Editing Wulfhere of Mercia

{{Short description|King of Mercia from 658 to 675}}
{{Redirect|Wulfhere|the archbishop|Wulfhere of York}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox royalty
| type        = monarch
| name        = Wulfhere
| succession  = [[List of monarchs of Mercia|King of Mercia]]
| image       = Chad Peada Wulfhere at Lichfield.jpeg
| caption     = Depiction of Wulfhere on the right at [[Lichfield Cathedral]].
| reign       = 658–675 AD
| predecessor = [[Oswiu]]
| successor   = [[Æthelred of Mercia|Æthelred]]
| house = [[Iclingas]]
| house-type = Dynasty
| spouses     = [[Ermenilda of Ely|Eormenhild]]
| issue       = [[Coenred of Mercia|Coenred]]<br/>[[Werburgh]]
| father      = [[Penda]]
| mother      = Cynewise (possibly)
| birth_date  = c. 640 AD
| death_date  = 675 AD
| burial      = 
}}

'''Wulfhere''' or '''Wulfar''' (died 675) was [[King of Mercia]] from 658 until 675 AD. He was the first Christian king of all of [[Mercia]], though it is not known when or how he converted from [[Anglo-Saxon paganism]]. His accession marked the end of [[Oswiu of Northumbria]]'s overlordship of southern England, and Wulfhere extended his influence over much of that region. His campaigns against the [[West Saxons]] led to [[Mercian Supremacy|Mercian control]] of much of the [[Thames valley]]. He conquered the [[Isle of Wight]] and the [[River Meon|Meon]] valley and gave them to King [[Æthelwealh of Sussex|Æthelwealh]] of the [[South Saxons]]. He also had influence in [[Surrey]], [[Kingdom of Essex|Essex]], and [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]]. He married [[Ermenilda of Ely|Eormenhild]], the daughter of King [[Eorcenberht of Kent]].

Wulfhere's father, [[Penda of Mercia|Penda]], was killed in 655 at the [[Battle of Winwaed]], fighting against [[Oswiu of Northumbria]]. Penda's son [[Peada of Mercia|Peada]] became king under Oswiu's overlordship but was murdered six months later. Wulfhere came to the throne when Mercian nobles organized a revolt against [[Northumbria]]n rule in 658 and drove out Oswiu's governors.

By 670, when Oswiu died, Wulfhere was the most powerful king in southern England. He was effectively the overlord of England south of the [[Humber]] from the early 660s, although not overlord of Northumbria as his father had been. In 674, he challenged Oswiu's son [[Ecgfrith of Northumbria]], but was defeated. He died, probably of disease, in 675. Wulfhere was succeeded as King of Mercia by his brother, [[Æthelred of Mercia|Æthelred]]. [[Stephen of Ripon]]'s ''Life of [[Wilfrid]]'' describes Wulfhere as "a man of proud mind, and insatiable will".<ref>Colgrave, ''Life of Bishop Wilfred'', c. 20.</ref>

==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>

==Ancestry==
[[File:Wulfhere genealogy.gif|thumb|300px|left|Wulfhere's immediate relations]]

Wulfhere was the son of Penda of Mercia. Penda's queen, Cynewise, is named by Bede, who does not mention her children; no other wives of Penda are known and so it is likely but not certain that she was Wulfhere's mother.<ref name=BF_Women_36>[[Pauline Stafford|Stafford, Pauline]], "Political Women in Mercia" in Brown and Farr, ''Mercia'', p. 36</ref><ref name="Bede">Bede, ''HE'', III, 24, pp. 183–5.</ref>  The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' gives Penda's age as fifty in 626, and credits him with a thirty-year reign, but this would put Penda at eighty years old at the time of his death, which is generally thought unlikely as two of his sons (Wulfhere and Æthelred) are recorded as being young when he was killed. It is thought at least as likely that Penda was 50 years old at his death, rather than at his accession.<ref name=Yorke_103/><ref name=Kirby_82>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p. 82.</ref>  Wulfhere's date of birth is unknown, but Bede describes him as a youth at the time of his accession in 658, so it is likely he was in his middle teens at that time; Penda would then have been in his thirties at the time Wulfhere was born.<ref name=Kirby_113>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p. 113</ref>

