Editing Wulfhere of Mercia (section)

==Mercia in the 7th century==
[[File:British seventh century kingdoms.svg|thumb|right|300px|Kingdoms of Britain in the late 7th century]]
{{See also |History of Anglo-Saxon England}}

England in AD 600 was ruled almost entirely by the [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon peoples]] who had come to Britain from northwestern Europe over the previous 200 years. The monk [[Bede]], writing in about AD 731, considered the Mercians to be descended from the [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]], one of the invading groups; the [[Saxons]] and [[Jutes]] settled in the south of Britain, while the Angles settled in the north.<ref name=Bede_I_15>Bede, ''HE'', I, 15, p. 63.</ref> Little is known about the origins of the kingdom of [[Mercia]], in what is now the English Midlands, but according to genealogies preserved in the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' and the [[Anglian collection]] the early kings were descended from [[Icel of Mercia|Icel]]; the dynasty is therefore known as the [[Iclinga]]s.<ref name=BF_Origins_15>[[Barbara Yorke|Yorke, Barbara]], "The Origins of Mercia" in Brown and Farr, ''Mercia'', pp. 15–16</ref>  The earliest Mercian king about whom definite historical information has survived is [[Penda of Mercia]], Wulfhere's father.<ref name=BF_Origins_18>Barbara Yorke, "The Origins of Mercia" in Brown and Farr, ''Mercia'', pp. 18–19</ref>

According to Bede's ''[[Ecclesiastical History of the English People|Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum]]'', a history of the English church, there were seven early Anglo-Saxon rulers who held ''imperium'', or overlordship, over the other kingdoms.<ref name=Bede_II_5>Bede, ''HE'', II, 5, p. 111.</ref>  The fifth of these was [[Edwin of Northumbria]], who was killed at the [[Battle of Hatfield Chase]] by a combined force including [[Cadwallon ap Cadfan|Cadwallon]], a British king of [[Gwynedd]] and Penda. At the time of this victory, Penda was probably not yet king of Mercia. His children included two future kings of Mercia: Wulfhere and [[Æthelred of Mercia|Æthelred]].<ref name=Yorke_103>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', pp. 103–4</ref>

After Edwin's death, Northumbria briefly fell apart into its two constituent kingdoms - [[Bernicia]] and [[Deira]]. Within a year [[Oswald of Northumbria|Oswald]] killed Cadwallon and reunited the kingdoms, and subsequently re-established Northumbrian hegemony over the south of England.<ref name=Kirby_83>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p. 83.</ref>  However, on 5 August 642, Penda killed Oswald at the [[Battle of Maserfield]], probably at [[Oswestry]] in the northwest midlands.<ref name=Kirby_88>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', pp. 88–90</ref> Penda is not recorded as overlord of the other southern Anglo-Saxon kings, but he became the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon kings after he defeated Oswald.<ref name=Yorke_105>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p. 105</ref>  On Oswald's death, [[Kingdom of Northumbria|Northumbria]] was divided again: Oswald's son [[Oswiu]] succeeded to the throne of [[Bernicia]], and [[Osric of Deira|Osric]]'s son [[Oswine of Deira|Oswine]] to [[Deira]], the southern of the two kingdoms.<ref name=Yorke_78>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p. 78</ref>

The main source for this period is Bede's ''History'', completed in about 731. Despite its focus on the history of the church, this work also provides valuable information about the early pagan kingdoms. For other kingdoms than his native Northumbria, such as Wessex and Kent, Bede had an informant within the ecclesiastical establishment who supplied him with additional information. This does not seem to have been the case with Mercia, about which Bede is less informative than about other kingdoms.<ref name=Yorke_100>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p. 100</ref>  Further sources for this period include the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', compiled at the end of the 9th century in [[Wessex]]. The ''Chronicle'''s anonymous scribe appears to have incorporated much information recorded in earlier periods.<ref name=Lapidge_ASC>Simon Keynes, "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle", in ''Blackwell Encyclopedia'', p. 35</ref>