The coin may have been produced to trade with Islamic Spain; or it may be part of the annual payment of 365 mancuses that Offa promised to Rome. Offa (died 29 July 796 AD) was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death. [80] Among these was St Albans Abbey, which he probably founded in the early 790s. In the mid-7th century, for example, Penda had placed royal kinsmen in control of conquered provinces. [3], The power and prestige that Offa attained made him one of the most significant rulers in Early Medieval Britain,[4] though no contemporary biography of him survives. [40] In 794, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, "King Offa ordered King Æthelberht's head to be struck off". Alcuin's letters make it clear that by the end of 790 the dispute was still not resolved, and that Alcuin was hoping to be sent to help make peace. "One possibility [for the two aspidal structures] would be the reign of King Offa of Mercia, who acquired the monastery in A.D. 781 and is credited … According to the genealogies, the last king of Lindsey was named Aldfrith, and the identification of this king with an Aldfrith who witnesses a charter of Offa's in 787 led at one time to the belief that Aldfrith was still ruling at that date. Charters from the next two years mention other kings of Kent, including Sigered, Eanmund and Heahberht. There is debate on this point, however, as several of the charters in which Offa is named "Rex Anglorum" are of doubtful authenticity. Hygeberht, already Bishop of Lichfield, became the new archdiocese's first and only archbishop, and by the end of 788 he received the pallium, a symbol of his authority, from Rome. BEORNRED 757 Poor old Beornred… no-one even knows how he came to power (he was no apparent relation to … [79], Offa was a generous patron of the church, founding several churches and monasteries, often dedicated to St Peter. "Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England: Christian Classic Ethereal Library", "July 29, 796: Death of King Offa of Mercia", "Medieval Sourcebook: The Annales Cambriae (Annals of Wales)", List of English words of Old Norse origin, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Offa_of_Mercia&oldid=1016912671, Pages using infobox royalty with unknown parameters, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Featherstone, Peter, "The Tribal Hidage and the Ealdormen of Mercia", in, idem, "Mercia and Wessex in the Ninth Century", in, Nelson, Janet, "Carolingian Contacts", in, Stafford, Pauline, "Political Women in Mercia, Eighth to Early Tenth Centuries", in, Williams, Gareth, "Mercian Coinage and Authority", in, idem, "Military Institutions and Royal Power", in, Wormald, Patrick, "The Age of Offa and Alcuin", in, This page was last edited on 9 April 2021, at 18:49. 314–323, in Brown & Farr. But Elfrida retrieved the King’s body, arranging for a boatman to transport it up the River Wye to Hereford so that it could be buried in the monastery there. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. What we know about this king of Angeln is mostly legendary alas. [77], A letter from Pope Adrian to Charlemagne survives which makes reference to Offa, but the date is uncertain; it may be as early as 784 or as late as 791. [93] Offa seems to have attempted to increase the stability of Mercian kingship, both by the elimination of dynastic rivals to his son Ecgfrith, and the reduction in status of his subject kings, sometimes to the rank of ealdorman. The overlordship of the southern English which had been exerted by Æthelbald appears to have collapsed during the civil strife over the succession, and it is not until 764, when evidence emerges of Offa's influence in Kent, that Mercian power can be seen expanding again. These sources suggest a major, long-lived king, but we have no official narrative record of his reign from within England. In this model, the Mercian kings are little more than leading noblemen. [89] Charlemagne's letter also refers to exiles from England, naming Odberht, who was almost certainly the same person as Eadberht Praen, among them. Some of his coins carry images of his wife, Cynethryth—the only Anglo-Saxon queen ever depicted on a coin. [57] Other earthworks exist along the Welsh border, of which Wat's Dyke is one of the largest, but it is not possible to date them relative to each other and so it cannot be determined whether Offa's Dyke was a copy of or the inspiration for Wat's Dyke. Squatriti, Paolo. Another king of Kent, Ecgberht, appears on a charter in 765 along with Heahberht; the charter was subsequently confirmed by Offa. For you know very well how much blood his father shed to secure the kingdom on his son. Early History. The limited evidence for Offa's direct involvement in the kingdom between 765 and 776 includes two charters of 774 in which he grants land in Kent; but there are doubts about their authenticity, so Offa's intervention in Kent prior to 776 may have been limited to the years 764–65. The Chronicle claims that when Egbert invaded Kent in 825, the men of the southeast turned to him "because earlier they were wrongly forced away from his relatives". "[1] His son Ecgfrith succeeded him after his death, but reigned for less than five months before