State · 527 – 918

Kingdom of Mercia

A state of 527 – 918 — 391 years in Europe. It followed Kingdom of the Hwicce. It was followed by Kingdom of Wessex. The atlas records 25 things within it — wars and battles 1 · people 24. Its line of rulers holds 29 people, 27 with dated terms.

For the full story, the article on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); this page holds what the record says of the state.

Stood: 391 years; 527 – 918
Rulers: 29; the King of Mercia
Most ground: 96,500 km²; in 800
Within it: 25; recorded rows
Symbol: 1; on record, with years

Map: Kingdom of Mercia in 800, its borders in gold among its neighbours — Kingdom of Mercia in 800, when it held the most ground the borders dataset draws for it: 96,500 km². Its neighbours wear their tints, as on the atlas's own map. Borders from Cliopatria (CC BY 4.0), coast and rivers from Natural Earth, cities from Reba, Reitsma & Seto 2016 (CC BY 4.0), each city under the name it bore that year.

Kingdom of Mercia in 534, first mapped — The rise and the fall in one frame: the same ground at the years the borders dataset first maps it, maps it largest, and last maps it.

Kingdom of Mercia in 800, at its largest — The rise and the fall in one frame: the same ground at the years the borders dataset first maps it, maps it largest, and last maps it.

Where it sits in time

Five thousand years, 3000 BCE to 2026; the state in gold, what it replaced or followed and what replaced or followed it in grey.

Before and after

The states the record files it as replacing or following, and those that replaced or followed it - Wikidata's own statements, each read from this state's side.

Before it

Kingdom of the Hwicce · follows · 577 – 780

After it

Kingdom of Wessex · followed by · 519 – 927

Rulers

The line of King of Mercia - the office this state names as its head of state.

killed, executed or dead in battledeposed, abdicated, exiled or removeddied in officeleft alive by a regular roadending not on record

Ruler	Reign	Length	How it ended · source	To the ruler before
Icel of Mercia	515 – 535	20 years	left office aliveread off the dates alone
Cnebba	535 – 545	10 years	left office aliveread off the dates alone	child
Cynewald	545 – 580	35 years	ending not on record	child
Creoda of Mercia	584 – 593	9 years	died in office, manner not recordedread off the dates alone	child
Pybba of Mercia	593 – 606	13 years	died in office, manner not recordedread off the dates alone	child
Penda of Mercia	632 – 655	23 years	died in battleWikidata's manner of death	child
Peada of Mercia	655 – 656	1 year	killedWikidata's manner of death	child
Oswiu	656 – 658	2 years	left office aliveread off the dates alone
Wulfhere of Mercia	658 – 675	17 years	died in office, manner not recordedread off the dates alone
Æthelred of Mercia	675 – 704	29 years	abdicated, the article saysread from the ruler's own article	sibling
Coenred of Mercia	704 – 709	5 years	abdicated, the article saysread from the ruler's own article	nephew or niece
Ceolred of Mercia	709 – 716	7 years	died in office, manner not recordedread off the dates alone
Ceolwald of Mercia	716 – 716	under a year	left office aliveread off the dates alone	sibling
Æthelbald of Mercia	716 – 757	41 years	killedWikidata's manner of death
Beornred of Mercia	757 – 757	under a year	killed, the article saysread from the ruler's own article
Offa of Mercia	757 – 796	39 years	ending not on record
Ecgfrith of Mercia	796 – 796	under a year	ending not on record	child
Coenwulf of Mercia	796 – 821	25 years	died in office, manner not recordedread off the dates alone
Ceolwulf I of Mercia	821 – 823	2 years	deposed, the article saysread from the ruler's own article	sibling
Beornwulf of Mercia	823 – 825	2 years	died in office, manner not recordedread off the dates alone
Ludeca of Mercia	826 – 827	1 year	died in office, manner not recordedread off the dates alone
Wiglaf of Mercia	827 – 829	2 years	left office aliveread off the dates alone
Ecgberht	829 – 830	1 year	left office aliveread off the dates alone
Wiglaf of Mercia	830 – 839	9 years	died in office, manner not recordedread off the dates alone
Wigmund of Mercia	839 – 840	1 year	ending not on record	child
Beorhtwulf of Mercia	840 – 852	12 years	ending not on record
Burgred of Mercia	852 – 874	22 years	ending not on record	child
Edward the Elder	918 – 924	6 years	died in office, manner not recordedread off the dates alone

29 rulers, 27 with terms dated as terms, covering 515 – 924. Median reign 8 years. 5 of 27 handovers irregular - a killing, a deposition, a rival claimant, a rising or a coup beside it. A blank in the last column means no kin on record, which is coverage, never “unrelated”.

