Wiglaf of Mercia - First Reign and Defeat By Wessex

First Reign and Defeat By Wessex

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records Wiglaf's accession in the entry for 827 (erroneously recorded under the year 825). The entry reads "Her Ludecan Myrcna cing 7 his fif ealdormenn mid him man ofsloh, 7 Wiglaf feng to rice", which means "Here Ludeca, King of Mercia, was killed, and his five ealdormen with him, and Wiglaf succeeded to the kingdom". In 829, Egbert of Wessex successfully invaded Mercia and drove Wiglaf from his throne. The immediate consequence of Egbert's defeat of Beornwulf in 825 at the battle of Ellendun had been the loss of Mercian control over the south-eastern kingdoms of Kent, Sussex, Essex and East Anglia; Beornwulf's and Ludeca's disastrous military expeditions against East Anglia in 826 and 827 also confirmed Mercia's loss of control of that kingdom. Egbert's defeat of Wiglaf in 829 completed his domination of southern England, and Egbert went on to receive the submission of Eanred of Northumbria at Dore, on the northern border of Mercia, later that year. These events led the anonymous scribe who wrote the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to describe Egbert as the eighth bretwalda, or 'Ruler of Britain'.

Egbert remained in control of Wessex until some time in 830. He was in power there long enough to issue coins (struck in London) bearing the title "Rex M", for "Rex Merciorum", or "King of Mercia".