Parents: Thingfrith
Royal House: Mercia
Spouse: Cynethryth
Predecessor: Beornred
Reign: 757 – 796
Summary: Few Anglo-Saxon monarchs are known as well as Offa. A Bretwalda (High King) of England, he rose from relatively humble origins to rule much of modern-day England. He came to the throne following the assassination of Æthelbald in 757. A rival king, Beornred, ruled for a short while before Offa defeated him. Two sub-kingdoms, Hwicce and the Magonsæte both declared independence during the brief civil war, and Offa spent the first year of his reign winning them back. The sub-kingdom of Lindsey also probably fell into Mercian control at around this time. Other than these quick conquests, Offa spent the first five years of his reign solidifying his control over Mercia and Essex. By the early 760s, though, instability in neighboring Kent allowed Offa to step in an chose his own client king. Fighting between Mercia and Kent continued into the 780s with Offa finally becoming undisputed overlord by 785. To end future rebellions, Offa killed off the Kentish royal family and annexed the kingdom to Mercia. Sussex retained its independence for much longer but also fell by the end of the 780s. East Anglia fell into Mercian hands in 794 after Offa had the king beheaded, while in Wessex the king was controlled by Offa's daughter, Eadburh. Only Northumbria seemed to avoid direct overlordship from Offa, but even in the remote north of England, Offa's presence could be felt as King Æthelred I married Offa's daughter, Ælfflæd in 792.
Royal House: Mercia
Spouse: Cynethryth
Predecessor: Beornred
Reign: 757 – 796
Summary: Few Anglo-Saxon monarchs are known as well as Offa. A Bretwalda (High King) of England, he rose from relatively humble origins to rule much of modern-day England. He came to the throne following the assassination of Æthelbald in 757. A rival king, Beornred, ruled for a short while before Offa defeated him. Two sub-kingdoms, Hwicce and the Magonsæte both declared independence during the brief civil war, and Offa spent the first year of his reign winning them back. The sub-kingdom of Lindsey also probably fell into Mercian control at around this time. Other than these quick conquests, Offa spent the first five years of his reign solidifying his control over Mercia and Essex. By the early 760s, though, instability in neighboring Kent allowed Offa to step in an chose his own client king. Fighting between Mercia and Kent continued into the 780s with Offa finally becoming undisputed overlord by 785. To end future rebellions, Offa killed off the Kentish royal family and annexed the kingdom to Mercia. Sussex retained its independence for much longer but also fell by the end of the 780s. East Anglia fell into Mercian hands in 794 after Offa had the king beheaded, while in Wessex the king was controlled by Offa's daughter, Eadburh. Only Northumbria seemed to avoid direct overlordship from Offa, but even in the remote north of England, Offa's presence could be felt as King Æthelred I married Offa's daughter, Ælfflæd in 792.
Problems outside of England constantly dogged Offa. The various Welsh kingdoms were a constant bane and at least three times Offa was forced to fight campaigns against Welsh incursions. Offa is thought to have built Offa's Dyke along the Welsh border to keep the Welsh out of England. In Church relations, Offa was a Christian king but Pope Adrian I decided it was time that England receive more direct papal influence. He sent a new papal mission to England, the first since Augustine, to create canon law for the various kingdoms. Offa, often at odds with the Archbishop of Canterbury who was loyal to the Kentish kings, established the Archdiocese of Lichfield as a rival. The archdiocese only ever had a single archbishop. Offa established numerous churches and monasteries, mostly in Mercia. Ultimately, Offa has been considered the greatest king of England before Alfred the Great, and one of the single most unifying characters in early English history, despite the fact that Offa was never driven to unify, only conquer. Mercia was his empire, not England, and he sought to secure his growing kingdom for himself and his children. When he died in 796, he was buried at Bedford and succeeded by his son, Ecgfrith. But the new king lasted only five months and because Offa had been so thorough in his conquest, no other line of Mercian royals could be found. Thus Offa's dynastic legacy ended before it really started, and the throne of Mercia fell to a distant cousin.
Date of Death: 26 July 796
Successor: Ecgfrith
Other Monarchs Who Died Today:
Successor: Ecgfrith
Other Monarchs Who Died Today:
- Jin Chengdi, emperor of China (342)
- Nikephoros I Logothetes, emperor of Constantinople (811)
- Komyo, emperor of Japan (1380)
- Paul II, pope of Rome (1471)
- George IV, king of the United Kingdom (1830)
- Otto, king of Greece (1867)
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