Coenwulf of Mercia became king. Offa of Mercia, who reigned from 757 to 796, was the dominant force in Anglo-Saxon England in the second half of the eighth century.The relationship between Offa and Cynewulf, who was king of Wessex from 757 to 786, is not well documented, but it seems likely that Cynewulf maintained some independence from Mercian overlordship.Evidence of the relationship between kings can come from … Had St Alban’s or locals really tried to “retrieve it”, or just to confirm that it is Offa? [11] 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. [73], Despite the creation of the new archdiocese, Jænberht retained his position as the senior cleric in the land, with Hygeberht conceding his precedence. Summer time bathers in the Ouse told Matthew [of Paris] that sometimes one could spy Offa’s sepulcher beneath the river’s clear waters; however, all attempts to retrieve it failed. [81] Control of religious houses was one way in which a ruler of the day could provide for his family, and to this end Offa ensured (by acquiring papal privileges) that many of them would remain the property of his wife or children after his death. Year 3 and Year 4 children learn about the class system and law and order. [25], It is unlikely that Offa had significant influence in the early years of his reign outside the traditional Mercian heartland. Æthelburh's possession of these lands foreshadows Cynethryth's control of religious lands, and the pattern was continued in the early 9th century by Cwoenthryth, the daughter of King Coenwulf. This correspondence between the two kings produced the first surviving documents in English diplomatic history. King Offa’s wife Cynthryth became an Abbess at Cookham and has charge over a church at Bedford where her husband was buried. These were probably derived from contemporary coins from the reign of the Byzantine emperor Constantine VI, who minted a series showing a portrait of his mother, the later Empress Irene,[113] though the Byzantine coins show a frontal bust of Irene rather than a profile, and so cannot have been a direct model. [60] Alternatively it may be that these settlements had already been retaken by the Welsh, implying a defensive role for the barrier. [2] 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 Egbert of Wessex in the 9th century that Mercian power began to wane. [23] It is likely that both London and Middlesex were quickly under Offa's control at the start of his reign. King Offa is perhaps one of the earliest Kings that we remember by name thanks to the construction under his reign of the amazing structure that is ‘Offa’s Dyke’, winding it’s way between England and Wales. Patrick Wormald, "The Age of Offa and Alcuin", in Campbell et al., eds., The "continuation of Bede" is by other hands than Bede's, though the first few entries may be by Bede himself. [57] Early names for the dyke in both Welsh and English also support the attribution to Offa. Beonna's first coinage predates Offa's own, and implies independence from Mercia. It has been suggested that this synod was the same gathering as the second council held by the legates, but historians are divided on this issue. After the northern council George returned to the south and another council was held, attended by both Offa and Jænberht, at which further canons were issued. None of Jænberht's or Cynethryth's coins occur in this coinage, whereas all of Æthelheard's coins are of the new, heavier weight. It is unclear whether this letter is related to the legatine mission of 786; if it predates it, then the mission might have been partly one of reconciliation, but the letter might well have been written after the mission. It is likely that the king was buried in Bedford. Learn about important Anglo-Saxon Kings: King Ethelbert, King Offa and King Alfred. However, was he buried in a church or in a chapel so close to the river that it eventually wound up submerged so deeply that no could get close to it? [6][7] A charter might record the names of both a subject king and his overlord on the witness list appended to the grant. [120] Some of his charters use the title "Rex Anglorum," or "King of the English," and this has been seen as a sweeping statement of his power. [109] Coin portraits of Offa have been described as "showing a delicacy of execution which is unique in the whole history of the Anglo-Saxon coinage". Born the son of Egberht, King of Wessex and Rudberga. Simon Keynes, "Offa", in Lapidge, The quote is from Patrick Wormald, "Bede, the. [16] Æthelbald granted land to Eanwulf in the territory of the Hwicce, and it is possible that Offa and Æthelbald were from the same branch of the family. [90], Events in southern Britain to 796 have sometimes been portrayed as a struggle between Offa and Charlemagne, but the disparity in their power was enormous. He is buried at Bedford and succeeded for a short time by his son, Egfrith, and then a distant cousin, Coenwulf. [18], Æthelbald, who had ruled Mercia since 716, was assassinated in 757. George then went to Northumbria, while Theophylact visited Mercia and "parts of Britain". Sudeley Castle is one of the few remaining private castle residences in England and is the only private castle to have a queen buried within its