Everything about Penda Of Mercia totally explained
Penda (died
November 15,
655) was a 7th-century
King of
Mercia, a
kingdom in what is today the
English Midlands. A
pagan at a time when
Christianity was taking hold in many of the
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Penda participated in the defeat of the powerful
Northumbrian
king Edwin at the
Battle of Hatfield Chase in 633. Nine years later, he defeated and killed Edwin's eventual successor,
Oswald, at the
Battle of Maserfield; from this point he was probably the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon rulers of the time. He defeated the
East Angles, drove the king of
Wessex into exile for three years, and continued to wage war against the
Bernicians of Northumbria. Thirteen years after Maserfield, he suffered a crushing defeat and was killed at the
Battle of the Winwaed in the course of a final campaign against the Bernicians.
Descent, beginning of reign, and battle with the West Saxons
Penda was a son of
Pybba and said to be a descendant of
Icel, with a lineage purportedly extending back to
Woden. The
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle gives his descent as follows:
The
Historia Brittonum says that Pybba had twelve sons, including Penda, but that Penda and
Eowa were those best known to its author. (Many of these twelve sons of Pybba may in fact merely represent later attempts to claim descent from him.) Besides Eowa, apparently Penda also had a brother named Coenwalh, from whom two later kings were descended.
The time at which Penda became king is uncertain, as are the circumstances. Another Mercian king,
Cearl, is mentioned by
Bede as ruling at the same time as the Northumbrian king
Æthelfrith, in the early part of the 7th century. Whether Penda immediately succeeded Cearl is unknown, and it's also unclear whether they were related, and if so how closely;
Henry of Huntingdon, writing in the 12th century, claimed that Cearl was a kinsman of Pybba. It is also possible that Cearl and Penda were dynastic rivals.
According to the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Penda became king in 626, ruled for thirty years, and was fifty years old at the time of his accession. since the same source says he died in 655, which wouldn't correspond to the year given for the beginning of his reign unless he died in the thirtieth year of his reign. Furthermore, that Penda was truly fifty years old at the beginning of his reign is generally doubted by historians, mainly because of the ages of his children. The idea that Penda, at about eighty years of age, would have left behind children who were still young (his son
Wulfhere was still just a youth three years after Penda's death, according to Bede) has been widely considered implausible. The possibility has been suggested that the
Chronicle actually meant to say that Penda was fifty years old at the time of his death, and therefore about twenty in 626.
Bede, in his
Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, says of Penda that he was "a most warlike man of the royal race of the Mercians" and that, following Edwin of Northumbria's defeat in 633 (
see below), he ruled the Mercians for twenty-two years with varying fortune. The noted 20th century historian
Frank Stenton was of the opinion that the language used by Bede "leaves no doubt that … Penda, though descended from the royal family of the Mercians, only became their king after Edwin's defeat". The
Historia Brittonum accords Penda a reign of only ten years, perhaps dating it from the time of the Battle of Maserfield (
see below) around 642, although according to the generally accepted chronology this would still be more than ten years. If he wasn't yet king, then his involvement in this conflict might indicate that he was fighting as an independent
warlord during this period—as Stenton put it, "a landless noble of the Mercian royal house fighting for his own hand." On the other hand, he might have been one of multiple rulers among the Mercians at the time, ruling only a part of their territory. The
Chronicle says that after the battle, Penda and the West Saxons "came to an agreement." It has been speculated that this agreement marked a victory for Penda, ceding to him Cirencester and the areas along the lower
River Severn. and the territory eventually became part of the subkingdom of the
Hwicce. Given Penda's role in the area at this time and his apparent success there, it has been argued that the subkingdom of the Hwicce was established by him; evidence to support this is lacking, although the subkingdom is known to have existed later in the century.
