Cearl of Mercia

Cearl of Mercia

Cearl was an early king of Mercia who ruled during the early part of the 7th century, perhaps from about 606 to about 626. He is the first Mercian king mentioned by Bede in his "Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum".

Cearl's ancestry is unknown. He is not included in the Mercian royal genealogy; ["Anglo-Saxon Chronicle", under the year 626, in which Penda's ancestry is listed.] Henry of Huntingdon in the 12th century placed him as ruling after Pybba, saying that he was not Pybba's son but was his kinsman. [Henry of Huntingdon, "Historia Anglorum", translated by Diana Greenway (1997), Book II, chapter 27 (page 111). Greenway notes that Henry presumably concluded that Cearl was not in the direct royal line, based on "ASC" 626, and "fitted him in between the father and son" (note 111).]

According to Bede, he had a daughter, Cwenburh, who married the exiled Edwin of Deira, who was later king of Northumbria, and had two sons by him, Osfrith and Eadfrith (Bede's only mention of Cearl is in the context of this marriage). [Bede, "Ecclesiastical History of the English People", [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/bede-book2.html Book II, Chapter XIV.] ] Historians have noted the marriage as evidence for Cearl's independence from the then-Northumbrian king Æthelfrith, since Edwin was Æthelfrith's rival and Cearl would not have married his daughter to an enemy of his overlord. [Nicholas Brooks, "The Formation of the Mercian Kingdom", in S. Bassett, "The Origins of Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms" (1989), page 166; Frank Stenton, "Anglo-Saxon England" (1943), third edition (1971), reissued paperback (Oxford University Press, 1998), pages 38–39; see also N.J. Higham, "An English empire: Bede and the early Anglo-Saxon kings" (1995), pp. 143–151.] The "Historia Britonum" credits the later king Penda with first separating the Mercians from the Northumbrians, but if Cearl was able to make this marriage to Æthelfrith's enemy he must not have been subject to him—possibly any subject relationship only developed at a later date. The historian D. P. Kirby speculated that perhaps Cearl was enabled to marry his daughter to Edwin due to the protection of the powerful East Anglian king Raedwald, and that Edwin's subsequent exile among the East Angles may have been due to Æthelfrith's power beginning "to impinge on Cearl or his successors among the Mercians." [D. P. Kirby, "The Earliest English Kings" (1991), revised edition (2000), pages 55 and 61.] Cearl was followed as king by Penda, son of Pybba, who was probably king by the year 633 (and possibly by 626, if the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" is correct), but whether Penda came to power immediately after Cearl or after some intervening period is unknown. It is also unknown what relationship Cearl had to Penda, if any. That Cearl married his daughter to Edwin could be evidence that he and Penda were rivals, since Penda later fought against and defeated Edwin (in alliance with Cadwallon of Gwynedd). [Ann Williams, Alfred P. Smyth, and D. P. Kirby, "A Biographical Dictionary of Dark Age Britain" (1991), page 74.]

More evidence could be seen for a dynastic rivalry between Cearl and Penda in Penda's later execution (according to Bede) of Eadfrith, a captured son of Edwin who was Cearl's grandson through Cwenburh. Although Penda's reason is unknown, the killing of Eadfrith is often seen as the result of pressure from the Northumbrian king Oswald, to whom Eadfrith would have represented a threat; it is, however, also possible that Penda may have decided that Eadfrith's lineage made him unsuitable for use as a puppet against Oswald, since he would represent a threat to Penda's own position through his descent from Cearl. [Michelle Ziegler, " [http://www.mun.ca/mst/heroicage/issues/2/ha2pen.htm The Politics of Exile in Early Northumbria] ", "The Heroic Age", Issue 2, Autumn/Winter 1999.]

ee also

*Kings of Mercia family tree

Notes and references


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Mercia — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Habitantes de Inglaterra hacia el 600 Mercia fue uno de los reinos de la heptarquía anglosajona, en lo que ahora es Inglaterra, en la región Central, con su corazón en el valle del río Trent y sus afluentes. Los… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Mercia — This article is about the Anglo Saxon kingdom. For the Spanish city, see Murcia. For other uses, see Mercia (disambiguation). Kingdom of Mercia Miercna rīce ← …   Wikipedia

  • Penda of Mercia — Penda (died November 15, 655Manuscript A of the Anglo Saxon Chronicle gives the year as 655. Bede also gives the year as 655 and specifies a date, November 15. R. L. Poole ( Studies in Chronology and History , 1934) put forward the theory that… …   Wikipedia

  • List of monarchs of Mercia — Lists of the kings of Anglo Saxon England This article is part of a series Essex Mercia …   Wikipedia

  • Reino de Mercia — Miercna rīce Reino de Mercia ← 30px …   Wikipedia Español

  • Offa of Mercia — This article is about Offa of Mercia. For other meanings of Offa, see Offa (disambiguation). Offa Depiction of Offa in a thirteenth century manuscript King of Mercia Reign 757 – July 796 Predecessor …   Wikipedia

  • Coenwulf of Mercia — Coenwulf redirects here. For other uses, see Coenwulf (disambiguation). Coenwulf King of Mercia Coenwulf depicted on an early ninth century gold mancus Reign …   Wikipedia

  • Wulfhere of Mercia — Wulfhere redirects here. For the archbishop of York, see Wulfhere of York. Wulfhere (died 675) was King of Mercia from the end of the 650s until 675. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he… …   Wikipedia

  • Coenred of Mercia — Coenred (also spelled Cenred; fl. 675–709) was king of Mercia, now part of England, from 704 to 709. He was a son of the Mercian king Wulfhere, whose brother Æthelred succeeded to the throne in 675 on Wulfhere s death. In 704, Æthelred abdicated… …   Wikipedia

  • Ceolwulf II of Mercia — Ceolwulf II (probably died 881 AD) was the last king of the Mercians. He succeeded Burgred of Mercia who was deposed in 874. Contents 1 Dynastic background 2 Mercia, Wessex and the Vikings 2.1 Wales …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”