Editing Mercia (section)

===Reign of Offa and rise of Wessex===
[[File:Anglo-Saxon Chronicle - Myrcna.jpg|thumb|left|A mention of Mercia in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'']]
After the murder of Æthelbald by one of his bodyguards in 757, a civil war broke out which concluded with the victory of [[Offa of Mercia|Offa]], a descendant of Pybba. Offa (reigned 757 to 796) had to build anew the hegemony which his predecessor had exercised over the southern English, and he did this so successfully that he became the greatest king Mercia had ever known. Not only did he win battles and dominate [[Southern England]], but also he took an active hand in administering the affairs of his kingdom, founding [[market town]]s and overseeing the first major issues of gold [[coin]]s in Britain; he assumed a role in the administration of the Catholic Church in England (sponsoring the short-lived [[archbishopric of Lichfield]], 787 to 799), and even negotiated with [[Charlemagne]] as an equal. Offa is credited with the construction of [[Offa's Dyke]], which marked the border between Wales and Mercia.<ref>{{cite book |last=Davies |first=John |author-link=John Davies (historian) |title=A History of Wales |publisher=Penguin |orig-year=1993 |year=2007 |location=London |pages=65–66}}</ref>

Offa exerted himself to ensure that his son [[Ecgfrith of Mercia]] would succeed him, but after Offa's death in July 796 Ecgfrith survived for only five months, and the kingdom passed to a distant relative named [[Coenwulf of Mercia|Coenwulf]] in December 796. In 821 Coenwulf's brother [[Ceolwulf I of Mercia|Ceolwulf]] succeeded to the Mercian kingship; he demonstrated his military prowess by his attack on and destruction of the fortress of [[Deganwy]] in [[Gwynedd]]. The power of the [[Wessex|West Saxons]] under [[Egbert of Wessex|Egbert]] (King of Wessex from 802 to 839) grew during this period, however, and in 825 Egbert defeated the Mercian king [[Beornwulf of Mercia|Beornwulf]] (who had overthrown Ceolwulf in 823) at [[Ellendun]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/travellers/Camden/10|first=William|last=Camden|title=A Chronological description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland|year=1610|location=London|publisher=George Bishop and John Norton}}</ref>

The Battle of Ellendun proved decisive. At this point, Mercia lost control of [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]], [[Kingdom of Sussex|Sussex]], [[Surrey#Formation of Surrey|Surrey]], and possibly also [[Kingdom of Essex|Essex]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yorke |first=Barbara |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/26404222 |title=Kings and kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England |date=1990 |publisher=Seaby |isbn=1-85264-027-8 |location=London |pages=122 |oclc=26404222}}</ref> Beornwulf was slain while suppressing a revolt amongst the East Angles, and his successor, a former [[ealdorman]] named [[Ludeca of Mercia|Ludeca]] (reigned 826–827), met the same fate. Another ealdorman, [[Wiglaf of Mercia|Wiglaf]], subsequently ruled for less than two years before Egbert of Wessex drove him out of Mercia. In 830 Wiglaf regained independence for Mercia, but by this time Wessex had clearly become the dominant power in England. ''Circa'' 840 [[Beorhtwulf of Mercia|Beorhtwulf]] succeeded Wiglaf.<ref>Zaluckyj & Feryok, "Decline", pp. 238–239.</ref>