybba. It is also possible that Cearl and Penda were dynastic rivals. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , Penda became king in 626, ruled for 30 years, and was 50 years old at the time of his accession. That he ruled for 30 years should not be taken as an exact figure, since

5328-502: Is written in Old English until 1070, then Latin to 1075. Six of the manuscripts were printed in an 1861 edition for the Rolls Series by Benjamin Thorpe with the text laid out in columns labelled A to F. He also included the few readable remnants of a burned seventh manuscript, which he referred to as [G], partially destroyed in a fire at Ashburnham House in 1731. Following this convention,

5472-546: Is written in both Old English and Latin; each entry in Old English was followed by the Latin version. The version the scribe copied (on folios 30–70 ) is similar to the version used by the scribe in Peterborough who wrote [E], though it seems to have been abridged. It includes the same introductory material as [D] and, along with [E], is one of the two chronicles that does not include the "Battle of Brunanburh" poem. The manuscript has many annotations and interlineations, some made by

5616-472: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , whose sources and so reliability for this period are unclear, and in the early ninth-century Historia Brittonum , which adds a little more possibly reliable information to Bede's account. He seems also to be mentioned, as Panna ap Pyd, in the perhaps seventh-century Welsh praise-poem Marwnad Cynddylan , which says of Cynddylan: 'pan fynivys mab pyd mor fu parawd' ('when

5760-557: The Anglian King-list and the probably derived West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List . Detailed comparison of these sources with the Common Stock has helped to show the degree of invention in the Common Stock's vision of the fifth and sixth centuries. For example, perhaps due to edits in intermediary annals, the beginning of the reign of Cerdic , supposedly the founder of the West-Saxon dynasty, seems to have been pushed back from 538AD in

5904-471: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . Almost all of the material in the Chronicle is in the form of annals, by year; the earliest is dated at 60 BC (the annals' date for Caesar's invasions of Britain ). In one case, the Chronicle was still being actively updated in 1154. Nine manuscripts of the Chronicle , none of which is the original, survive in whole or in part. Seven are held in the British Library , one in

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6048-704: The Battle of Maserfield ; from this point he was probably the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon rulers of the time, laying the foundations for the Mercian Supremacy over the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy . He repeatedly defeated the East Angles and drove Cenwalh the king of Wessex into exile for three years. He continued to wage war against the Bernicians of Northumbria. Thirteen years after Maserfield, he suffered

6192-505: The Battle of Stamford Bridge . In the 12th century a few lines were added to complete the account. The Worcester Chronicle appears to have been written in the middle of the 11th century. After 1033 it includes some records from Worcester , so it is generally thought to have been composed there. Five different scribes can be identified for the entries up to 1054, after which it appears to have been worked on at intervals. The text includes material from Bede's Ecclesiastical History and from

6336-480: The Battle of the Trent in 679 secured Mercia's position as the dominant Anglo-Saxon power for over a century. Mercia's hold over the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Essex , Sussex and Kent seems to have been tenuous until 716, when Æthelbald of Mercia restored Mercia's hegemony for over forty years. Offa's accession in 757 heralded the beginning of a golden age for Mercia. Some historians have suggested that Offa's defeat of

6480-653: The Bilingual Canterbury Epitome , is in Old English with a translation of each annal into Latin . Another, the Peterborough Chronicle , is in Old English except for the last entry, which is in early Middle English . The oldest (Corp. Chris. MS 173) is known as the Winchester Chronicle or the Parker Chronicle (after Matthew Parker , an Archbishop of Canterbury , who once owned it), and

6624-550: The Bodleian Library at Oxford, and the oldest in the Parker Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge . The oldest seems to have been started towards the end of Alfred's reign, while the most recent was copied at Peterborough Abbey after a fire at that monastery in 1116. Some later medieval chronicles deriving from lost manuscripts contribute occasional further hints concerning Chronicle material. Both because much of

6768-405: The Chronicle does omit important events. The process of manual copying introduced accidental errors in dates; such errors were sometimes compounded in the chain of transmission. The whole of the Common Stock has a chronological dislocation of two years for the period 756–845 due to two years being missed out in the archetype. In the [D] manuscript, the scribe omits the year 1044 from the list on

6912-571: The Chronicle was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex , during the reign of Alfred the Great (r. 871–899). Its content, which incorporated sources now otherwise lost dating from as early as the seventh century, is known as the "Common Stock" of the Chronicle . Multiple copies were made of that one original and then distributed to monasteries across England, where they were updated, partly independently. These manuscripts collectively are known as

7056-473: The Historia Brittonum , Penda besieged Oswiu at Iudeu; this site has been identified with Stirling , in the north of Oswiu's kingdom. Oswiu tried to buy peace: in the Historia Brittonum , it is said that Oswiu offered treasure, which Penda distributed among his British allies. Bede states that the offer was simply rejected by Penda, who "resolved to extirpate all of [Oswiu's] nation, from the highest to

