Editing Offa of Mercia (section)

==Background and sources==
[[File:British kingdoms c 800.svg|thumb|right|200px|The kingdoms of Britain during Offa's reign]]
[[File:Anglo-Saxon Chronicle - Offa Myrcna cyning.jpg|thumb|right|A mention of Offa, the Mercian king, in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'']]
In the first half of the 8th century, the dominant Anglo-Saxon ruler was King [[Æthelbald of Mercia]], who by 731 had become the overlord of all the provinces south of the River [[Humber]].<ref name=Bede_V_23>Bede, ''HE'', V, 23, p.&nbsp;324.</ref> Æthelbald was one of a number of strong Mercian kings who ruled from the mid-7th century to the early 9th, and it was not until the reign of [[Ecgberht, King of Wessex|Egbert of Wessex]] in the 9th century that Mercian power began to wane.<ref name=BEASE_306>Simon Keynes, "Mercia", in Lapidge, ''Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England'', p.&nbsp;307.</ref>

The power and prestige that Offa attained made him one of the most significant rulers in [[Early Middle Ages|early medieval]] [[Great Britain|Britain]],<ref name=RF_109>Richard Fletcher (''Who's Who'', p.&nbsp;100) describes him as "by common consent the most imposing Anglo-Saxon ruler before Alfred".</ref> though no contemporary [[biography]] of him survives.<ref name=BEASE_306/> A key source for the period is the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'', a collection of annals in [[Old English]] narrating the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The ''Chronicle'' was a [[Wessex|West Saxon]] production, however, and is sometimes thought to be biased in favour of Wessex; hence it may not accurately convey the extent of power achieved by Offa, a Mercian.<ref name=CampbellTASS_144>Campbell, ''Anglo-Saxon State'', p.&nbsp;144.</ref> That power can be seen at work in [[Anglo-Saxon Charters|charters]] dating from Offa's reign. Charters were documents which granted land to followers or to churchmen and were witnessed by the kings who had the authority to grant the land.<ref name=BlairRBaEE_14>Hunter Blair, ''Roman Britain'', pp. 14–15.</ref><ref name=Campbell_95_2>Campbell, ''The Anglo-Saxons'', pp.&nbsp;95–98.</ref> A charter might record the names of both a subject king and his overlord on the witness list appended to the grant. Such a witness list can be seen on the [[Ismere Diploma]], for example, where Æthelric, son of king Oshere of the Hwicce, is described as a "''subregulus''", or subking, of Æthelbald's.<ref name=EHD_453>Whitelock, ''English Historical Documents'', 67, pp.&nbsp;453–454.</ref><ref name=Campbell_123>For a discussion showing the use of this in evidence in an account of the progression from Offa's overlordship of the Hwicce to suppression of the ruling dynasty, and consequent absorption of the kingdom into Mercia, see Patrick Wormald, "The Age of Offa and Alcuin", in Campbell et al., ''The Anglo-Saxons'', p.&nbsp;123.</ref> The eighth-century monk and chronicler the Venerable [[Bede]] wrote a history of the English church called {{lang|la|[[Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum]]}}; the history only covers events up to 731, but as one of the major sources for Anglo-Saxon history it provides important background information for Offa's reign.<ref name=BEASE_57>Roger Ray, "Bede", in Lapidge et al., ''Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England'', pp.&nbsp;57–59.</ref>

[[Offa's Dyke]], most of which was probably built in his reign, is a [[testimony]] to the extensive resources Offa had at his command and his ability to organise them.<ref name=Yorke_117>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p.&nbsp;117.</ref> Other surviving sources include a problematic document known as the [[Tribal Hidage]], which may provide further evidence of Offa's scope as a ruler, though its attribution to his reign is disputed.<ref name=BF_Hidage_29>Peter Featherstone, provides a review of some theories about the origins of the [[Tribal Hidage]] in "The Tribal Hidage and the Ealdormen of Mercia" in Brown & Farr, ''Mercia'', p.&nbsp;29.</ref> A significant corpus of letters dates from the period, especially from [[Alcuin]], an English deacon and scholar who spent over a decade at [[Charlemagne]]'s court as one of his chief advisors, and corresponded with kings, nobles and ecclesiastics throughout England.<ref name=BEASE_24>[[Michael Lapidge]], "Alcuin of York", in Lapidge et al. ''Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England'', p.&nbsp;24.</ref> These letters in particular reveal Offa's relations with the continent, as does his [[coin]]age, which was based on [[Carolingian dynasty|Carolingian]] examples.<ref name=TAS_110>Patrick Wormald, "The Age of Offa and Alcuin", in Campbell et al., eds., ''The Anglo-Saxons'', pp.&nbsp;110,&nbsp;118.</ref><ref>Sutherland ''English Coinage 600–1900'' p.&nbsp;10.</ref>