Mercia and the Making of England

by Ian W. Walker

The role of King Alfred and his successors in the defence of Wessex against the Viking, in the recovery of lost territory and in the forging of a unified English kingdom is widely known. However, less is known about the part played in these crucial events by the Mercians - the neighbours and rivals of the West Saxons, who occupied central England. This text re-examines the events of the mid-8th to late-10th centuries to provide a balanced account of the period. Traditionally, historians have focused on the decline of Mercia and the rise of Wessex, but Ian Walker reveals that, despite dynastic disputes and invasion, Mercia remained a powerful kingdom even after the long, successful reign of Offa. Moreover, he shows how the very real threat of Viking dominance persuaded Mercia and Wessex to co-operate as equals against a common enemy, making marriage alliances, launching joint campaigns, building fortresses and working in parallel to restore control over areas under Viking occupation. There was therefore a long period of co-existence and co-operation between Mercian leaders such as Aethelred and the redoubtable Lady Aethelflaed (the only woman to rule an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in her own right) and the rulers of Wessex such as Alfred the Great and Edward the Elder. The author goes on to trace how the unified kingdom of England came about partly because of this process, and partly because of a number of dynastic accidents, not, as is traditionally argued, because of West Saxon conquest. England was very much a new kingdom, a "rex anglorum", rather than a greater Wessex, and without Mercia, it might never have been established.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

236 pages, Hardcover

First published October 19, 2000

About the author

Ian W. Walker is a Civil Servant in the Scottish Office.

Reviews

[Peter Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book talks about Mercia from roughly the reign of Offa (he doesn't get huge amounts of attention) all of the way through to that of King Edgar, concentrating mostly on Coenwulf to Athelstan. At first this seems an odd choice of years, because we all 'know' that there are only two interesting periods in Mercian history: Penda and Offa and that everything else is just a tale of decline.

Instead, Walker challenges the notion that Mercia became somewhat inconsequential in the 9th century. He points out that although the satellite subkingdoms were lost, Mercia didn't lose much in the way of core territory. Even though Ecgbert conquered the place, he couldn't hold it for much more than a year. The dynastic chaos is well described as the various B, C and W dynasties merrily commenced pushing royal life insurance premiums through the roof. It's good to see lists of Ealdormen who won and lost out during these changes.

However, this is mostly just the (long and enjoyable) preamble to Walker's main point and that is that that Wessex won the wars against the Vikings with much more than a bit of Mercian assistance. He fleshes out the fact that Mercia's assistance was crucial and undersold by the West Saxon sources. He points out that in 893-4 the Mercians did most of the fighting with not a lot of assistance from Alfred, who was busy in Devon eating ice cream and roughing up the Vikings there. In 914 when the Vikings raided up the Severn, Edward the Elder gets the credit for ransoming Bishop Cyfeilliog, but it was the Mercians who actually fought off the Vikings. This is continued through the sections talking about the conquest of Danelaw. Walker demonstrates time and time again just how much hard campaigning the Mercians did.

After this, he shows that Mercia remained Mercian rather than an add on to Wessex for quite a long while and that the two coalesced into England. The idea that Athelstan had been designated heir of Mercia to Edward the Elder whilst his half brother received Wessex has logic to it. The book continues up to the reign of Edgar, that peaceable chap, with Walker showing the continued importance of Mercia and the tact that it was treated with by the West Saxon kings. Indeed, he points out that it was only when Edgar died and the supporting factions were split across the old boundaries, rather than along them, that it could be said that England had become England.

The final two chapters are odd. They deal with the Mercian kingdom itself (how it worked) and the Mercian church, but with wider sources used where appropriate. However, the book came to a natural end before this and I don't know why these were included, as they add little to the main points he had raised in the earlier parts. They're fine reading, but feel like an add on, perhaps the result of suddenly discovering an overlooked letter from the publisher saying they want 200 pages not 160.

This is a very well written and researched book. It makes a big difference seeing things from a Mercian perspective, when so many books centre the story on those people down in Wessex. I made loads of notes whilst reading it. Walker is a good writer and he adds lots of extra touches, such as when citing evidence he'll add the names of the participants and dates, rather than just merely mentioning a charter. This is a book well worth buying.

Three things you'll take away from this book:

1, he may make too much of an early alliance between Wessex and Mercia, but I can happily accept a commonality of interest
2, Aethelraed, Lord of the Mercians has been severely underrated by history
3, the importance of incident in the maintenance of the West Saxon - Mercian axis such as Aelfweard's death, etc

[Froggarana · Rating 1 out of 5]

i would like to award it half a star
the writing is abysmal
i've made it to page 88 i don't know if i can keep going
" . . .she was an important woman who could offer some assets to Aethelwold in terms of royal descent or noble support to enhance his prospects"

i bought it online , had i seen it in a shop a quick squiz would have saved me the time and money.

From the acknowledgements . .
. . . during the writing process
. . . the publication process
. . . who assisted in the process of collecting

P 104 she sent the army west to Warwick . . . what? from where ? from Danish Mercia ?
Walker is clearly confused , he goes on to say warwick will cover the western approaches to Worcester and Gloucester. Warwick is about sixty miles north east of Gloucester

i have neither the time nor the energy to list all the errors and dreadful language, or even to finish reading it, but marked it read to get it out of the way