Offa and the Mercian Wars
Page 23
‘Lichfield Angel’
Lilla
Lincoln
battle of
Lindisfarne
Lindsey
London
Ludeca, king of Mercia
Magonsaetan
Maldon, battle of
Maserfelth, battle of
‘Mercian Register’
Merewalh, king of the Magonsaetan
Merton, battle of
Meurig, king of Gwent
Middle Angles
Mount Badon, battle of
Mugdock, battle of
Mul, prince of Wessex
Nechtansmere, battle of
Nennius, as source for Mercian history
Noirmoutier
Northampton
Norwegians
Nottingham
siege of
Oengus mac Fergus, king of the Picts
Offa, king of Angeln
Offa, king of the East Saxons
Offa, king of Mercia
Offa’s Dyke
Ohtar, Jarl
Old Sarum, battle of
Osbald, king of Northumbria
Osberht, king of Northumbria
Osfrith, prince of Northumbria
Osric, king of Deira
Osthryth, queen of Mercia
Oswald, king of Northumbria
Oswestry
Oswine, king of Deira
Oswy, king of Northumbria
Otford, battle of
paganism
pattern welding
Paulinus, Bishop
Peada, king of Mercia
Penda, king of Mercia
Peterborough
Picts
plague
Powys
Procopius of Caesarea
Pybba
Quentovic
Raedwald, king of East Anglia
Raegenhere, prince of East Anglia
Ragnar Lothbrok
Reading
Repton
Rhodri ap Merfyn, king of Gwynedd
Rhuddlan, battle of
rivers
battles on
navigation on
as obstacles
roads
evidence for post-Roman survival
influence on military operations
Rochester
Romans in Britain surviving buildings
Saebbi, king of the East Saxons
‘Saint Chad Gospels’
salt
Saxo Grammaticus
Scots
seaxes
Secandune, battle of
Seckington
Selred, king of the East Saxons
Severn, River
sheep
Sheppey
Sherwood Forest
shields
‘shieldwall’ tactics
ships
Viking
siege techniques
Sigeberht, king of East Anglia
Sigeberht, king of Wessex
Sigehere, king of the East Saxons
silver
slaves/slavery
slings
snakes
Somerton, siege of
spears
Stafford
‘Staffordshire Hoard’
standards
Stiklarstadir, battle of
Strathclyde
Surrey
Sussex
Sutton Hoo
Svoldr, battle of
swords
tactics
Anglo-Saxon
Viking
Tamworth
taxation/tribute
Tempsford, battle of
Tettenhall, battle of
Tewdwr ap Bili, king of Strathclyde
Thames, River
Thanet
thegns
Theodore, Archbishop
Thetford
Torksey
Towcester
Trent, River
battle of
Tribal Hidage
Ubbi
Uppsala
Vikings
armies
invasions
settlement in England
Vortigern, King
Wales
armies
political organisation
Wall
Warwick
weapons
Wednesfield
Weohstan, ealdorman
wergild
West Heslerton
‘Widsith’
Wiglaf, king of Mercia
Wigstan, Saint
Winbertus
Winchcombe
Winchester
Winwaed, battle of
Winwick
witan
Woden
Woden’s Barrow, battle of
Woden’s Field, battle of
wolves
wounds, archaeological evidence for
Wulfhere, king of Mercia
‘Y Gododdin’
York
battle of
fortifications of
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1. A surviving section of the Roman Icknield Street in Sutton Coldfield Park, approximately ten miles south of its junction with Watling Street at Wall. Although the ditches on either side are partially filled in, the original metalled surface is still visible. Such roads allowed Mercian armies to move swiftly across the country long after the departure of the legions that had built them.
2. The Roman settlement at Wall, believed to have been a principal Mercian stronghold in the seventh century. The royal hall was probably situated on the hill where the church now stands.
3. Excavated Roman ruins at Wall. These stood considerably higher in Anglo-Saxon times, and may have been incorporated into a defensive perimeter justifying the Welsh description of the site as a ‘caer’ or fortress.