grounds. There is evidence she was alive in 798 when a dispute over church land with Aethelhard, Archbishop of Canterbury was settled at a … In the words of Simon Keynes, "Offa was driven by a lust for power, not a vision of English unity; and what he left was a reputation, not a legacy. [71], Another possible reason for the creation of an archbishopric at Lichfield relates to Offa's son, Ecgfrith of Mercia. Symeon of Durham, a twelfth-century chronicler, records that in 771 Offa defeated "the people of Hastings", which may record the extension of Offa's dominion over the entire kingdom. [121] Many historians regard Offa's achievements as second only to Alfred the Great among the Anglo-Saxon kings. Offa was a Christian king who came into conflict with the Church, particularly with Jænberht, the Archbishop of Canterbury. [32] The cause of the conflict is also unknown: if Offa was ruling Kent before 776, the battle of Otford was probably a rebellion against Mercian control. The Chronicle doesn't make it clear whether Eadberht casme to the throne after Offa's death, or after Ecgfrith's. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. Offa persuaded Pope Adrian I to divide the archdiocese of Canterbury in two, creating a new archdiocese of Lichfield. One is that descendants of different lines of the royal family competed for the throne. Beonna's first coinage predates Offa's own, and implies independence from Mercia. [58] Despite Asser's comment that the dyke ran "from sea to sea", it is now thought that the original structure only covered about two-thirds of the length of the border: in the north it ends near Llanfynydd, less than five miles (8 km) from the coast, while in the south it stops at Rushock Hill, near Kington in Herefordshire, less than fifty miles (80 km) from the Bristol Channel. As ruler of Mercia from 757 to 796, Offa brought southern England to the highest level of political unification it had yet achieved in the Anglo-Saxon period (5th–11th century ce).He also formed ties with rulers on the European continent. [31], The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that "the Mercians and the inhabitants of Kent fought at Otford" in 776, but does not give the outcome of the battle. [83], Offa's diplomatic relations with Europe are well documented, but appear to belong only to the last dozen years of his reign. For other uses, see, A coin depicting Offa with the inscription, Early reign, the midland territories and the Middle and East Saxons. The burhs are forerunners of the defensive network successfully implemented by Alfred the Great a century later to deal with the Danish invasions. [26], Offa appears to have exploited an unstable situation in Kent after 762. Offa rescinded grants made to Canterbury by Egbert, and it is also known that Jænberht claimed the monastery of Cookham, which was in Offa's possession. Or could it be a Roman mausoleum? He served as Sub-king of Kent, Essex, Sussex and Surrey between 825 and 828. There is at least some basis for Offa’s burial near Bedford. [130] A letter written by Alcuin in 797 to a Mercian ealdorman named Osbert makes it apparent that Offa had gone to great lengths to ensure that his son Ecgfrith would succeed him. Roger of Wendover records "Offa, the magnificent king of the Mercians, having nearly completed his most noble monastery, died, according to the opinion of many, in the town of Offley (in Hertfordshire), and his body is said to have been conveyed to the town of Bedford, and to have been buried in a royal manner in a certain chapel outside the city, situated on the bank of the river Ouse. [115], There are also surviving gold coins from Offa's reign. Following the murder of King Cynewulf, Egbert's kinsman, Beothric was elected to the vacant throne of Wessex in 786, but Egbert, who considered himself to have a better claim, contested his right. [43][44], To the south of Mercia, Cynewulf came to the throne of Wessex in 757 and recovered much of the border territory that Æthelbald had conquered from the West Saxons. About 830 he married Osburga of Hampshire with whom he had at least seven children. [98][99] Offa's Kentish charters show him laying these same burdens on the recipients of his grants there, and this may be a sign that the obligations were being spread outside Mercia. [59], The construction of the dyke suggests that it was built to create an effective barrier and to command views into Wales. He is buried in Winchester. 1 image, 1 fieldnote, 1 piece of folklore, plus information on many more ancient sites nearby and across the UK & Ireland. Some coins show him wearing a necklace with a pendant. Offa minted pennies in East Anglia in the early 790s, so it is likely that Æthelberht rebelled against Offa and was be… Summer time bathers in the Ouse told Matthew [of Paris] that sometimes one could spy Offa’s sepulcher beneath the river’s clear waters; however, all attempts to retrieve it failed. [27] There is less agreement among historians on whether Offa had general overlordship of Kent thereafter. King Henry VIII died on January 28, 1547. The dyke can be regarded in the light of these counterparts as the largest and most recent great construction of the preliterate inhabitants of Britain. [86][87], Charlemagne