7200-400: The Parker Library, Corpus Christi College . The Abingdon Chronicle I was written by a single scribe in the second half of the 10th century. The Chronicle takes up folios 1–34. It begins with an entry for 60 BC and ends with the entry for 977. A manuscript that is now separate (British Library MS. Cotton Tiberius Aiii, f. 178) was originally the introduction to this chronicle; it contains

7344-476: The Royal Frankish Annals , and its wide distribution is also consistent with Alfredian policies. Its publication was perhaps prompted by renewed Scandinavian attacks on Wessex. The Common Stock incorporates material from multiple sources, including annals relating to Kentish, South Saxon , Mercian and, particularly, West Saxon history. It is unclear how far this material was first drawn together by

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7488-528: The Welsh and the West Saxons of Wessex established the Mercian Supremacy, which remained unchallenged until 825 when Egbert of Wessex supported an East Anglian rebellion against Beornwulf of Mercia , whose defeat at Ellendun effectively brought the Supremacy to an end. Penda or c. 633 – 655 AD Penda (died 15 November 655) was a 7th-century king of Mercia , the Anglo-Saxon kingdom in what

7632-466: The history of the English language ; in particular, in annals from 1131 onwards, the later Peterborough text provides key evidence for the transition from the standard Old English literary language to early Middle English , containing some of the earliest known Middle English text. Historians agree that the Common Stock of the Chronicle (sometimes also known as the Early English Annals )

7776-510: The Christian God. Despite these apparent instances of warfare, relations between Penda and Oswiu were probably not entirely hostile during this period, since Penda's daughter Cyneburh married Alhfrith , Oswiu's son and Penda's son Peada married Alhflaed , Oswiu's daughter. According to Bede, who dates the events to 653, the latter marriage was made contingent upon the baptism and conversion to Christianity of Peada; Peada accepted this, and

7920-580: The Common Stock in the course of copying reflect the agendas of the copyists, providing valuable alternative perspectives. These colour both the description of interactions between Wessex and other kingdoms, and the descriptions of the Vikings' depredations. For example, the Common Stock's annal for 829 describes Egbert 's invasion of Northumbria with the comment that the Northumbrians offered him "submission and peace". The Northumbrian chronicles incorporated into Roger of Wendover 's thirteenth-century history give

8064-459: The Elder 's campaigns and information about Winchester towards the end of the chronicle. His account is often similar to that of [D], though there is less attention paid to Margaret of Scotland , an identifying characteristic of [D]. He had the Mercian register, which appears only in [C] and [D]; and he includes material from annals 979–982 which only appears in [C]. It is possible he had a manuscript that

8208-538: The English People "the two great Anglo-Saxon works of history". The Chronicle 's accounts tend to be highly politicised, with the Common Stock intended primarily to legitimise the dynasty and reign of Alfred the Great. Comparison between Chronicle manuscripts and with other medieval sources demonstrates that the scribes who copied or added to them omitted events or told one-sided versions of them, often providing useful insights into early medieval English politics. The Chronicle manuscripts are also important sources for

8352-470: The Mercians at the time, ruling only a part of their territory. The Chronicle says that after the battle, Penda and the West Saxons "came to an agreement." It has been speculated that this agreement marked a victory for Penda, ceding to him Cirencester and the areas along the lower River Severn . These lands to the southwest of Mercia had apparently been taken by the West Saxons from the Britons in 577, and

8496-422: The Mercians relative to the surrounding peoples and in terms of our historical awareness of them. While our understanding of Penda's reign is quite unclear, and even the very notable and decisive battles he fought are surrounded by historical confusion, for the first time a general outline of important events regarding the Mercians becomes realistically possible. Furthermore, Penda was certainly of great importance to

8640-401: The Mercians were converted to Christianity, and all three of Penda's reigning sons ruled as Christians. His daughters Cyneburh and Cyneswith became Christian and were saintly figures who according to some accounts retained their virginity through their marriages. There was purportedly even an infant grandson of Penda named Rumwold who lived a saintly three-day life of fervent preaching. What

8784-416: The Mercians were unable to capture it—"not being able to enter it by force, or by a long siege"—Bede reports that they attempted to set the city ablaze, but that it was saved by a sacred wind supposedly sent in response to a plea from the saintly Aidan: "Behold, Lord, how great mischief Penda does!" The wind is said to have blown the fire back towards the Mercians, deterring them from further attempts to capture

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8928-419: The Mercians" and that, following Edwin of Northumbria's defeat in 633 ( see below ), he ruled the Mercians for 22 years with varying fortune. The noted 20th-century historian Frank Stenton was of the opinion that the language used by Bede "leaves no doubt that ... Penda, though descended from the royal family of the Mercians, only became their king after Edwin's defeat". The Historia Brittonum accords Penda

9072-455: The Northumbrians. This may be an important clue to the relationship between the Mercians and the Northumbrians before and during Penda's time. There may have existed a "Humbrian confederacy" that included the Mercians until Penda broke free of it. On the other hand, it has been considered unlikely that this was truly the first instance of their separation: it is significant that Cearl had married his daughter to Edwin during Edwin's exile when Edwin