Nothing is known of Wulfhere's childhood. He had two brothers, Peada and Æthelred, and two sisters, Cyneburh and Cyneswith;<ref name=Kirby_93>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p. 93</ref><ref name=Swanton_29>Swanton, ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', ''sub anno'' 656, p. 29</ref> it is also possible that [[Merewalh]], king of the [[Magonsæte]], was Wulfhere's brother.<ref name="Yorke">Yorke, p. 107, accepts the account in the ''Life of St [[Mildburh]]'', which makes Merewalh and Wulfhere brothers, as genuine. Kirby, p. 93, expresses doubts.</ref>   He married [[Eormenhild]] of Kent; no date is recorded for the marriage and there is no record of any children in the earliest sources, though [[Coenred of Mercia|Coenred]], who was king of Mercia from 704 to 709, is recorded in [[John of Worcester]]'s 12th-century chronicle as Wulfhere's son.<ref name=Kirby_128>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p. 128</ref>  Another possible child is Berhtwald, a subking who is recorded as a nephew of Æthelred,<ref name=Yorke_108>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p.&nbsp;108</ref> and a third child, [[Werburh]], is recorded in an 11th-century manuscript as a daughter of Wulfhere.<ref name=BF_Hagio_84>Jane Roberts, "Hagiography and Literature: The Case of Guthlac of Crowland" in Brown and Farr, ''Mercia'', p. 84</ref>  An 11th-century history of [[Gloucester Cathedral|St. Peter's Monastery]] in [[Gloucester]] names two other women, Eadburh and Eafe, as queens of Wulfhere, but neither claim is plausible.<ref name=BH_18>For details see Baker and Holt, ''Urban Growth'', p. 18. The history is the ''Historia et Cartularium Monasterii Sancti Petri Gloucesteriæ'', which incorporates material from as early as the late 11th century.</ref>

==Accession and overlordship==
[[File:Kingdom of Mercia.PNG|thumb|275px|right|The Kingdom of Mercia at its greatest extent (7th to 9th centuries) is shown in green, with the original core area (6th century) given a darker tint. The areas shown are approximate.<ref>See Higham, ''English Empire'', p. 149, figure 7; M. Lapidge (ed.), p. 517, map 9; Zaluckyj, ''Mercia'', p.&nbsp;16</ref>]]

In 655 Penda besieged Oswiu of Northumbria at Iudeu, the location of which is unknown but which may have been [[Stirling]], in Scotland. Penda took Oswiu's son, [[Ecgfrith of Northumbria|Ecgfrith]], as hostage, and Oswiu paid tribute, in the form of treasure, to secure Penda's departure. On the way back to Mercia, Oswiu overtook Penda and on 15 November 655 Oswiu and Penda fought on the banks of the (unidentified) River [[Winwaed]].<ref>The [[River Went|Went]], a tributary of the [[River Don, South Yorkshire|River Don]], has been suggested as a candidate; see e.g. Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', pp. 94–95; other suggestions include an unspecified tributary of the [[Humber]]; see e.g. Swanton, ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', p. 29 n. 11.</ref>  Penda was killed and beheaded by Oswiu, who divided Mercia into northern and southern halves.<ref name=Kirby_94>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', pp. 94–95</ref>  The northern portion was kept under direct Northumbrian control; the southern kingdom was given to Penda's son Peada, who had married Oswiu's daughter Ealhflæd ''ca'' 653.<ref name=Kirby_96/>