sought support from the English church at the council of Frankfurt in 794, where the canons passed in 787 at the Second Council of Nicaea were repudiated, and the heresies of two Spanish bishops, Felix and Elipandus, were condemned. We are left with even more questions that Matthew of Paris. Then possibly buried near Bedford by the banks of the river Ouse at a chapel, which today could be St Paul’s church. It has been argued that Offa's authority was recognised early in his reign by local kings in western Sussex, but that eastern Sussex (the area around Hastings) submitted to him less readily. Charters dating from the first two years of Offa's reign show the Hwiccan kings as reguli, or kinglets, under his authority; and it is likely that he was also quick to gain control over the Magonsæte, for whom there is no record of an independent ruler after 740. After Hygeberht became archbishop, he consecrated Ecgfrith as king; the ceremony took place within a year of Hygeberht's elevation. 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. [56] The dyke has not been dated by archaeological methods, but most historians find no reason to doubt Asser's attribution. Timeline for King Offa Since then the tombs of many other kings and queens of the United Kingdom, and several other notable royals, have been buried in the Royal Vault. A report on the mission, sent by the legates to Pope Adrian, gives details of a council held by George in Northumbria, and the canons issued there, but little detail survives of Theophylact's mission. The issue must have been discussed with the papal legates in 786, although it is not mentioned in the accounts that have survived. Henry had given her a magnificent funeral after which she was buried in a vault under… 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. The total length of this section is about 64 miles (103 km). [81] The depictions of Offa on the coins include a "striking and elegant" portrait showing him with his hair in voluminous curls, and another where he wears a fringe and tight curls. They visited Canterbury first, and then were received by Offa at his court. In one charter Offa refers to Æthelbald as his kinsman, and Headbert, Æthelbald's brother, continued to witness charters after Offa rose to power. [8][9] The eighth-century monk and chronicler the Venerable Bede wrote a history of the English church called 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. It was the end of an era. Edmund And Fremund' [84][85] In about 789, or shortly before, Charlemagne proposed that his son Charles marry one of Offa's daughters, most likely Ælfflæd. In the 780s he extended Mercian Supremacy over most of southern England, allying with Beorhtric of Wessex, who married Offa's daughter Eadburh, and regained complete control of the southeast. Competing magnates, those called in charters "dux" or "princeps" (that is, leaders), may have brought the kings to power. Alfred says that he has included in his code those laws of Offa, Ine of Wessex and Æthelberht of Kent which he found "most just". [102][103], Offa issued laws in his name, but no details of them have survived. Adrian disclaims all belief in the rumour, but it is clear it had been a concern to him. 1. 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., Peter Featherstone, provides a review of some theories about the origins of the. Other substantial construction projects of a similar date do exist, however, such as Wat's Dyke and Danevirke, in what is now Germany as well as such sites as Stonehenge from millennia earlier. Not listed in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, but held equivalent or greater power. See Swanton, Kirby gives details of the problems with the charters, and also suggests that the situation in Kent and Sussex at this time may be connected with the entry for 823 in the. Merican King Offa is a classic case in point. They may represent later forgeries of the 10th century, when this title was standard for kings of England. The sub-kingdoms of the Hwicce, the Tomsæte and the unidentified Gaini are examples of such power-bases. [72] It is possible that Jænberht refused to perform the ceremony, and that Offa needed an alternative archbishop for that purpose. According to a later continuation of Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica (written anonymously after Bede's death) the king was "treacherously murdered at night by his own bodyguards," though the reason why is unrecorded. Alternate name spelling is Aethelwulf. "[20] It is possible that Offa did not gain the throne until 758, however, since a charter of 789 describes Offa as being in the thirty-first year of his reign. [76] When Jænberht died in 792, he was replaced by Æthelheard, who was consecrated by Hygeberht, now senior in his turn. Hoffmann’s An Environmental History of Medieval Europe, CFP: Contagions sessions at the International Congress for Medieval Studies 2018 | Contagions, Merlin, Myrddin Wyllt, & the ‘Men of the North’, AMERICAN THEATRE | Scholar Uncovers Shakespeare ‘Quarantine’ Sonnet. [14][15], Offa's ancestry is given in the Anglian collection, a set of genealogies that include lines of descent for four Mercian kings. 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