Battle between Ecgberht of Wessex and Beornwulf of Mercia in 825
The
Battle of Ellendun
or
Battle of Wroughton
was fought between
Ecgberht of Wessex
and
Beornwulf of Mercia
in September 825.
Sir Frank Stenton
described it as "one of the most decisive battles of English history". It effectively ended
Mercian Supremacy
over the southern kingdoms of
Anglo-Saxon England
and established
West Saxon
dominance in southern England.
Background
[
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During the 8th century and early 9th centuries, the
kings of Mercia
exercised a fluctuating hegemony over the kingdoms of south-eastern England, imposing their overlordship and at times exercising direct rule. While Wessex had at times been obliged to recognise the overlordship of
Æthelbald of Mercia
, it appears to have escaped the dominance of the Mercians thereafter and was certainly not subject to the more intrusive forms of Mercian control imposed on other kingdoms.
Ecgberht's father
Ealhmund
had been king of
Kent
in the 780s, which had brought his family into conflict with the ambitions of
Offa of Mercia
, who sought to impose direct rule on Kent. After his father's death, Ecgberht was driven from England into exile by Offa, with the co-operation of
Beorhtric of Wessex
and his accession to the throne of Wessex on Beorhtric's death in 802 was immediately followed by a violent clash with Mercia. However, the available sources reveal no further conflict between the two kingdoms before 825.
Beornwulf seized the Mercian throne from
Ceolwulf
, who had in 821 succeeded on the death of his brother, the long-reigning and powerful
Coenwulf
. His attack on Wessex two years later may have been part of an effort to consolidate his own authority and reassert that of Mercia after this upheaval.
Beornwulf may also have been seeking to take advantage of Ecgberht's preoccupation with warfare against the
Britons
of
Cornwall
. Ecgberht had devastated Cornish territory in 815 and in the autumn of 825 he was again campaigning against the Britons, at
Gafulford
.
Location
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The Battle of Ellendun is thought to have taken place south of
Swindon
, in
Wiltshire
, but the exact site has not been determined.
William Camden
, in his 1610 gazetteer
A Chronological description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland
, suggests that the battle took place close to Wilton, just to the west of Salisbury.
[1]
Charles Oman
used geographical information and contemporary boundaries as evidence to suggest the battle occurred at
Wroughton
,
[2]
which is 4 miles (6 km) south of Swindon. T. Spicer has suggested the battle took place on the grounds of what is now
Lydiard Park
, in Swindon.
Consequences
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Ecgberht's victory permanently transformed the political situation in south-eastern England. The king at once sent his son
Æthelwulf
with an army into the south-east. The West Saxons succeeded in conquering
Sussex
(hitherto under direct Mercian rule), Kent, and
Essex
, which had been governed by under-kings who accepted Mercian overlordship. All of these territories were annexed to Wessex, roughly doubling the kingdom's size.
Meanwhile, Beornwulf's defeat emboldened the
East Angles
to revolt against Mercian rule and reassert their independence, in alliance with Wessex. Beornwulf fought the East Angles, but was defeated and killed. His successor
Ludeca
met the same fate the following year and East Anglian independence was successfully re-established.
Ecgberht's power peaked in 829, when he occupied Mercia and secured recognition of his supremacy by the
Northumbrians
, making him temporarily the overlord of all England. Mercian independence was restored in the following year by
Wiglaf
, who achieved a significant recovery of Mercian prestige and was even able to extend his power over
Berkshire
. The independence of East Anglia and the West Saxon conquest of the south-east proved irreversible and Mercia never regained the primacy it had enjoyed in the century before Ellendun.
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