Coenred of Mercia - Mercia in The 7th Century

Mercia in The 7th Century

By the 7th century, England was almost entirely divided into kingdoms ruled by the Anglo-Saxons, who had come to Britain two hundred years earlier. The kingdom of Mercia occupied what is now the English Midlands. Neighbouring kingdoms included Northumbria to the north, East Anglia to the east, and Wessex, the kingdom of the West Saxons, to the south. Essex, the kingdom of the East Saxons, included London and lay between East Anglia and the kingdom of Kent. The earliest Mercian king for whom there is definite historical information is Penda of Mercia, Coenred's paternal grandfather.

The main source for this period is Bede’s Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People), completed in about 731. Despite its focus on the history of the church, this work provides valuable information about the early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Charters, which recorded royal grants of land to individuals and to religious houses, provide further information on Coenred's reign, as does the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, compiled in Wessex at the end of the 9th century. The Chronicle's anonymous scribe appears to have incorporated much information recorded in earlier periods. Coenred is also mentioned in two 8th-century hagiographies, those of Saint Wilfrid and Saint Guthlac.