Alliance with Cadwallon and the Battle of Hatfield Chase
Cadwallon ap Cadfan, the British (Welsh) king of
Gwynedd, became involved in a war with Edwin of Northumbria, the most powerful king in Britain at the time. Cadwallon apparently was initially unsuccessful, but he joined with Penda, who is thought to have been the lesser partner in their alliance, to defeat the Northumbrians in October 633 Certainly Cadwallon continued the war, but the extent of Penda's further participation is uncertain. Bede says that the pagans who had slain Edwin—presumably a reference to the Mercians under Penda, although conceivably it could be a derisive misnomer meant to refer to the Christian British—burned a church and town at
Campodonum, although the time at which this occurred is uncertain. Penda might have withdrawn from the war at some point before the defeat and death of Cadwallon at the
Battle of Heavenfield, about a year after Hatfield Chase, since he wasn't present at this battle. Furthermore, Bede makes no mention of Penda's presence in the preceding siege and battle in which
Osric of Deira was defeated and killed. Penda's successful participation in the battle of Hatfield Chase would have elevated his status among the Mercians and so enabled him to become king, and he might have withdrawn from the war prior to Heavenfield in order to secure or consolidate his position in Mercia. Referring to Penda's successes against the West Saxons and the Northumbrians,
D. P. Kirby writes of Penda's emergence in these years as "a Mercian leader whose military exploits far transcended those of his obscure predecessors." It has been suggested that Penda's strength during Oswald's reign could be exaggerated by the historical awareness of his later successes. Kirby says that, while Oswald was as powerful as Edwin had been, "he faced a more entrenched challenge in midland and eastern England from Penda". Oswald's moves toward alliance with the West Saxons, who occupied territory to the south of the Mercians, could be seen as an attempt to counter Mercian power.
At some point during Oswald's reign, Penda had Edwin's son Eadfrith killed, "contrary to his oath". On the other hand, Penda may have killed Eadfrith for his own reasons. It has been suggested that Penda may have been concerned that Eadfrith could be a threat to him because Eadfrith might seek vengeance for the deaths of his father and brother; it's also possible that Mercian dynastic rivalry played a part in the killing, since Eadfrith was a grandson of Penda's predecessor Cearl. The time at which the battle occurred is uncertain; it may have been as early as 635, but there's also evidence to suggest it couldn't have been before 640 or 641. Presuming that this battle took place before the Battle of Maserfield, it may have been that such an expression of Penda's ambition and emerging power made Oswald feel that Penda had to be defeated in order for Northumbrian dominance of southern England to be secured or consolidated. Thus it may be that Penda wasn't consistently the dominant figure in Mercia during the years between Hatfield and Maserfield.
Maserfield
On
August 5,
642, Penda defeated the Northumbrians at the Battle of Maserfield, which was fought near the lands of the Welsh, and Oswald was killed. Surviving
Welsh poetry suggests that Penda fought in alliance with the men of
Powys—apparently he was consistently allied with some of the Welsh—perhaps including
Cynddylan ap Cyndrwyn, of whom it was said that "when the son of Pyb desired, how ready he was", presumably meaning that he was an ally of Penda, the son of Pybba. If the traditional identification of the battle's location with
Oswestry is correct, then this would indicate that it was Oswald who had taken the offensive against Penda. It has been suggested that he was acting against "a threat posed to his domination of Mercia by a hostile alliance of Penda and Powys." According to
Reginald of Durham's 12th century
Life of Saint Oswald, Penda fled into Wales prior to the battle, at which point Oswald felt secure and sent his army away. This explanation of events has been regarded as "plausible" but isn't found in any other source, and may, therefore, have been Reginald's invention.
According to Bede, Penda had Oswald's body dismembered, with his head, hands and arms being placed onto stakes (this may have had a pagan religious significance.); Oswald thereafter came to be revered as a
saint, with his death in battle as a Christian king against pagans leading him to be regarded as a
martyr.
Eowa was killed at Maserfield along with Oswald, On the other hand, it has been considered unlikely that this was truly the first instance of their separation: it's significant that Cearl had married his daughter to Edwin during Edwin's exile, when Edwin was an enemy of the Northumbrian king
Æthelfrith. It would seem that if Cearl was able to do this, he wasn't subject to Æthelfrith;
Campaigns between Maserfield and the Winwaed
Defeat at Maserfield must have weakened Northumbrian influence over the West Saxons, and the new West Saxon king
Cenwealh—who was still pagan at this time—was married to Penda's sister. It may be surmised that this meant he was to some extent within what Kirby called a "Mercian orbit". However, when Cenwealh (according to Bede) "repudiated" Penda's sister in favour of another wife, Penda drove Cenwealh into exile in East Anglia in 645, where he remained for three years before regaining power. Who governed the West Saxons during the years of Cenwealh's exile is unknown; Kirby considered it reasonable to conclude that whoever ruled was subject to Penda. He also suggested that Cenwealh may not have been able to return to his kingdom until after Penda's death. It may also be that Penda made war against the East Angles with the intention of securing Mercian dominance over the area of
Middle Anglia, where Penda established his son Peada as ruler.