9216-512: The Old English text in parallel columns with Gibson's own Latin version and became the standard edition until the 19th century. Gibson used three manuscripts of which the chief was the Peterborough Chronicle . It was superseded in 1861 by Benjamin Thorpe 's Rolls Series edition, which printed six versions in columns, labelled A to F, thus giving the manuscripts the letters which are now used to refer to them. John Earle edited Two of

9360-524: The Saxon Chronicles Parallel (1865). Charles Plummer revised this edition, providing notes, appendices, and glossary in two volumes in 1892 and 1899. This edition of the A and E texts, with material from other versions, was widely used; it was reprinted in 1952. The standard modern English translations are by Dorothy Whitelock , who produced a translation showing all the main manuscript variants, and Michael Swanton . Rositzke published

9504-572: The West Saxons and the Northumbrians, D. P. Kirby writes of Penda's emergence in these years as "a Mercian leader whose military exploits far transcended those of his obscure predecessors." Oswald of Bernicia became king of Northumbria after his victory over Cadwallon at Heavenfield. Penda's status and activities during the years of Oswald's reign are obscure, and various interpretations of Penda's position during this period have been suggested. It has been presumed that Penda acknowledged Oswald's authority in some sense after Heavenfield, although Penda

9648-472: The West Saxons during the years of Cenwealh's exile is unknown; Kirby considered it reasonable to conclude that whoever ruled was subject to Penda. He also suggested that Cenwealh may not have been able to return to his kingdom until after Penda's death. In 654, the East Anglian king Anna , who had harboured the exiled Cenwealh, was killed by Penda. He was succeeded by a brother, Æthelhere ; since Æthelhere

9792-500: The West Saxons, and the new West Saxon king Cenwealh —who was still pagan at this time—was married to Penda's sister. It may be surmised that this meant he was to some extent within what Kirby called a "Mercian orbit". However, when Cenwealh (according to Bede) "repudiated" Penda's sister in favour of another wife, Penda drove Cenwealh into exile in East Anglia in 645, where he remained for three years before regaining power. Who governed

9936-518: The actual battle. He also says that Penda's head was cut off; a connection between this and the treatment of Oswald's body at Maserfield is possible. Writing in the 12th century, Henry of Huntingdon emphasised the idea that Penda was suffering the same fate as he had inflicted on others. With the defeat at the Winwaed, Oswiu came to briefly dominate Mercia, permitting Penda's son Peada to rule its southern portion. Two of Penda's other sons, Wulfhere and Æthelred , later ruled Mercia in succession after

10080-513: The allies had different purposes in the war, and Kirby suggested that Penda's deserting allies may have been dissatisfied "with what had been achieved at Iudeu ". At a time when the Winwaed was swollen with heavy rains, the Mercians were badly defeated and Penda was killed, along with the East Anglian king Aethelhere. Bede says that Penda's "thirty commanders, and those who had come to his assistance were put to flight, and almost all of them slain," and that more drowned while fleeing than were killed in

10224-465: The area around modern day Leeds , on a date given by Bede as 15 November. The identification of the Winwaed with a modern river is uncertain, but possibly it was a tributary of the Humber. There is good reason to believe it may well have been the river now known as Cock Beck in the ancient kingdom of Elmet . The Cock Beck meanders its way through Pendas Fields , close to an ancient well known as Pen Well on

10368-408: The area of Middle Anglia , where Penda established his son Peada as ruler. In the years after Maserfield, Penda also destructively waged war against Oswiu of Bernicia on his own territory. At one point before the death of Bishop Aidan (31 August 651), Bede says that Penda "cruelly ravaged the country of the Northumbrians far and near" and besieged the royal Bernician stronghold of Bamburgh . When

10512-463: The buildings. The copy of the Chronicle kept there may have been lost at that time or later, but in either case shortly thereafter a fresh copy was made, apparently copied from a Kentish version—most likely to have been from Canterbury. The manuscript was written at one time and by a single scribe, down to the annal for 1121. The scribe added material relating to Peterborough Abbey which is not in other versions. The Canterbury original which he copied

10656-441: The city. At another point, some years after Aidan's death, Bede records another attack. He says that Penda led an army in devastating the area where Aidan died—he "destroyed all he could with fire and sword"—but that when the Mercians burned down the church where Aidan died, the post against which he was leaning at the time of his death was undamaged; this was taken to be a miracle. No open battles are recorded as being fought between

10800-474: The copy was made by 1013. This manuscript was almost completely destroyed in the 1731 fire at Ashburnham House , where the Cotton Library was housed. Of the original 34 leaves, seven remain, ff. 39–47 in the manuscript. However, a transcript had been made by Laurence Nowell , a 16th-century antiquary, which was used by Abraham Wheelocke in an edition of the Chronicle printed in 1643. Because of this, it

10944-743: The development of the Mercian kingdom; it has been said that his reign was "crucial to the consolidation and expansion of Mercia". It has been claimed that the hostility of Bede has obscured Penda's importance as a ruler who wielded an imperium similar to that of other prominent 7th century 'overkings'. Penda's hegemony included lesser rulers of both Anglo-Saxon and British origins, non-Christian and Christian alike. The relationships between Penda, as hegemon, and his subordinate rulers would have been based on personal as well as political ties, and they would often have been reinforced by dynastic marriages. It has been asserted that Penda's court would have been cosmopolitan, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and tolerant. Though