Peada did not remain king long. He was murdered at [[Easter]] in 656, perhaps with the connivance of his wife, Oswiu's daughter.<ref>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p. 96; Bede, ''HE'', III, 24.</ref> Oswiu then ruled all Mercia himself. Bede lists Oswiu as the seventh and last king to hold ''imperium'' (or [[bretwalda]] in the language of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'') over the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.<ref name=Bede_II_5/> Overlordship was a common relationship between kingdoms at this time, often taking the form of a lesser king under the domination of a stronger one. Oswiu went further than this, however, and installed his own governors in Mercia after the deaths of Penda and Peada. This attempt to establish close control of Mercia failed in 658 when three Mercian leaders, Immin, Eafa and Eadbert, rebelled against the Northumbrians. Bede reports that they had kept Wulfhere in hiding, and when the revolt succeeded Wulfhere became king.<ref>Bede, ''HE'', III, 25; p. 183.</ref> It has been suggested that the Mercian revolt succeeded because Oswiu may have been occupied with fighting in Pictland, in northern Britain. His nephew the [[Picts|Pictish]] king [[Talorcan of the Picts|Talorgan]], son of [[Eanfrith of Bernicia|Eanfrith]], had died in 657.<ref>Higham, ''Convert Kings'', p. 245.</ref>

How much direct control Oswiu exerted over the southern kingdoms during his imperium is unclear. Bede describes Oswiu's friendship and influence over [[Sigeberht II of Essex|Sigeberht]] of the [[East Saxons]],<ref name=Bede_III_22>Bede, HE III, 22, p. 178.</ref> but generally the pattern in the southeast is of more local domination, with Oswiu's influence unlikely to have been particularly strong.<ref name=Kirby_96>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', pp.96–7</ref> Wulfhere appears to have taken over Oswiu's position in many instances.<ref name=Kirby_114>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', pp. 114–5</ref>  Bede does not list him as one of the rulers who exercised ''imperium'', but modern historians consider that the rise to primacy of the kingdom of Mercia began in his reign. He seems to have been the effective overlord of Britain south of the Humber from the early 660s, though not overlord of Northumbria as his father had been.<ref>See, for example, Higham, ''Convert Kings'', pp. 249&–50; Keynes; Yorke, pp. 157–9; Williams, ''Kingship and Government'', pp. 20–3.</ref>

A document called the [[Tribal Hidage]] may date from Wulfhere's reign. Drawn up before many smaller groups of peoples were absorbed into the larger kingdoms, such as Mercia, it records the peoples of Anglo-Saxon England, along with an assessment in [[hide (unit)|hides]], a unit of land. The Tribal Hidage is difficult to date precisely; it may have been written down in Wulfhere's reign, but other suggested origins include the reign of [[Offa of Mercia]], or [[Edwin of Northumbria|Edwin]] or Oswiu of Northumbria.<ref>Higham, ''English Empire'', p. 99.</ref><ref name=BF_Hidage_29>Peter Featherstone, "The Tribal Hidage and the Ealdormen of Mercia" in Brown and Farr, ''Mercia'', p. 29</ref>

==A convert king==
[[File:Soc Ant microfilm Ms 38 Wulfhere crop.jpg|thumb|alt=detail of an Anglo-Saxon charter in Wulfhere's name|Detail of a 14th-century transcription of an [[Anglo-Saxon charters|Anglo-Saxon charter]] that purports to have been issued by Wulfhere, in favour of the monastery at [[Medeshamstede]]: a depiction of the king appears in the initial capital letter "U".]]
Britain had been Christianised [[Roman Britain|under the Romans]], but the incoming Anglo-Saxons practiced their indigenous religion ([[Anglo-Saxon paganism]]) and the church in Great Britain was limited to the surviving British kingdoms in Scotland and Wales, and the kingdom of [[Dumnonia]] in the southwest of England. Missionaries from Rome began [[Christianization|converting]] the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity at the end of the 6th century, and this process was well under way in Penda's reign, though Penda himself remained pagan throughout his life.<ref name=Campbell_TFCK_45>Campbell, "The First Christian Kings", in Campbell, ''The Anglo-Saxons'', pp. 45–6.</ref>  Records survive of the baptism of other kings at this time—[[Cynegils of Wessex]] was baptised in about 640,<ref name=Kirby_48>Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', pp. 48–50.</ref> for example, and Edwin of Northumbria was converted in the mid 620s.<ref name=Kirby_78>Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', p. 78.</ref>  However, later kings, such as [[Cædwalla of Wessex]], who ruled in the 680s, are recorded as pagan at their accession.<ref name=Kirby_118>Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', p. 118.</ref>

