View source for Coenwulf of Mercia

{{Short description|King of Mercia from 796 to 821}}
{{redirect|Coenwulf|other people with the name}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Coenwulf
| image        = Coenwulf, King of Mercia, gold mancus; struck 796–821 AD (obverse).png
| caption      = Gold [[mancus]] of Coenwulf from the London mint.<br/>Legend: {{nowrap|{{Smallcaps|+ coenvvlf rex m}}}}
| succession   = [[List of monarchs of Mercia|King of Mercia]]
| reign        = 796–821
| predecessor  = [[Ecgfrith of Mercia|Ecgfrith]]
| successor    = [[Ceolwulf I of Mercia|Ceolwulf I]]
| house        = [[List of monarchs of Mercia|C-dynasty]]
| burial_place = [[Winchcombe Abbey]]
| spouse       = Cynegyth (possibly)<br />[[Ælfthryth of Mercia|Ælfthryth]]
| issue        = [[Cynehelm]]<br />[[Cwenthryth]]
| father       = [[Cuthberht of Mercia|Cuthberht]]
| mother       = 
| birth_date   = 
| birth_place  = 
| death_date   = 821
| death_place  = [[Basingwerk Abbey|Basingwerk]], Flintshire
| religion     = Christian
}}

'''Coenwulf''' ({{IPA|ang|ˈkøːnwuɫf|lang}}; also spelled '''Cenwulf''', '''Kenulf''', or '''Kenwulph'''; {{langx|la|Coenulfus}}) was the [[List of monarchs of Mercia|king]] of [[Mercia]] from December 796 until his death in 821. He was a descendant of King [[Pybba of Mercia|Pybba]], who ruled Mercia in the early 7th century. He succeeded [[Ecgfrith of Mercia|Ecgfrith]], the son of [[Offa of Mercia|Offa]]; Ecgfrith only reigned for five months, and Coenwulf ascended the throne in the same year that Offa died. In the early years of Coenwulf's reign he had to deal with a revolt in [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]], which had been under Offa's control. [[Eadberht III Præn|Eadberht Præn]] returned from exile in [[Francia]] to claim the Kentish throne, and Coenwulf was forced to wait for papal support before he could intervene. When [[Pope Leo III]] agreed to [[anathema]]tise Eadberht, Coenwulf invaded and retook the kingdom; Eadberht was taken prisoner, was [[Blinding (punishment)|blinded]], and had his hands cut off. Coenwulf also appears to have lost control of the kingdom of [[East Anglia]] during the early part of his reign, as an independent coinage appears under King [[Eadwald of East Anglia|Eadwald]]. Coenwulf's coinage reappears in 805, indicating that the kingdom was again under Mercian control. Several campaigns of Coenwulf's against the [[Wales in the Early Middle Ages|Welsh]] are recorded, but only one conflict with [[Kingdom of Northumbria|Northumbria]], in 801, though it is likely that Coenwulf continued to support the opponents of the Northumbrian king [[Eardwulf of Northumbria|Eardwulf]].

Coenwulf came into conflict with [[Archbishop of Canterbury|Archbishop]] [[Wulfred]] of Canterbury over the issue of whether laypeople could control religious houses such as monasteries. The breakdown in the relationship between the two eventually reached the point where the archbishop was unable to exercise his duties for at least four years. A partial resolution was reached in 822 with Coenwulf's successor, King [[Ceolwulf I of Mercia|Ceolwulf]], but it was not until about 826 that a final settlement was reached between Wulfred and Coenwulf's daughter, [[Cwoenthryth]], who had been the main beneficiary of Coenwulf's grants of religious property.

Coenwulf was succeeded by his brother, Ceolwulf; a post-[[Norman Conquest|Conquest]] legend claims that his son [[Cynehelm]] was murdered to gain the succession. Within two years Ceolwulf had been deposed, and the kingship passed permanently out of Coenwulf's family. Coenwulf was the last king of Mercia to exercise substantial dominance over other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Within a decade of his death, the rise of [[Wessex]] had begun under [[Egbert of Wessex|King Egbert]], and Mercia never recovered its former position of power.