11088-502: The earliest reconstructable version of the List to 500AD in the Common Stock. At times, invention, usually through folk-etymological origin-myths based on place-names , is even more obvious. For example, between 514 and 544 the Chronicle makes reference to Wihtgar, who was supposedly buried on the Isle of Wight at Wihtgaræsbyrg ("Wihtgar's stronghold") and gave his name to the island. However,

11232-506: The early eighth century, the Common Stock makes extensive use of the chronological summary from the end of Bede 's Ecclesiastical History (and perhaps occasionally the History itself). Scholars have read these annals as functioning to present England as part of the Roman and Christian world and its history. From 449, coverage of non-British history largely vanishes and extensive material about

11376-419: The editor(s) of the Common Stock and how far it had already been combined before the late ninth century: there are no obvious shifts in language features in the Common Stock that could help indicate different sources. Where the Common Stock draws on other known sources its main value to modern historians is as an index of the works and themes that were important to its compilers; where it offers unique material it

11520-408: The end of Alfred's reign. The manuscript begins with a genealogy of Alfred, and the first chronicle entry is for the year 60 BC. The section containing the Chronicle takes up folios 1–32. Unlike the other manuscripts, [A] is of early enough composition to show entries dating back to the late 9th century in the hands of different scribes as the entries were made. The first scribe's hand is dateable to

11664-457: The entry for 1048. [B] and [C] are identical between 491 and 652, but differences thereafter make it clear that the second scribe was also using another copy of the Chronicle . This scribe also inserted, after the annal for 915, the Mercian Register , which covers the years 902–924, and which focuses on Æthelflæd . The manuscript continues to 1066 and stops in the middle of the description of

11808-422: The faith, saying, "They were contemptible and wretched who did not obey their God, in whom they believed." This was begun two years before the death of King Penda. Peada's conversion and the introduction of priests into Middle Anglia could be seen as evidence of Penda's tolerance of Christianity, given the absence of evidence that he sought to interfere. On the other hand, an interpretation is also possible whereby

11952-457: The firm alliance between Penda and various British princes might be the result of a "racial cause." Continental Germanic comparanda for the name include a feminine Penta (9th century) and a toponym Penti-lingen , suggesting an underlying personal name Pendi . Penda was a son of Pybba of Mercia and said to be an Icling , with a lineage purportedly extending back to Wōden . The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle gives his descent as follows: Penda

12096-627: The former king Sigebert , who had been brought out of retirement in a monastery against his will in the belief that his presence would motivate the soldiers. The time at which the battle occurred is uncertain; it may have been as early as 635, but there is also evidence to suggest it could not have been before 640 or 641. Presuming that this battle took place before the Battle of Maserfield, it may have been that such an expression of Penda's ambition and emerging power made Oswald feel that Penda had to be defeated for Northumbrian dominance of southern England to be secured or consolidated. Penda's brother Eowa

12240-465: The important theme that dominates their descriptions is the religious context of his wars—for instance, the Historia Brittonum says that Penda prevailed at Maserfield through "diabolical agency" —but Penda's greatest importance was perhaps in his opposition to the supremacy of the Northumbrians. According to Stenton, had it not been for Penda's resistance, "a loosely compacted kingdom of England under Northumbrian rule would probably have been established by

12384-459: The information given in the Chronicle is not recorded elsewhere and because of the relatively clear chronological framework it provides for understanding events, the Chronicle is among the most influential historical sources for England between the collapse of Roman authority and the decades following the Norman Conquest ; Nicholas Howe called it and Bede 's Ecclesiastical History of

12528-498: The kingdom to the power it had enjoyed under Edwin and Oswald. A perception of the conflict in terms of the political situation between Bernicia and Deira could help to explain the role of Aethelwald of Deira in the war, since Aethelwald was the son of Oswald and might not ordinarily be expected to ally with those who had killed his father. Perhaps, as the son of Oswald, he sought to obtain the Bernician kingship for himself. According to

12672-422: The late 9th or very early 10th century; his entries cease in late 891, and the following entries were made at intervals throughout the 10th century by several scribes. The eighth scribe wrote the annals for the years 925–955, and was clearly at Winchester when he wrote them since he adds some material related to events there; he also uses ceaster , or "city", to mean Winchester. The manuscript becomes independent of

12816-400: The left hand side. The annals copied down are therefore incorrect from 1045 to 1052, which has two entries. A more difficult problem is the question of the date at which a new year began, since the modern custom of starting the year on 1 January was not universal at that time. The entry for 1091 in [E] begins at Christmas and continues throughout the year; it is clear that this entry follows

12960-401: The length of Penda's reign come from three different sources, and none of them are Mercian (they are West Saxon, Northumbrian , and Welsh ), they may merely reflect the times at which their respective peoples first had military involvement with Penda. The question of whether or not Penda was already king during the late 620s assumes greater significance in light of the Chronicle 's record of