[[Bede]] writes that after Wulfhere became king: "Free under their own king, they [the Mercians] gave willing allegiance to Christ their true king, so that they might win his eternal kingdom in heaven".<ref name="Bede"/> While Wulfhere's father had refused to convert to Christianity, and Peada had apparently converted in order to marry Oswiu's daughter, the date and the circumstances of Wulfhere's conversion are unknown. It has been suggested that he adopted Christianity as part of a settlement with Oswiu.<ref>Higham, ''Convert Kings'', p. 68.</ref> Bede records that two years before Penda's death, his son Peada converted to Christianity, influenced partly by Oswiu's son [[Alchfrith of Deira|Ealhfrith]], who had married Peada's sister Cyneburh. Peada brought a Christian mission into Mercia, and it is possible that this was when Wulfhere became a Christian.<ref>Bede, ''HE'', III, 21, pp. 177–8.</ref> Wulfhere's marriage to Eormenhild of [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]] would have brought Mercia into close contact with the Christian kingdoms of Kent and [[Merovingian]] [[Gaul]], which were connected by kinship and trade. The political and economic benefits of the marriage may therefore also have been a factor in Wulfhere's Christianisation of his kingdom.<ref name = Kirby_114_1/><ref>Zaluckyj, ''Mercia'', p. 37.</ref>

Wulfhere's relationship with Bishop [[Wilfrid]] is recorded in Stephen of Ripon's ''Life of Wilfrid''. During the years 667–69, while Wilfrid was at [[Ripon]], Wulfhere frequently invited him to come to Mercia when there was need of the services of a bishop. According to Stephen, Wulfhere rewarded Wilfrid with "many tracts of land", in which Wilfrid "soon established minsters for servants of God".<ref name=Blair_92>Blair, ''The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society'', p. 92.</ref>

According to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', Wulfhere endowed a major monastery at [[Medeshamstede]], in modern Peterborough. The monastery had initially been endowed by Peada; for the dedication of Wulfhere's gift both Archbishop [[Deusdedit of Canterbury|Deusdedit]] (died 664), and Bishop [[Jaruman]] (held office from 663), were present. The endowment was signed by Wulfhere and Oswiu, and by [[Sighere of Essex|Sigehere]] and [[Sebbi of Essex|Sæbbi]], the [[Kings of Essex]].<ref>''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', sub anno 656; Zaluckyj, p. 38.</ref>

==West Saxons, South Saxons and Hwicce==
[[File:Wulfhere map.gif|thumb|300px|left|A map of southern England, showing locations mentioned in early sources about Wulfhere. The exact location of Ashdown is unknown, but it was somewhere on the Berkshire Downs, south of Thame.]]

In 661, Wulfhere is recorded in the ''Chronicle'' as harrying Ashdown, in West Saxon territory. The [[Gewisse]], thought to be the original group from which the West Saxons came, appear to have originally settled in the upper [[River Thames|Thames]] valley, and what records survive of the 6th century show them active in that region. The Mercian resurgence under Wulfhere placed them under severe pressure. Also in the early 660s, the West Saxon see of [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]], in the same area, was divided, and a new bishopric set up at [[Winchester]]. This decision was probably a reaction to the advance of the Mercians into the traditional heartland of the West Saxons, leaving Dorchester dangerously close to the border. Within a few years, the Dorchester see was abandoned;<ref>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p. 136.</ref> the exact date is not known, but it was probably in the mid 660s.<ref name=Kirby_58>Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', pp. 58–9.</ref>

