The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, written between the 9th and the 12th centuries, is a truly

brilliant piece of historical writing. Without it, virtually nothing would be known about vast

swathes of English history during the early Middle Ages.

However, as with nearly all historical documents from the Middle Ages,

it is, above all else, a piece of political writing.

In this case, written by the House of Wessex,

just one of the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that once held sway in Britain, specifically under the patronage of Alfred the Great and his successors,

in order to justify their own actions and legitimise their position and reputation as the unifiers of England,

just as much as to record the actual events that happened.

As such, quite tragically, vast swathes of Mercian history, the other major Anglo-Saxon player of the time,

and traditionally the strongest of the kingdoms before the coming of the Danes, are simply left out,

or massively downplayed in preference to the deeds of Wessex.

Music played in preference to the deeds of Wessex. Far from the rump state or puppet of the Danes that the western portion of Mercia has often

been portrayed as, after it was split into two by the warriors of

the Great Heathen Army in the 860s, and before its full absorption into Wessex in 918,

Mercia remained a major player on the scene, at times still controlling vast swathes of Wales, and doing just as much, if not more than the West Saxons, in reconquering the eastern portion of Britain from the Vikings, who had held sway there between the 860s and the late nine-tenths.

One figure in particular, who is heinously underrepresented in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, is Mercia's last great ruler, a throwback to the days of

the Mercy and supremacy of old, under the great kings pender and offer.

This was a ruthless, pious and energetic leader, who ceaseless campaigning into the five boroughs

ultimately brought not only them under Mercia's heel, but also came within a stone's throw

of subjugating the Kingdom of York, years before its final conquest by the next West Saxon

King, Athelstan.

...