13104-492: The library of Durham; they are described as cronica duo Anglica . In addition, Parker included a manuscript called Hist. Angliae Saxonica in his gifts but the manuscript that included this, now Cambridge University Library MS. Hh.1.10, has lost 52 of its leaves, including all of this copy of the chronicle. The three main Anglo-Norman historians, John of Worcester , William of Malmesbury and Henry of Huntingdon , each had

13248-420: The lowest". Additionally, according to Bede, Oswiu's son Ecgfrith was being held hostage "at the court of Queen Cynwise , in the province of the Mercians" —perhaps surrendered by Oswiu as part of some negotiations or arrangement. It would seem that Penda's army then moved back south, perhaps returning home, but a great battle was fought near the river Winwaed in the region of Loidis , thought to be somewhere in

13392-480: The manuscripts. The following is a summary of the relationships that are known. All the manuscripts described above share a chronological error between the years 756 and 845, but it is apparent that the composer of the Annals of St Neots was using a copy that did not have this error and which must have preceded them. Æthelweard's copy did have the chronological error but it had not lost a whole sentence from annal 885; all

13536-503: The marriage and conversion could be seen as corresponding to a successful attempt on Oswiu's part to expand Bernician influence at Penda's expense; Higham saw Peada's conversion more in terms of political manoeuvring on both sides than religious zeal. Middle Anglia as a political entity may have been created by Penda as an expression of Mercian power in the area following his victories over the East Angles. Previously there seem to have been

13680-469: The middle of the seventh century." In summarising Penda, he wrote the following: He was himself a great fighting king of the kind most honoured in Germanic saga; the lord of many princes, and the leader of a vast retinue attracted to his service by his success and generosity. Many stories must have been told about his dealings with other kings, but none of them have survived; his wars can only be described from

13824-555: The midlands" after Maserfield —and the prestige and status associated with defeating the powerful Oswald must have been very significant. Northumbria was greatly weakened as a consequence of the battle; the kingdom became fractured to some degree between Deira in its southern part and Bernicia in the north, with the Deirans acquiring a king of their own, Oswine , while in Bernicia, Oswald was succeeded by his brother, Oswiu . Mercia thus enjoyed

13968-400: The most successful of the various early Anglo-Saxon peoples until the later ninth century" and with the exception of three years under Northumbrian domination, this is true between the years 633 and 825. Recorded by Bede as the nemesis of early Anglo-Saxon Northumbria , Penda of Mercia achieved an early expansion of his kingdom's territory, but his reign ended with his death in battle, which

14112-593: The name of the Isle of Wight derives from the Latin Vectis , not from Wihtgar . The actual name of the fortress was probably Wihtwarabyrg ("the stronghold of the inhabitants of Wight"), and either the Common Stock editor(s) or an earlier source misinterpreted this as referring to Wihtgar. In addition to the sources listed above, it is thought that the Common Stock draws on contemporary annals that began to be kept in Wessex during

14256-608: The old custom of starting the year at Christmas. Some other entries appear to begin the year on 25 March, such as the year 1044 in the [C] manuscript, which ends with Edward the Confessor 's marriage on 23 January, while the entry for 22 April is recorded under 1045. There are also years which appear to start in September. Of the nine surviving manuscripts, seven are written entirely in Old English (also known as Anglo-Saxon). One, known as

14400-406: The original Chronicle was compiled, copies were made and distributed to various monasteries. Additional copies were made, for further distribution or to replace lost manuscripts, and some copies were updated independently of each other. It is copies of this sort that constitute our surviving Chronicle manuscripts. The manuscripts were produced in different places, and at times adaptations made to

14544-399: The original scribe and some by later scribes, including Robert Talbot . Copy of the Winchester Chronicle : [A ] was copied from [A] at Winchester in the eleventh century and follows a 10th-century copy of an Old English translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History . The last annal copied was 1001, so the copy was made no earlier than that; an episcopal list appended to [A ] suggests that

14688-492: The other recensions after the entry for 975. The book, which also had a copy of the Laws of Alfred and Ine bound in after the entry for 924, was transferred to Canterbury some time in the early 11th century, as evidenced by a list of books that Archbishop Parker gave to Corpus Christi. While at Canterbury, some interpolations were made; this required some erasures in the manuscript. The additional entries appear to have been taken from

14832-724: The outskirts of Leeds, before eventually joining the River Wharfe. This same Cock Beck whilst in flood also played a significant role in the much later Battle of Towton in 1461. Another possibility is the River Went (a tributary of the River Don, situated to the north of modern-day Doncaster). It may be that Penda's army was attacked by Oswiu at a point of strategic vulnerability, which would help explain Oswiu's victory over forces that were, according to Bede, much larger than his own. The Mercian force

14976-407: The overthrow of Northumbrian control in the late 650s. The period of rule by Penda's descendants came to an end with his grandson Ceolred 's death in 716, after which power passed to descendants of Eowa for most of the remainder of the 8th century. Penda's reign is significant in that it marks an emergence from the obscurity of Mercia during the time of his predecessors, both in terms of the power of

