Welcome to the British History Podcast.

My name is Jamie.

And this is episode 134, Mercia, a new contender enters the red.

Okay, last episode we jumped forward a little bit to take the story of East Anglia to the

point where Sigibur took the throne.

But let's go back about three years.

It's a 628-ish and have a look at what's going on in Mercia.

Mercia, the Midland Kingdom, has been a bit of a backwater in our story so far, but it's

about to get more important very soon.

So we really should chat about it.

So Mercia, what exactly are we talking about here?

Some of you might already be familiar with the old kingdom of Mercia, through the Staffordshire

Horde episodes, or maybe you know about Office Dyke.

So let's cover what we know about this kingdom and give a rough outline of where it came

from.

Part of what makes it so interesting is how mysterious it is.

Its beginnings are hazy and semi-mythical.

Even when looked at in comparison with the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, they're still

kind of mythical.

I mean, we know about Wessex due to Alfred and his scribes.

We know about Northumbria due to the efforts of Bede.

But Mercia?

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