==Background and sources==
For most of the 8th century, Mercia was dominant among the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms south of the river Humber. [[Æthelbald of Mercia|Æthelbald]], who came to the throne in 716, had established himself as the overlord of the southern Anglo-Saxons by 731.<ref name=BEASE_306>Simon Keynes, "Mercia", in Lapidge et al., ''Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England'', p.&nbsp;306.</ref> He was assassinated in 757, and was briefly succeeded by [[Beornred of Mercia|Beornred]], but within a year [[Offa of Mercia|Offa]] ousted Beornred and took the throne for himself. Offa's daughter [[Eadburh]] married [[Beorhtric of Wessex]] in 789, and Beorhtric became an ally thereafter.<ref name=Stenton_210>Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', p.&nbsp;210.</ref> In Kent, Offa intervened decisively in the 780s,<ref name=Kirby_167>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p.&nbsp;167.</ref> and at some point became the overlord of [[Kingdom of East Anglia|East Anglia]], whose king, [[Æthelred I of East Anglia|Æthelred]], was beheaded on Offa's orders in 794.<ref name=Yorke_64>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p.&nbsp;64.</ref>

Offa appears to have moved to eliminate dynastic rivals to the succession of his son, [[Ecgfrith of Mercia|Ecgfrith]].<ref name = Yorke_118/> According to a contemporary letter from [[Alcuin of York]], an English deacon and scholar who spent over a decade as a chief advisor at [[Charlemagne]]'s court,<ref name=BEASE_24>Lapidge, "Alcuin of York", in Lapidge et al., "Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England", p.&nbsp;24.</ref> "the vengeance of the blood shed by the father has reached the son"; Alcuin added, "This was not a strengthening of the kingdom, but its ruin."<ref name=EHD_786>Letter of Alcuin to Mercian ealdorman Osbert, tr. in Whitelock, ''English Historical Documents'', p.&nbsp;787</ref> Offa died in July 796. Ecgfrith succeeded him but reigned for less than five months before Coenwulf came to the throne.<ref name=BEASE_111>Simon Keynes, "Coenwulf", in Lapidge et al., ''Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England'', p.&nbsp;111.</ref>

A significant corpus of letters dates from the period, especially from Alcuin, who corresponded with kings, nobles, and ecclesiastics throughout England.<ref name=BEASE_24/> Letters between Coenwulf and the papacy also survive.<ref>See the exchange of letters between Coenwulf and [[Pope Leo III]] in Whitelock, ''English Historical Documents'', 204 and 205, pp.&nbsp;791–794.</ref> Another key source for the period is the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'', a collection of annals in [[Old English]] narrating the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The ''Chronicle'' was a [[Wessex|West Saxon]] production, however, and is sometimes thought to be biased in favour of Wessex.<ref name=CampbellTASS_144>Campbell, ''Anglo-Saxon State'', p.&nbsp;144.</ref> [[Anglo-Saxon Charters|Charters]] dating from Coenwulf's reign have survived; these were documents granting land to followers or to churchmen and were witnessed by the kings who had the authority to grant the land.<ref name=BlairRBaEE_14>Hunter Blair, ''Roman Britain'', pp. 14–15.</ref><ref name=Campbell_95_2>Campbell, ''The Anglo-Saxons'', pp. 95–98.</ref> A charter might record the names of both a subject king and his overlord on the witness list appended to the grant. Such a witness list can be seen on the [[Ismere Diploma]], for example, where Æthelric, son of king [[Oshere]] of the [[Hwicce]], is described as a "''subregulus''", or subking, of Æthelbald.<ref name=EHD_453>Whitelock, ''English Historical Documents'', 67, pp.&nbsp;453–454.</ref>

==Mercia and southern England at Ecgfrith's death==
According to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', Ecgfrith only reigned for 141 days.<ref name=Swanton_50>Swanton, ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', p.&nbsp;50.</ref> Offa is known to have died in 796, on either 26 July or 29 July, so Ecgfrith's date of death is either 14 December or 17 December of the same year.<ref name = Kirby_177/> Coenwulf succeeded Ecgfrith as king. Coenwulf's father's name was Cuthberht, who may have been the same person as an ealdorman of that name who witnessed charters during the reign of Offa.<ref name=Yorke_118>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p.&nbsp;118.</ref> Coenwulf is also recorded as witnessing charters during Offa's reign.<ref name=Yorke_120>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p.&nbsp;120.</ref> According to the genealogy of Mercian kings preserved in the [[Anglian collection]] Coenwulf was descended from a brother of [[Penda of Mercia|Penda]] named Cenwealh, of whom there is no other record.<ref name=Yorke_118/> It is possible that this refers to [[Cenwealh of Wessex]], who was married to (and later repudiated) a sister of Penda.<ref name=Williams_29>Williams, ''Kingship and Government'', p.&nbsp;29.</ref>