15120-413: The parts of England which by the ninth century were in Wessex, often unique to the Chronicle , appears. The Chronicle offers an ostensibly coherent account of the Anglo-Saxon settlement of southern Britain by seafarers who, through a series of battles, establish the kingdoms of Kent, Sussex, and Wessex. This material was once supposed by many historians to be reliable evidence, and formed the backbone of

15264-512: The pedigrees also give Penda a brother named Coenwalh from whom two later kings were said to descend, although this may instead represent his brother-in-law Cenwalh of Wessex . The time at which Penda became king is uncertain, as are the circumstances. Another Mercian king, Cearl , is mentioned by Bede as ruling at the same time as the Northumbrian king Æthelfrith , in the early part of the 7th century. Whether Penda immediately succeeded Cearl

15408-413: The period leading up to the battle, then his death could have marked what the author of the Historia Brittonum regarded as the beginning of Penda's ten-year reign. Thus it may be that Penda prevailed not only over the Northumbrians but also over his rivals among the Mercians. The Historia Brittonum may also be referring to this battle when it says that Penda first freed ( separavit ) the Mercians from

15552-464: The period. They may have ruled the southern and northern Mercians respectively. That Penda ruled the southern part is a possibility suggested by his early involvement in the area of the Hwicce, to the south of Mercia, as well as by the fact that, after Penda's death, his son Peada was allowed to rule southern Mercia while the northern part was placed under direct Northumbrian control. Another possibility

15696-536: The preaching of Christianity began among the Middle Angles, whom he ruled. Bede wrote that Penda tolerated the preaching of Christianity in Mercia itself, despite his own beliefs: Nor did King Penda obstruct the preaching of the word among his people, the Mercians, if any were willing to hear it; but, on the contrary, he hated and despised those whom he perceived not to perform the works of faith, when they had once received

15840-440: The same source says he died in 655, which would not correspond to the year given for the beginning of his reign unless he died in the thirtieth year of his reign. Furthermore, that Penda was truly 50 years old at the beginning of his reign is generally doubted by historians, mainly because of the ages of his children. The idea that Penda, at about 80 years of age, would have left behind children who were still young (his son Wulfhere

15984-417: The seventh century, perhaps as annotations of Easter Tables, drawn up to help clergy determine the dates of upcoming Christian feasts, which might be annotated with short notes of memorable events to distinguish one year from another. The annal for 648 may mark the point after which entries that were written as a contemporary record begin to appear, and the annal for 661 records a battle fought by Cenwalh that

16128-489: The son of Pyd wished, how ready was he'). Penda and his family seem to have given their names to a number of places in the West Midlands, including Pinbury , Peddimore , and Pinvin . The etymology of the name Penda is unknown. Penda of Mercia is the only person recorded in the comprehensive Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England with this name. Suggestions for etymologies of the name are essentially divided between

16272-439: The standpoint of his enemies ... Penda's wife is identified as Queen Cynewise or Kyneswitha. He had five sons and two daughters: Penda appears in the historical novels King Penda's Captain (1908) by MacKenzie MacBride, The Soul of a Serf (1910) by J. Breckenridge Ellis , and Better Than Gold (2014) by Theresa Tomlinson . In the 1970s, Penda was depicted in two BBC television productions written by David Rudkin . He

16416-524: The support of Aethelwald , the king of Deira and the successor of Oswine, who had been murdered on Oswiu's orders in 651. The cause of this war is uncertain. There is a passage in Bede's Ecclesiastical History that suggests Aethelhere of East Anglia was the cause of the war. On the other hand, it has been argued that an issue of punctuation in later manuscripts confused Bede's meaning on this point and that he in fact meant to refer to Penda as being responsible for

16560-403: The surviving manuscripts have lost this sentence. Hence the error and the missing sentence must have been introduced in separate copying steps, implying that none of the surviving manuscripts are closer than two removes from the original version. The Winchester (or Parker ) Chronicle is the oldest manuscript of the Chronicle that survives. It was begun at Old Minster, Winchester , towards

16704-546: The territory eventually became part of the subkingdom of the Hwicce . Given Penda's role in the area at this time and his apparent success there, it has been argued that the subkingdom of the Hwicce was established by him; evidence to support this is lacking, although the subkingdom is known to have existed later in the century. In the late 620s or early 630s, Cadwallon ap Cadfan , the British (Welsh) king of Gwynedd , became involved in

16848-417: The two additional manuscripts are often called [H] and [I]. The surviving manuscripts are listed below; though manuscript G was burned in a fire in 1731, and only a few leaves remain. The manuscripts are all thought to derive from a common original, but the connections between the texts are more complex than simple inheritance via copying. The diagram at right gives an overview of the relationships between

16992-444: The two sides before the Winwaed in 655 ( see below ), however, and this may mean that Oswiu deliberately avoided battle due to a feeling of weakness relative to Penda. This feeling may have been in religious as well as military terms: N. J. Higham wrote of Penda acquiring "a pre-eminent reputation as a god-protected, warrior–king", whose victories may have led to a belief that his pagan gods were more effective for protection in war than