4. Sculptures depicting prominent saints and kings of England decorate the façade of Lichfield Cathedral, briefly the seat of a Mercian archbishop in the eighth century.
5. An idealised representation of Penda, rather incongruously carrying a Christian cross, on the front of Lichfield Cathedral.
6. Offa, as depicted on the facade of Lichfield Cathedral. The bishop’s mitre is an appropriate symbol of the close ties with the church which buttressed his power.
7. Saint Chad’s Well at Stowe, near Lichfield. Largely forgotten today, this was an important place of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages, and may mark the spot where Chad established his seat as bishop of Mercia in the late seventh century.
8. A close up view of the gold-and garnet-decorated hilt from a reproduction of the Sutton Hoo king’s sword. This elaborate ornamentation is characteristic of the weapons carried by elite warriors of the seventh century, and several similar examples have been found in the Staffordshire Hoard. (Mark Talbot)
9. A reproduction Anglo-Saxon sword of around the ninth century, based on an example discovered at Gilling in Yorkshire in 1976, and now in the Yorkshire Museum. The plainer ‘lobed’ pommel is typical of both English and Scandinavian weapons of the Viking era. (Paul Craddock, Mercia Sveiter)
10. A reconstruction of the eighth-century Coppergate helmet from York. Note the narrow nasal and hinged cheek pieces, which together provide almost complete protection for the face without compromising the wearer’s vision. Like the Sutton Hoo sword this was an expensive item, typical of the era when warfare was the preserve of a privileged elite. (Paul Craddock, Mercia Sveiter)
11. Another view of the reconstructed Coppergate helmet, showing the reinforcing bars acro
ss the crown and the mail aventail to protect the neck. (Paul Craddock, Mercia Sveiter)
12. A reproduction spangenhelm, a simpler and cheaper type of helmet popular with Frankish and Viking warriors in the ninth and tenth centuries. Although no examples have yet been excavated in England, it is likely that similar helmets were widespread in Mercia during the Viking Wars. (Mercia Sveiter)
13. The church of All Saints at Brixworth, Northamptonshire. Probably built during the reign of Offa, this is the largest and best-preserved building of the Anglo-Saxon period in England. Stone quarrying and brick making appear to have been lost arts in Offa’s day, and the church is constructed mainly from materials plundered from the ruins of Roman Leicester.
14. The tower at Brixworth. Solidly built and with narrow windows suitable for archers to shoot from, the smaller round tower seems perfectly designed for defence. However, it is not certain that it was constructed at the same time as the original church, and it may have been added in the ninth or tenth century as a response to the Viking threat.
15. The River Tame at Tamworth. Offa’s capital was situated at the junction of the rivers Tame and Anker, but we have no evidence that they were important for navigation. Although the modern watercourse seems quite adequate for Viking longships or their English equivalents, it may have been shallower, faster flowing and less reliable in the days before the banks were artificially straightened.
16. Tamworth Castle. Built by the Normans in a strategic location overlooking the confluence of the two rivers, it is possible that it occupies the site where Offa’s hall had stood three centuries earlier, explaining why no trace of the latter has been found. Alternatively the lost hall may lie beneath the church of Saint Editha, a short distance to the north.
17. The River Ouse at Bedford. Somewhere on this stretch of the river the lost mausoleum of King Offa may still await future archaeologists.
18. In many places parts of the series of earthworks known as Offa’s Dyke are still easily visible on the ground. This section is near Craignant, north of Oswestry, on the border between Mercia and the Welsh kingdom of Powys.
19. In this sector the eastern slope of the dyke is relatively gentle, supporting the theory that its intention was to deter incursions from the west.
20. The steep approach to the top of Offa’s Dyke from the western side, facing the Berwyn Mountains. Though not a serious obstacle to a lightly equipped Welsh raider unless defended by a substantial garrison, it would have been clear of trees when first built and must have been an imposing sight, visible for many miles.