In addition to the attack on Ashdown, Wulfhere raided the [[Isle of Wight]] in 661. He subsequently gave both the island and the territory of the Meonware, which lay along the [[river Meon]], on the mainland north of the Isle of Wight, to his godson King [[Æthelwealh of Sussex|Æthelwealh]] of the South Saxons. It seems likely that the ruling dynasty on the island found these arrangements acceptable to some degree, since the West Saxons, under Cædwalla, exterminated the whole family when they launched their own attack on the island in 686.<ref>Bede, ''HE'', IV, 13, pp. 225–7.</ref><ref name=Kirby_115/>  After the conquest of the Isle of Wight, Wulfhere ordered the priest Eoppa to provide baptism to the inhabitants. According to the ''Chronicle'', this was the first time Christian baptism had reached the island.<ref>Swanton, ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', ''sub anno'' 661, pp. 33–4.</ref>

In the early 670s, [[Cenwealh of Wessex]] died, and perhaps as a result of the stress caused by Wulfhere's military activity the West Saxon kingdom fragmented and came to be ruled by underkings, according to Bede.<ref name=Kirby_52>Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', pp. 52–3.</ref>  Eventually these underkings were defeated and the kingdom reunited, probably by Cædwalla but possibly by [[Centwine of Wessex|Centwine]]. A decade after Wulfhere's death, the West Saxons under Cædwalla began an aggressive expansion to the east, reversing much of the Mercian advance.<ref name=Kirby_52A>For the situation at Wulfhere's death, see Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', pp.& 115–6; for Cædwalla see Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', pp. 118–21.</ref>

In addition to being Wulfhere's godson, King Æthelwealh of the South Saxons had a connection to the Mercians via marriage. His wife was Queen Eafe, the daughter of Eanfrith of the [[Hwicce]], a tribe whose territory lay to the southwest of Mercia. The Hwicce had their own royal family, but it appears that at this date they were already subordinate to Wulfhere: the marriage between Æthelwealh and Eafe may well have taken place at Wulfhere's court, since it is known Æthelwealh was converted there.<ref name=Kirby_11>Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', pp. 11–12.</ref>  The kingdom of the Hwicce is sometimes regarded as a creation of Penda's, but it is equally likely that the kingdom existed independently of Mercia, and that Penda and Wulfhere's increasing influence in the area represented an extension of Mercian power rather than the creation of a separate entity.<ref name=Kirby_8>Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', pp. 8–9.</ref><ref name=Yorke_108_1>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', pp. 108–9.</ref>

==East Anglia and the East Saxons==
In 664, [[Æthelwald of East Anglia]] died, and was succeeded by [[Ealdwulf of East Anglia|Ealdwulf]], who reigned for fifty years. Almost nothing is known of Mercian relations with [[Kingdom of the East Angles|East Anglia]] during this time; East Anglia had previously been dominated by Northumbria, but there is no evidence that this continued after Wulfhere's accession. [[Swithelm of Essex|Swithhelm]] of the East Saxons also died in 664; he was succeeded by his two sons, [[Sighere of Essex|Sigehere]] and [[Sebbi of Essex|Sæbbi]], and Bede describes their accession as "rulers&nbsp;... under Wulfhere, king of the Mercians".<ref name=Kirby_114_1>Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', p.&nbsp;114.</ref>  A plague the same year caused Sigehere and his people to recant their Christianity, and according to Bede, Wulfhere sent Jaruman, the bishop of [[Lichfield]], to reconvert the East Saxons. Jaruman was not the first bishop of Lichfield; Bede mentions a predecessor, Trumhere, but nothing is known about Trumhere's activities or who appointed him.<ref>Bede, ''HE'', III, 30, pp. 200–1.</ref>