17136-441: The war. Although, according to Bede, Penda tolerated some Christian preaching in Mercia, it has been suggested that he perceived Bernician sponsorship of Christianity in Mercia and Middle Anglia as a form of "religious colonialism" that undermined his power, and that this may have provoked the war. Elsewhere the possibility has been suggested that Penda sought to prevent Oswiu from reunifying Northumbria, not wanting Oswiu to restore

17280-593: The years 1132–1154, though his dating is known to be unreliable. This last entry is in Middle English, rather than Old English. [E] was once owned by William Laud , Archbishop of Canterbury 1633–1645, so is also known as the Laud Chronicle . The manuscript contains occasional glosses in Latin, and is referred to (as "the Saxon storye of Peterborowe church") in an antiquarian book from 1566. According to Joscelyn, Nowell had

17424-568: Was Pybba's offspring, Pybba was Cryda 's offspring, Cryda Cynewald's offspring, Cynewald Cnebba's offspring, Cnebba Icel's offspring, Icel Eomer's offspring, Eomer Angeltheow 's offspring, Angeltheow Offa 's offspring, Offa Wermund 's offspring, Wermund Wihtlæg 's offspring, Wihtlæg Woden's offspring. The Historia Brittonum says that Pybba had 12 sons, including Penda, but that Penda and Eowa of Mercia were those best known to its author. (Many of these 12 sons of Pybba may merely represent later attempts to claim descent from him. ) Besides Eowa,

17568-520: Was also said by the Historia Brittonum and the Annales Cambriae to have been a king of the Mercians at the time of Maserfield. The question of what sort of relationship of power existed between the brothers before the battle is a matter of speculation. Eowa may have simply been a sub-king under Penda and it is also possible that Penda and Eowa ruled jointly during the 630s and early 640s: joint kingships were not uncommon among Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of

17712-494: Was also weakened by desertions. According to the Historia Brittonum , Cadafael of Gwynedd, "rising up in the night, escaped together with his army" (thus earning him the name Cadomedd , or "battle-shirker"), and Bede says that at the time of the battle, Aethelwald of Deira withdrew and "awaited the outcome from a place of safety". According to Kirby, if Penda's army was marching home, it may have been for this reason that some of his allies were unwilling to fight. It may also be that

17856-451: Was an ancestor of [D]. He also had sources which have not been identified, and some of his statements have no earlier surviving source. A manuscript similar to [E] was available to William of Malmesbury , though it is unlikely to have been [E] as that manuscript is known to have still been in Peterborough after the time William was working, and he does not make use of any of the entries in [E] that are specifically related to Peterborough. It

18000-402: Was an enemy of the Northumbrian king Æthelfrith . It would seem that if Cearl was able to do this, he was not subject to Æthelfrith; thus it may be that any subject relationship only developed after the time of this marriage. The battle left Penda with a degree of power unprecedented for a Mercian king—Kirby called him "without question the most powerful Mercian ruler so far to have emerged in

18144-404: Was composed. The section containing the Chronicle (folios 115–64) is preceded by King Alfred's Old English translation of Orosius 's world history, followed by a menologium and some gnomic verses of the laws of the natural world and of humanity. Then follows a copy of the chronicle, beginning with 60 BC; the first scribe copied up to the entry for 490, and a second scribe took over up to

18288-417: Was concerned that Eadfrith could be a threat to him because Eadfrith might seek vengeance for the deaths of his father and brother; it is also possible that Mercian dynastic rivalry played a part in the killing since Eadfrith was a grandson of Penda's predecessor Cearl. It was probably at some point during Oswald's reign that Penda fought with the East Angles and defeated them, killing their king Egric and

18432-504: Was edited into its present form between 890 and 892 (ahead of Bishop Asser 's use of a version of the Common Stock in his 893 Life of King Alfred ), but there is debate about precisely which year, and when subsequent continuations began to be added. It is not known for certain where the Common Stock was compiled, not least because the archetype is lost, but it is agreed to have been in Wessex. The patron might have been King Alfred himself ( Frank Stenton , for example, argued for

18576-405: Was exiled briefly in 1055. The [C], [D] and [E] manuscripts say the following: Scribes might also omit material, sometimes accidentally, but also for ideological reasons. Ælfgar was Earl of Mercia by 1058, and in that year was exiled again. This time only [D] has anything to say: "Here Earl Ælfgar was expelled, but he soon came back again, with violence, through the help of Gruffydd. And here came

18720-513: Was followed by a brief three-year period when Northumbria ruled over the Mercians. The rebellion against Northumbria by Penda's son Wulfhere in 658 immediately preceded the restoration of Penda's kingdom and a period of expansion in which Mercia's influence reached as far south as the Isle of Wight . During this period of expansion, Mercia lost its province of the Kingdom of Lindsey to Northumbria in 661, but its recapture by Æthelred of Mercia following

