Wulfhere or Wulfar was King of Mercia from 658 until 675 AD. He was the first Christian king of all 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. His campaigns against the West Saxons led to Mercian control of much of the Thames valley.
About Wulfhere of Mercia in brief
Wulfhere or Wulfar was King of Mercia from 658 until 675 AD. He was the first Christian king of all 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. His campaigns against the West Saxons led to Mercian control of much of the Thames valley. He conquered the Isle of Wight and the Meon valley and gave them to King Æthelwealh of the South Saxons. He also had influence in Surrey, Essex, and Kent. He married Eormenhild, the daughter of King Eorcenberht of Kent. Wulfhere was succeeded as King ofMercia by his brother, Åthelred. The earliest Mercian king about whom definite historical information has survived is Penda of Mercian. He is the father of two future Mercia kings: Wulf here and Álfred. He died, probably of disease, in 675. The main source for this period is Bede’s History of the church, in about AD 731. Despite its focus on the southern of England, this work also provides valuable information about the early kingdoms. For other kingdoms such as Northumbrian, 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 which appears to have incorporated much information recorded in earlier periods of the 9th century in Wessex.
The Chronicle’s anonymous scribe seems to have included much information about Mercia that is not recorded in the earlier periods. It also appears that Bede incorporated some of this information into his account of the Anglo- Saxon Chronicle, compiled at the end century in the 8th century. The chronicle is less informative than other sources about other kingdoms, which are less informative about this period in the 7th and 8th centuries in England. It is not clear whether Bede included Mercia in his list of kingdoms. The king of Mercie was Penda, who was killed in 655 at the Battle of Winwaed, fighting against Oswiu. Penda’s son Peada became king under Oswiu’s overlordships but was murdered six months later. According to genealogies, the early kings were descended from Icel; the dynasty is therefore known as the Iclingas. The first Mercian kings were called Penda and Oswald. The fifth of these was Edwin of Northumberria, killed at theBattle of Hatfield Chase by a combined force including Cadwallon, a British king of Gwynedd and Penda. After Edwin’s death, Northumberland briefly fell apart into its two constituent kingdoms. Within a year Oswald killed Cad wallon and reunited the kingdoms, and subsequently re-established Northumbrians hegemony over the south of England.
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