It is apparent from these events that Oswiu's influence in the south had waned by this time, if not before, and that Wulfhere now dominated the area. This becomes even clearer in the next few years, as some time between 665 and 668 Wulfhere sold the see of [[London]] to [[Wine (bishop)|Wine]], who had been expelled from his West Saxon bishopric by Cenwealh. London fell within the East Saxons' territory in that period.<ref name=Kirby_114/>  From the archaeological evidence, it appears to be about this time that the Middle Saxon settlement in London began to expand significantly; the centre of Anglo-Saxon London was not at the old Roman centre, but about a mile west of that, near what is now the location of [[Strand, London|the Strand]]. Wulfhere may have been in control of the city when this expansion began.<ref name=BF_London_198>Robert Cowie, "Mercian London" in Brown and Farr, ''Mercia'', pp. 198–9</ref>

==Kent, Surrey and Lindsey==
[[Eorcenberht of Kent|Eorcenberht]] was the king of Kent at Wulfhere's accession, and the two families became connected when Wulfhere married Eorcenberht's daughter Eormenhild.<ref name=Kirby_43>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p. 43</ref>  In 664 Eorcenberht's son [[Ecgberht of Kent|Egbert]] succeeded to the Kentish throne. The situation in Kent at Egbert's death in 673 is not clearly recorded. It appears that a year passed before [[Hlothhere of Kent|Hlothhere]], Egbert's brother, became king. Wulfhere may have had an interest in the succession, as through his marriage to Eormenhild he was the uncle of Egbert's two sons, [[Eadric of Kent|Eadric]] and [[Wihtred of Kent|Wihtred]]. It has been speculated that Wulfhere acted as the effective ruler of Kent in the interregnum between Egbert's death and Hlothhere's accession.<ref name=Kirby_115/> Another Mercian connection to Kent was through [[Merewalh]], the king of the [[Magonsæte]], and hence a subking under Wulfhere. Merewalh, who may have been Wulfhere's brother, was married to Hlothhere's sister, Eormenburh.<ref name="Yorke"/>

[[Surrey]] is not recorded as ever having been an independent kingdom, but was at least a province that was under the control of different neighbours at different times. It was ruled by Egbert until the early 670s, when a charter shows Wulfhere confirming a grant made to Bishop [[Erkenwald|Eorcenwald]] by [[Frithuwold of Surrey|Frithuwold]], a sub-king in Surrey, which may have extended north into modern [[Buckinghamshire]].<ref name=Williams_21/><ref>Whitelock, ''English Historical Documents'', p. 440.</ref>  Frithuwold himself was probably married to Wilburh, Wulfhere's sister.<ref name=Williams_21/>  The charter, made from [[Thame]], is dated between 673 and 675, and it was probably Egbert's death that triggered Wulfhere's intervention. A witness named Frithuric is recorded on a charter in the reign of Wulfhere's successor, Æthelred, making a grant to the monastery of Peterborough, and the alliteration common in Anglo-Saxon dynasties has led to speculation that the two men may have both come from a [[Middle Angles|Middle Anglian]] dynasty, with Wulfhere perhaps having placed Frithuwold on the throne of Surrey. The charter is witnessed by three other subkings, named Osric, Wigheard, and Æthelwold; their kingdoms are not identified but the charter mentions Sonning, a province in what is now eastern [[Berkshire]], and it may be that one of these subkings was a ruler of the Sunningas, the people of that province. This would in turn imply Wulfhere's domination of that province by that time.<ref name=Kirby_115>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', pp. 115&–6</ref>

Wulfhere's influence among the Lindesfara, whose territory, [[Kingdom of Lindsey|Lindsey]], lay in what is now [[Lincolnshire]], is known from information about episcopal authority. At least one of the Mercian bishops of Lichfield is known to have exercised authority there: [[Winfrith (bishop)|Wynfrith]], who became bishop on [[Chad of Mercia|Chad's]] death in 672.<ref name=Kirby_114_1/><ref name=Williams_21>Williams, ''Kingship and Government'' p. 21.</ref>  In addition it is known that Wulfhere gave land at [[Barrow upon Humber]], in Lindsey, to Chad, for a monastery.<ref name=Lapidge_W>Simon Keynes, "Wulfhere", in ''Blackwell Encyclopedia'', p. 490</ref>  It is possible that Chad also had authority there as bishop, probably no later than 669.<ref name=Kirby_114_1/>  It may be that the political basis for Mercian episcopal control of the Lindesfara was laid early in Wulfhere's reign, under Trumhere and Jaruman, the two bishops who preceded Chad.<ref name=Kirby_114_1/>

