Regatta Kid's Point 214 Mercia Walking Jacket

Product Information

Son of Leofwine, appointed by Cnut as earl. Chiefly remembered for his famous wife, Godgifu ( Lady Godiva). Civic heraldry of England and Wales – Hertdordshire". www.civicheraldry.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 October 2008 . Retrieved 15 January 2008.

At some point before the accession of Æthelbald in 716 the Mercians conquered the region around Wroxeter, known to the Welsh as Pengwern or as "The Paradise of Powys". Elegies written in the persona of its dispossessed rulers record the sorrow at this loss. [13] A series of maps that illustrate the increasing hegemony of Mercia during the 8th century Claimed to be a cousin of Wigstan. Usurped the kingship and forced Ælfflæd to marry his son, Beorhtfrith. Baxter, Stephen (2007). The earls of Mercia: lordship and power in late Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199230983. Gelling, Margaret (1989). "The Early History of Western Mercia". In Bassett, S. (ed.). The Origins of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. pp.184–201. ISBN 978-0718513177.

Attributed arms of the Kingdom of Mercia in the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy: Azure, a saltire or. The earliest surviving recorded use of these attributed arms is in a manuscript dating from the reign of King Henry III (1216-1272), namely College of Arms Ms. L.14. (Source: Wikipedia article w:Mercia). The arms were subsequently used by the Abbey of St Albans, founded by King Offa of Mercia. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century and the incorporation of the Borough (town) of St Albans the coat of arms was used on the town's corporate seal and was officially recorded as the arms of the town at the Heraldic Visitation of 1634. (Source: wikipedia, quoting "Civic heraldry of England and Wales, www.civicheraldry.co.uk , http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/herts.html ) The attributed arms are today flown on a standard over Tamworth Castle, in Staffordshire, the ancient seat of the Mercian Kings and appears on street signs welcoming people to the town of Tamworth, styled "the ancient capital of Mercia". It was also flown outside Birmingham Council House during 2009 while the Staffordshire Hoard was on display in the city before being taken to the British Museum in London. The saltire has been incorporated into several coats of arms of Mercian towns, including Tamworth and Leek, both in Staffordshire and Blaby. It was recognised as the Mercian flag by the Flag Institute in 2014. ( https://www.flaginstitute.org/wp/flags/mercia/ ) The final Mercian king, Ceolwulf II, died in 879 with the kingdom appearing to have lost its political independence. Initially, it was ruled by a lord or ealdorman under the overlordship of Alfred the Great, who styled himself "King of the Anglo-Saxons". The kingdom had a brief period of independence in the mid-10th century and in 1016, by which time it was viewed as a province with temporary independence. Wessex conquered and united all the kingdoms into the Kingdom of England. The kingdom became an earldom until 1071. As a flag, the Cross of St Alban is flown from Tamworth Castle, the ancient seat of the Mercian Kings, to this day. It was also flown outside Birmingham Council House during 2009 while the Staffordshire Hoard was on display in the city before being taken to the British Museum in London. The cross has been incorporated into a number of coats of arms of Mercian towns, such as Tamworth, Leek and Blaby. Heraldry of the world - Coventry". www.ngw.nl. Archived from the original on 28 June 2008 . Retrieved 17 May 2008. St Editha looks down from her niche above the main altar on the church in Tamworth that bears her name. The princess, spurned by her Viking husband, went on to organise a Christian religious tradition in this area.