In the years after Maserfield, Penda also destructively waged war against Oswiu of Bernicia on his own territory. At one point prior to the death of Bishop
Aidan (August 31, 651), Bede says that Penda "cruelly ravaged the country of the Northumbrians far and near" and besieged the royal Bernician stronghold of
Bamburgh. When the Mercians were unable to capture it—"not being able to enter it by force, or by a long siege"—Bede reports that they attempted to set the city ablaze, but that it was saved by a sacred wind supposedly sent in response to a plea from the saintly Aidan: "Behold, Lord, how great mischief Penda does!" The wind is said to have blown the fire back towards the Mercians, deterring them from further attempts to capture the city. At another point, some years after Aidan's death, Bede records another attack. He says that Penda led an army in devastating the area where Aidan died—he "destroyed all he could with fire and sword"—but that when the Mercians burned down the church where Aidan died, the post against which he was leaning at the time of his death was undamaged; this was taken to be a miracle. No open battles are recorded as being fought between the two sides prior to the Winwaed in 655 (
see below), however, and this may mean that Oswiu deliberately avoided battle due to a feeling of weakness relative to Penda. This feeling may have been in religious as well as military terms: N. J. Higham wrote of Penda acquiring "a pre-eminent reputation as a god-protected, warrior–king", whose victories may have led to a belief that his pagan gods were more effective for protection in war than the Christian God.}}
Peada's conversion and the introduction of priests into Middle Anglia could be seen as evidence of Penda's tolerance of Christianity, given the absence of evidence that he sought to interfere. On the other hand, an interpretation is also possible whereby the marriage and conversion could be seen as corresponding to a successful attempt on Oswiu's part to expand Bernician influence at Penda's expense; Higham saw Peada's conversion more in terms of political manoeuvring on both sides than religious zeal.
Middle Anglia as a political entity may have been created by Penda as an expression of Mercian power in the area following his victories over the East Angles. Previously there seem to have been a number of small peoples inhabiting the region, and Penda's establishment of Peada as a subking there may have marked their initial union under one ruler. The districts corresponding to
Shropshire and
Herefordshire, along Mercia's western frontier near Wales, probably also fell under Mercian domination at this time. Here a king called
Merewalh ruled over the
Magonsaete; in later centuries it was said that Merewalh was a son of Penda, but this is considered uncertain. Stenton, for example, considered it likely that Merewalh was a representative of a local dynasty that continued to rule under Mercian domination.
Final campaign and the battle of the Winwaed
In 655, Although, according to Bede, Penda tolerated some Christian preaching in Mercia, it has been suggested that he perceived Bernician sponsorship of Christianity in Mercia and Middle Anglia as a form of "religious colonialism" that undermined his power, and that this may have provoked the war. Elsewhere the possibility has been suggested that Penda sought to prevent Oswiu from reunifying Northumbria, Oswiu tried to buy peace: in the
Historia Brittonum, it's said that Oswiu offered treasure, which Penda distributed among his British allies.—perhaps surrendered by Oswiu as part of some negotiations or arrangement. It would seem that Penda's army then moved back south, perhaps returning home, but a great battle was fought near the river Winwaed (the identification of the Winwaed with a modern river is uncertain, although the
River Went is a possibility) on a date given by Bede as
November 15. It may be that Penda's army was attacked by Oswiu at a point of strategic vulnerability, which would help explain Oswiu's victory over forces that were, according to Bede, much larger than his own.
The Mercian force was also weakened by desertions. According to the
Historia Brittonum, Cadafael of Gwynedd, "rising up in the night, escaped together with his army" (thus earning him the name
Cadomedd, or "battle-shirker"),
Aftermath and historical appraisal
With the defeat at the Winwaed, Oswiu came to briefly dominate Mercia, permitting Penda's son Peada to rule its southern portion. Two of Penda's other sons,
Wulfhere and
Æthelred, later ruled Mercia in succession after the overthrow of Northumbrian control in the late 650s. The period of rule by Penda's descendants came to an end with his grandson
Ceolred's death in 716, after which power passed to descendants of Eowa for most of the remainder of the 8th century.
Penda's reign is significant in that it marks an emergence from the obscurity of Mercia during the time of his predecessors, both in terms of the power of the Mercians relative to the surrounding peoples and in terms of our historical awareness of them. While our understanding of Penda's reign is quite unclear, and even the very notable and decisive battles he fought are surrounded by historical confusion, for the first time a general outline of important events regarding the Mercians becomes realistically possible. Furthermore, Penda was certainly of great importance to the development of the Mercian kingdom; it has been said that his reign was "crucial to the consolidation and expansion of Mercia". From the perspective of the Christians who later wrote about Penda, the important theme that dominates their descriptions is the religious context of his wars—for instance, the
Historia Brittonum says that Penda prevailed at Maserfield through "diabolical agency" In summarising Penda, he wrote the following:
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