==Defeat and death==
When Wulfhere attacked Oswiu's son Ecgfrith in 674, he did so from a position of strength. Stephen of Ripon's ''Life of [[Wilfrid]]'' says that Wulfhere "stirred up all the southern nations against [Northumbria]". Bede does not report the fighting, nor is it mentioned in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', but according to Stephen, Ecgfrith defeated Wulfhere, forcing him to surrender Lindsey, and to pay tribute.<ref>Colgrave, ''Life of Bishop Wilfred'', c. 20; Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p.&nbsp;116; Williams, ''Kingship and Government'', p. 23.</ref>

Wulfhere survived the defeat but evidently lost some degree of control over the south as a result; in 675, [[Æscwine of Wessex|Æscwine]], one of the kings of the West Saxons, fought him at Biedanheafde. It is not known where this battle was, or who was the victor. [[Henry of Huntingdon]], a 12th-century historian who had access to versions of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' now lost,<ref name=BEASE_232-3>Diana E. Greenway, "Henry of Huntingdon", in Lapidge et al., ''Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England'', pp. 232–3.</ref> believed that Mercians had been the victors in a "terrible battle" and remarks upon Wulfhere having inherited "the valour of his father and grandfather".<ref name="Henry">Henry of Huntingdon, sub anno 670.</ref> Kirby, however, presumes Æscwine was sufficiently successful to break Wulfhere's hold over Wessex.<ref name=Kirby_116>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', pp. 116–7.</ref>

Wulfhere died later in 675. The cause of death, according to Henry of Huntingdon, was disease.<ref name="Henry"/>  He would have been in his mid-thirties. His widow, Eormenhild, is thought to have later become the abbess of [[Ely, Cambridgeshire|Ely]].<ref name=Yorke_70>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p. 70.</ref> Æthelred, Wulfhere's brother, succeeded to the throne and reigned for nearly thirty years. Æthelred recovered Lindsey from the Northumbrians a few years after his accession, but he was generally unable to maintain the domination of the south achieved by Wulfhere.<ref name=Kirby_116/>

==Marriage and children==
At an unrecorded date Wulfhere married [[Eormenhild]] (''alias'' Ermenilda, etc.), a daughter of  [[Eorcenberht of Kent|Eorcenberht]], King of [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]], who survived him and is thought after his death to have become the Abbess of [[Ely, Cambridgeshire|Ely]].<ref name=Yorke_70/> No issue from the marriage are recorded in the earliest sources, however the following children are recorded by various other sources:
*[[Coenred of Mercia|Coenred]], King of Mercia from 704 to 709, is recorded in [[John of Worcester]]'s 12th-century chronicle as Wulfhere's son.<ref name=Kirby_128/>  
*Berhtwald, a sub-king who is recorded as a nephew of Æthelred,<ref name=Yorke_108/> 
*[[Werburh]] (''alias'' Werburga, etc.), recorded in an 11th-century manuscript as a daughter of Wulfhere.<ref name=BF_Hagio_84/>
*[[Saint Wulfad]], who having been led by a white hart whilst out hunting in a forest with his brother Ruffin, to the hermitage of [[Saint Chad]], was converted by that saint to Christianity. This caused great displeasure of his father, who had relapsed to paganry, and slew both his sons for their actions. Wulfad was slain by his father at [[Stone Priory|Stone]], in Staffordshire, and Ruffin at Burston. Their mother founded [[Stone Priory]] on the spot of the burial of both her sons.<ref>Cope, Norman A., ''Stone: The History of a Market Town'', pp.7-8,[https://books.google.com/books?id=gftiDwAAQBAJ&dq=saint+Wulfad&pg=PA8] quoting sources on p.10, note 5, including Dugdale, Monasticon, Vol.6, Part 1, "an account in a Peterborough book written c.970 AD"; Inscription on a tablet hanging at Stone Priory at the Dissolution, recorded by Dugdale; Henry Bradshaw, ''Life of Saint Werburga of Chester''; Beresford, ''Memories of Old Staffordshire''; Warner, R.H., ''Life and Legends of saint Chad''</ref>
*Ruffin, slain by his father at Burston, for having converted to Christianity.