Son of Edward the Elder and nephew of Æthelflæd. Became King of Mercia on Edward's death (Jul 924), and King of Wessex about 16 days later. King Æthelbald (716–757) faced opposition from two strong rivals; Wihtred of Kent and Ine of Wessex, but when Wihtred died in 725, and Ine abdicated to become a monk, Æthelbald re-established Mercia's hegemony over all the English south of the Humber. In 752 Æthelbald was defeated by the West Saxons under Cuthred, but he seems to have restored his supremacy over Wessex by 757. The Mercians dwelling north of the River Trent (roughly corresponding to eastern Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire). Mercia's exact evolution at the start of the Anglo-Saxon era remains more obscure than that of Northumbria, Kent, or even Wessex. Mercia developed an effective political structure and was Christianised later than the other kingdoms. [6] Archaeological surveys show that Angles settled the lands north of the River Thames by the 6th century. The name "Mercia" is Mercian Old English for "boundary folk" (see Welsh Marches), and the traditional interpretation is that the kingdom originated along the frontier between the native Welsh and the Anglo-Saxon invaders. However, Peter Hunter Blair argued an alternative interpretation: that they emerged along the frontier between Northumbria and the inhabitants of the Trent river valley. [7] Possibly a descendant of the C-dynasty, of which Ceolwulf I was a member, perhaps via intermarriage with W-dynasty. Lost eastern Mercia to the Danes in 877.The British Army has made use of several regional identities in naming larger, amalgamated formations. After the Second World War, the infantry regiments of Cheshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire were organised in the Mercian Brigade (1948–1968). Today, "Mercia" appears in the titles of two regiments, the Mercian Regiment, founded in 2007, which recruits in Cheshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Worcestershire, and parts of Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, and the Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry, founded in 1992 as part of the Territorial Army. In 1967, the police forces of Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire were combined into the West Mercia Constabulary, which changed its name to West Mercia Police in 2009. [42] was murdered by one of his bodyguards in 757, and a civil war broke out which was concluded with the victory of Offa, a king bearing the name of the ancient hero king of the English when they lived in Germany. Offa was forced to build anew the hegemony 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 the south, also he took an active hand in administering the affairs of his kingdom by founding market towns and overseeing the first major issues of gold coins in Britain; he assumed a role in the administration of the Church in England (sponsoring the short-lived archbishopric of Lichfield), and negotiated with Charlemagne as an equal. Offa indeed took the title "Emperor of Britain", and this may have inspired Charlemagne to take the title of Roman Emperor, perhaps on the urging of his adviser, Alcuin of York, a Northumbrian.

Among the flags flown regularly from Tamworth Castle are the flag of the kingdom of Mercia (above), the Cross of St Alban, which comes from Offa's time. The one below is based on the coat of arms of the Marmion family, the lords of the castle from 1101-1291. Main articles: Penda, Wulfhere, Æthelbald of Mercia, and Mercian Supremacy Mercia and the main Anglo-Saxon kingdoms at about 600

filter & sort by

Fletcher, Richard (1997). The Conversion of Europe. HarperCollins. pp.172–174, 181–182. ISBN 0-00-255203-5. Brown, Michelle; Farr, Carol, eds. (2005). Mercia: An Anglo-Saxon Kingdom in Europe. ISBN 0826477658. Mercian rulers remained resolutely pagan until the reign of Peada in 656, although this did not prevent them joining coalitions with Christian Welsh rulers to resist Northumbria. The first appearance of Christianity in Mercia, however, had come at least thirty years earlier, following the Battle of Cirencester of 628, when Penda incorporated the formerly West Saxon territories of Hwicce into his kingdom. [34] The saltire had become the attributed arms of the Kingdom of Mercia by the 13th century. [22] The arms are blazoned Azure, a saltire Or, meaning a gold (or yellow) saltire on a blue field. The arms were subsequently used by the Abbey of St Albans, founded by King Offa of Mercia. With the dissolution of the Abbey and the incorporation of the borough of St Albans the device was used on the town's corporate seal and was officially recorded as the arms of the town at an heraldic visitation in 1634. [23] Camden, William (1610). "A Chronological description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland". London: George Bishop and John Norton.

Margaret Gelling. 'The Early History of Western Mercia'. (p.184–201; In: The Origins of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. S. Bassett. 1989)

Contents

When Æthelflæd died in 918, Ælfwynn, her daughter by Æthelred, succeeded to power but within six months Edward had deprived her of all authority in Mercia and taken her into Wessex. [12] Those dwelling north of the River Trent (approx. N. Staffordshire, S. Derbyshire& Nottinghamshire). This excavated area outside St Mary's in Stafford marks the first established church in the town. The wooden object in the centre is a copy of St Bertelin's Preaching Cross, by which he was supposed to held his outdoor gatherings. The original cross lies still in the ground below with other remains of the original wooden structure. The two greatest kings of Mercia, arguably, are Athelred and Offa, seen here together on the exterior of Lichfield Cathedral.