18864-476: Was killed in the battle, and one of his sons, Eadfrith, fell into Penda's hands. One manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says that following the victory at Hatfield Chase, Cadwallon and Penda went on to ravage "the whole land" of the Northumbrians. Certainly Cadwallon continued the war, but the extent of Penda's further participation is uncertain. Bede says that the pagans who had slain Edwin—presumably

19008-560: Was not consistently the dominant figure in Mercia during the years between Hatfield and Maserfield. On 5 August 642, Penda defeated the Northumbrians at the Battle of Maserfield, which was fought near the lands of the Welsh, and Oswald was killed. Surviving Welsh poetry suggests that Penda fought in alliance with the men of Powys —apparently, he was consistently allied with some of the Welsh—perhaps including Cynddylan ap Cyndrwyn , of whom it

19152-469: Was not present at this battle. Furthermore, Bede makes no mention of Penda's presence in the preceding siege and battle in which Osric of Deira was defeated and killed. Penda's successful participation in the battle of Hatfield Chase would have elevated his status among the Mercians and so enabled him to become king, and he might have withdrawn from the war before Heavenfield to secure or consolidate his position in Mercia. Referring to Penda's successes against

19296-731: Was played by Geoffrey Staines in Penda's Fen (1974), and by Leo McKern in The Coming of the Cross (1975). On account of the association of his death with Leeds, the Pendas Fields estate in Leeds was named after Penda. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English , chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons . The original manuscript of

19440-546: Was probably an obstacle to Northumbrian supremacy south of the Humber . It has been suggested that Penda's strength during Oswald's reign could be exaggerated by the historical awareness of his later successes. Kirby says that, while Oswald was as powerful as Edwin had been, "he faced a more entrenched challenge in midland and eastern England from Penda". At some point during Oswald's reign, Penda had Edwin's son Eadfrith killed, "contrary to his oath". The possibility that his killing

19584-400: Was said that "when the son of Pyb desired, how ready he was", presumably meaning that he was an ally of Penda, the son of Pybba. If the traditional identification of the battle's location with Oswestry is correct, then this would indicate that it was Oswald who had taken the offensive against Penda. It has been suggested that he was acting against "a threat posed to his domination of Mercia by

19728-492: Was said that Merewalh was a son of Penda, but this is considered uncertain. Stenton, for example, considered it likely that Merewalh was a representative of a local dynasty that continued to rule under Mercian domination. In 655, Penda invaded Bernicia with a large army, reported to have been 30 warbands, with 30 royal or noble commanders ( duces regii , as Bede called them), including rulers such as Cadafael ap Cynfeddw of Gwynedd and Aethelhere of East Anglia. Penda also enjoyed

19872-477: Was similar, but not identical, to [D]: the Mercian Register does not appear, and a poem about the Battle of Brunanburh in 937, which appears in most of the other surviving copies of the Chronicle , is not recorded. The same scribe then continued the annals through to 1131; these entries were made at intervals, and thus are presumably contemporary records. Finally, a second scribe, in 1154, wrote an account of

20016-405: Was still just a youth three years after Penda's death, according to Bede) has been widely considered implausible. The possibility has been suggested that the Chronicle actually meant to say that Penda was 50 years old at the time of his death, and therefore about 20 in 626. Bede, in his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum , says of Penda that he was "a most warlike man of the royal race of

20160-449: Was subsequently a participant in Penda's doomed invasion of Bernicia in 655 ( see below ), it may be that Penda installed Æthelhere in power. It has been suggested that Penda's wars against the East Angles "should be seen in the light of interfactional struggles within East Anglia." It may also be that Penda made war against the East Angles with the intention of securing Mercian dominance over

20304-406: Was suggested by Brooks: Penda might have lost power at some point after Heavenfield, and Eowa may have actually been ruling the Mercians for at least some of the period as a subject ally or puppet of Oswald. Brooks cited Bede's statement implying that Penda's fortunes were mixed during his 22 years in power and noted the possibility that Penda's fortunes were low at this time. Thus it may be that Penda

20448-473: Was taken by the scribe from existing saga material. From the late eighth century onwards, a period coinciding in the text with the beginning of Scandinavian raids on England, the Chronicle gathers momentum. As the Chronicle proceeds, it loses its list-like appearance, and annals become longer and more narrative in content. Many later entries contain a great deal of historical narrative in each annal. After

20592-401: Was the result of pressure from Oswald—Eadfrith being a dynastic rival of Oswald—has been suggested. Since the potential existed for Eadfrith to be put to use in Mercia's favour in Northumbrian power struggles while he was alive, it would not have been to Penda's advantage to have him killed. On the other hand, Penda might have killed Eadfrith for his own reasons. It has been suggested that Penda

20736-618: Was written by a scribe soon after 1073, in the same hand and ink as the rest of the Caligula MS. After 1085, the annals are in various contemporary hands. The original annalist's entry for the Norman conquest is limited to "Her forðferde eadward kyng"; a later hand added the coming of William the Conqueror , "7 her com willelm." At one point this manuscript was at St Augustine's Abbey , Canterbury. Two manuscripts are recorded in an old catalogue of

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