==References==
<references />

==Sources==

===Primary sources===
* [[Bede]], ''[[Ecclesiastical History of the English People]].'' (c. 731 A.D.) Translated by [[Leo Sherley-Price]], revised [[R.E. Latham]], ed. D.H. Farmer. London: Penguin, 1990. {{ISBN|0-14-044565-X}}
* {{cite book|last=Colgrave|first=Bertram|title=The Life of Bishop Wilfred by Eddius Stephanus|location=London|year=1927 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last=Forrester|first=Thomas|title=The Chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon| location=Felinfach |publisher=Llanerch Press|year=1991|isbn=0-947992-55-3 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last= Swanton|first= Michael|title= The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle|year= 1996| location=New York|publisher= Routledge|isbn=0-415-92129-5 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Whitelock|first=Dorothy|title=English Historical Documents v.l. c.500–1042|year=1968|location=London|publisher=Eyre & Spottiswoode |ref=none}}

===Secondary sources===
* {{cite book|last1= Baker|first1= Nigel|last2= Holt |first2= Richard |title=Urban Growth and the Medieval Church: Gloucester and Worcester|year= 2004|publisher= Ashgate |location=Gloucester |isbn=0-7546-0266-4 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last= Blair|first= John|title=The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society|year= 2006|publisher= Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=0-19-921117-5 |ref=none}}
* {{cite encyclopedia|last= Campbell|first= John|editor= Campbell, James|title=The First Christian Kings|encyclopedia=The Anglo-Saxons|year= 1991|publisher= Penguin Books|isbn=0-14-014395-5|display-editors=etal |ref=none}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |first=Peter |last=Featherstone |title=The Tribal Hidage and the Ealdormen of Mercia|encyclopedia=Mercia: An Anglo-Saxon Kingdom in Europe|year=2001 |editor=Michelle Brown |editor2=Carole Farr|location=Leicester|publisher= Continuum|isbn=0-8264-7765-8 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Higham |first=N. J. |year=1993 |title=An English Empire: Bede and the early Anglo-Saxon kings |location=Manchester |publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=0-7190-4424-3 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Higham |first=N. J. |year=1997 |title=The Convert Kings: Power and religious affiliation in early Anglo-Saxon England |location=Manchester |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=0-7190-4828-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/convertkingspowe00high |ref=none }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |first=Simon|last=Keynes|author-link=Simon Keynes|encyclopedia=The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England |editor=Michael Lapidge |title=Wulfhere |location=Oxford |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |year=2001 |isbn=0-631-22492-0 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last= Kirby|first= D.P.|title=The Earliest English Kings|year= 1992|location=London|publisher= Routledge|isbn=0-415-09086-5 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last= Williams|first= Ann|title=Kingship and Government in Pre-Conquest England, c. 500–1066|year= 1999|location=Basingstoke|publisher= Macmillan |isbn=0-333-56798-6 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last= Yorke|first=Barbara|title=Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England|year= 1990|location=London|publisher= Seaby|isbn=1-85264-027-8 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last=Zaluckyj|first=Sarah|title=Mercia: The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Central England|date=20 October 2001|location=Logaston|publisher=Logaston Press|isbn=1-873827-62-8|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/merciaanglosaxon0000zalu |ref=none}}

==External links==
* {{PASE|7719|Wulfhere 1}}

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{{Kings of Mercia}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:Anglo-Saxon warriors]]
[[Category:Converts to Christianity from Anglo-Saxon paganism]]
[[Category:Mercian monarchs]]
[[Category:7th-century English monarchs]]
[[Category:675 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Iclingas]]