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MerciasroleintheearlyhistoryofEnglandhasprovedto e gevena er e n a s e ea .

Bytheyear716a.D.anephewofPenda,Ethelbald,becameitsKin thusbe innin aneweraof oliticalex ansion.

OnemaindifferencebetweenPendaandhismephewwas

thereligion

each

professed.

Beda,referredtohimasTheKingofEnglandbelowNorthumbriawhichwas,nevertheless,sortofinaccurate,becausehewasnotabletocon uerWessex.Thissituationled

later

to

his

murder

by

the

hands

of

his

own

court

members.

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The

re

rise

of

Mercia EthelbaldwassucceededbyOffawhowasabletobend

Wessex,acquiringcontroloveritin777.

Theconquer

was

as

well

by

means

of

marriage,

forcing

Wessexskingtomarryoneofhisdaughters.Theother

controlovertheHeptarchy.

Hebecame

so

renowned

in

the

continent

that

Carolus

Magnus C ar emagne treate imas isequa ,evenacceptingsuggestionsfromOffatopressurethepope(Adrian)atthemomentofrelocatingthemainEnglishabbey

fromCanterbury

to

Lichfield.

The

Pope

ended

up

fulfilling

Offaswish.

beauty.

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TheVikingsandthefallofMercia

Merciashegemonylasted42yearsbutcametoanendduetoaScandinavianethnicgroupcomingfromSweden:theDens.

TheDenstogetherwiththeNorwegiansandthe.

Intheharshcircumstancesinwhichtheylived,they

wars.

Bythe8th Century,theDens,defeatedbytheothertwo

andused

to

navigate,

combat

and

conquer

had

anew

andbetteridea:Plunderingwhichbecamea.

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The

Vikin s

and

the

fall

of

Mercia OthercommunitiesbegantonamethemNordics,theycalled

themselvesVikings(whichintheScandinavianlanguagesmean arr ors .

Fightingand

dying

in

battle

was

for

them

ahonor.

Nearthe9th Century,VikingslandedinKentandterrorizedit.TheylaterwouldchargetributetotheBritishshorepeoplesinordernottoinvadethem.

Theysurrounded

England

and

were

able

to

conquer

and

annihilate

the

incipientIrishpeoples,bringingthedisappearingoftheCelticculturecloseto90%.

Theywereneverable,though,toconquerScotlandthankstotheunion

ofthe

Picts

and

Scotts

who

accepted

the

guidance

of

aunified

king:

KennethMcAlpinwhobecameKennethI.SomethingthatcouldnothappeninEngland,evenmoreafterOffasdeath.Thisbroughtthefall

o erc aw c cou n n ano erc ar sma csuccessor.