Ground held, by year

km² inside its borders as the borders dataset draws them, measured on an equal-area grid; a step series, held between the years the dataset maps.

23,400 km² in 552, 0 km² in 918; at its largest 96,500 km² in 802. Cliopatria, CC BY 4.0.

Flag or arms

Each symbol with the years its own statement gives; the timeline flies the one of the year on screen.

coat of arms, undatedMercian eagle · Public domain

What happened within it, by century

Every row the atlas hosts under this state, by the century it began in: wars and battles in red, risings, regime changes and massacres beside them, everything else in grey. A tall bar is a century the record is full for, which is partly a fact about Wikipedia.

500 – 5994 rows

Creoda of Mercia · ruler · 540 – 593
Pybba of Mercia · ruler · 570 – 606
Eowa of Mercia · ruler · 551 – 642
Cnebba · ruler · 501 – 599

600 – 6996 rows

Penda of Mercia · ruler · 606 – 655
Wulfhere of Mercia · ruler · 650 – 675
Æthelred of Mercia · ruler · 601 – 716
Peada of Mercia · ruler · 601 – 656
Cearl of Mercia · ruler · 600 – 700
Ceolwald of Mercia · ruler · 650 – 800

700 – 7996 rows

Offa of Mercia · ruler · 701 – 796
Æthelbald of Mercia · ruler · 700 – 757
Ecgfrith of Mercia · ruler · 701 – 796
Coenred of Mercia · ruler · 700 – 716
Ceolred of Mercia · ruler · 700 – 716
Beornred of Mercia · ruler · 701 – 769

800 – 8998 rows

Coenwulf of Mercia · ruler · 800 – 821
Beornwulf of Mercia · ruler · 800 – 825
Burgred of Mercia · ruler · 801 – 888
Wiglaf of Mercia · ruler · 800 – 839
Ludeca of Mercia · ruler · 800 – 827
Ceolwulf I of Mercia · ruler · 800 – 823
Beorhtwulf of Mercia · ruler · 801 – 852
Wigmund of Mercia · ruler · 801 – 840

900 – 9991 row · 1 wars and battles

Battle of Tettenhall · battle · 910

Among all states

Each measure against the states that carry it, never against all of them: a bar is the share of those states below this one.

How long it stood391 years
stood longer than 80% of 3,187 states with a recorded end or still standing.
The most ground it held96,500 km²
held more ground at its peak than 45% of 1,465 states with a border in Cliopatria.
Wars recorded per centurynone
had more wars on record per century than 44% of 3,187 states, counting the wars the atlas hosts under each.
How long a reign lasted, at the median9 years
had longer reigns, at the median, than 31% of 967 states whose dated line can carry a median.
Rulers on record29
has more rulers on record than 94% of 1,968 states with a line of rulers.

What led to it, and what came of it

The investigation's own picture: 0 causes the record names and 1 result, the strongest six of each at their own years, joined to the state by the kind of claim - a recorded statement solid, the article's sentence dashed, a theory dash-dot.

linked

Open the investigation: every row with its evidence, the conditions at the time, the theories condition by condition, and the succession analysed.

Open in the atlas

On the timeline, 488 – 957, with everything that stood beside it.
On the map in 800, live: scrub the year and watch its borders move.
Investigate it: what led to it, what came of it, and its succession analysed.

Wikidata Q105092 (CC0) · borders Cliopatria, CC BY 4.0 · coast and rivers Natural Earth · symbols from Wikimedia Commons, each credited above · data built 2026-10-06 · Pastlas v2.9.1, by Oleh Voronko. The published atlas and its data are for non-commercial use.