Essay on the Life and Institutions of Offa, King of Mercia, A.D. 755-794Mackenzie, Henry
History
Essay on the Life and Institutions of Offa, King of Mercia, A.D. 755-794
Mackenzie, Henry
Great Britain -- History -- To 1066; Offa, King of the Mercians, -796
Some of the annalists of the events of that period are more brief in
their accounts of Offa’s accession. Thus,
“Cumque prædictus rex _Ethelbaldus_ XL et uno annis regnasset, juxta
prophetiam sancti patris _Guthlaci_, bello minus provide inito super
_Seggeswold_, a _Bernredo_ tyranno extitit interemtus. _Bernredus_
vero tyrannus non diu tanta tyrannide gloriatus, eodem anno periit.
_Æthelbaldusque_ rex apud _Ripadium_, id est, RIPEDUNE, tunc
temporis celeberrimum monasterium tumulatus, regnum Merciorum nepoti
patruelis sui, videlicet _Offæ_ filio _Dignferti_, filii _Ænulphi_,
filii _Osmodi_, filii _Æoppæ_, filii _Wibbæ_ patris regis _Pendæ_,
consentientibus totius Merciæ proceribus, reliquit.”--_Ingulphus 5._
Also,
“Anno 757. _Adebaldo_ rege Merciorum occiso apud SECANDUNE successit
_Beornred_, quem _Offa_ eodem anno expulit, et regnum pro eo super
Merciam XXXIX annis obtinuit.”--_Chronica de Mailros, 137._
Also,
“_Beornred_ in regnum Mercæ tanquam hæres legitimus dicto regi
_Ethelbaldo_ successit, brevi tamen tempore illud regens. Nam _Offa_
infra suum primum annum eum aufugavit, qui 39 annis regnum Mercæ et
populum postea gubernavit.”--_Bromton, 776._
Also,
“Anno 757. Ethelbald rex Merciorum _a suis tutoribus fraudulenter
interfectus est_. Eodem vero anno _Merci_ bellum inter se
civile inierunt. _Bearnred_ in fugam verso, _Offa_ rex victor
extitit.”--_Simeon Dunelm: 757._
Also,
See Matthew Westminster, who states that Ethelbald perished in battle
with Cuthred king of the West-Saxons, “in loco qui Sachêda dicitur,” to
whom _Beorred_ succeeded.
He further states,
“Anno gratiæ DCCLVIII gens de regno Merciorum contra regem suum
Beornredum insurgens pro eo quod populum non æquis legibus sed per
tyrannidem gubernaret, convenerunt in unum omnes tam nobiles quam
ignobiles et, Offa duce, adolescente strenuissimo, ipsum a regno
expulerunt. Quo facto unanimi omnium consensu predictum Offam in regem
tam Clerus quam populus coronarunt.”
Offa is made out to be the eighteenth in descent from _Woden_, who was
the sixteenth from Noah!--_Matt. West., p. 274-5._
V. also Holinshed’s Hist., b. 6. ch. 1., A. D. 755.--Hoveden’s Annal.
in Savile’s Collection, 409.--Hen. Huntingdon, ib. 342. Ingr. Sax.
Chron., A. D. 755.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account