Coenwulf's kin may have been connected to the royal family of the [[Hwicce]], a subkingdom of Mercia around the lower [[river Severn]].<ref name=Zaluckyj_228>Sarah and John Zaluckyj, "Decline", in Zaluckyj and Zaluckyj, ''Mercia'', p.&nbsp;228.</ref> It appears that Coenwulf's family were powerful, but they were not of recent Mercian royal lineage.<ref name=Kirby_177>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p.&nbsp;177.</ref> A letter written by Alcuin to the people of Kent in 797 laments that "scarcely anyone is found now of the old stock of kings".<ref name=Story_145>Story, ''Carolingian Connections'', p.&nbsp;145.</ref> [[Eardwulf of Northumbria]] had, like Coenwulf, gained his throne in 796, so Alcuin's meaning is not clear, but it may be that he intended it as a slur on Eardwulf or Coenwulf or on both.<ref name=Kirby_156>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p.&nbsp;156.</ref> Alcuin certainly held negative views of Coenwulf, regarding him as a tyrant and criticising him for putting aside one wife and taking another. Alcuin wrote to a Mercian nobleman to ask him to greet Coenwulf peaceably "if it is possible to do so", implying uncertainty about Coenwulf's policy towards the [[Carolingian dynasty|Carolingians]].<ref name=Kirby_177/>

Coenwulf's early reign was marked by a breakdown in Mercian control in southern England. In East Anglia, King Eadwald minted coins at about this time, implying that he was no longer subject to Mercia.<ref name=Kirby_178>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p.&nbsp;178.</ref> A charter of 799 seems to show that Wessex and Mercia were estranged for some time before that date, though the charter is not regarded as undoubtedly genuine.<ref>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p.&nbsp;179 and n.&nbsp;122, p.&nbsp;184.</ref><ref name=S_154>{{cite web | url = http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=seek&query=S+154 | title = Anglo-Saxons.net: S 154 | publisher = Sean Miller|access-date=2 February 2008}}</ref> In Kent, an uprising began, probably starting after Ecgfrith's death,<ref name=Kirby_178/> though it has been suggested that it began much earlier in the year, before Offa's death.<ref name = Stenton_225/><ref>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p.&nbsp;183, n. 8, quoting Brooks, ''The Early History of the Church of Canterbury''</ref> The uprising was led by [[Eadberht III Præn|Eadberht Præn]], who had been an exile at Charlemagne's court: Eadberht's cause almost certainly had Carolingian support.<ref name=Kirby_185>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p.&nbsp;185.</ref> Eadberht became king of Kent, and [[Æthelhard|Æthelheard]], the archbishop of Canterbury at that time, fled his see; it is likely that [[Christ Church, Canterbury]] was sacked.<ref name=Kirby_178/>

==Reign==
[[Image:Coenwulf.svg|300px|thumb|Southern England during Coenwulf's reign]]

Coenwulf was unwilling to take military action in Kent without acknowledgement from [[Pope Leo III]] that Eadberht was a pretender. The basis for this assertion was that Eadberht had reportedly been a priest, and as such had given up any right to the throne.<ref name=Kirby_178/> Coenwulf wrote to the Pope and asked Leo to consider making London the seat of the southern archbishopric, removing the honour from Canterbury; it is likely that Coenwulf's reasons included the loss of Mercian control over Kent.<ref name=Kirby_178/><ref name=EHD_204>Whitelock, ''English Historical Documents'', 204, p.&nbsp;791.</ref> Leo refused to agree to moving the archiepiscopate to London, but in the same letter he agreed that Eadberht's previous ordination made him ineligible for the throne:<ref name=EHD_205>Whitelock, ''English Historical Documents'', 205, p.&nbsp;793.</ref>

{{blockquote|And concerning that letter which the most reverend and holy Æthelheard sent to us&nbsp;... as regards that apostate cleric who mounted to the throne&nbsp;... we excommunicate and reject him, having regard to the safety of his soul. For if he should still persist in that wicked behaviour, be sure to inform us quickly, that we may [write to] princes and all people dwelling in the island of Britain, exhorting them to expel him from his most wicked rule and procure the safety of his soul.}}

This authorisation from the Pope to proceed against Eadberht was delayed until 798, but once it was received Coenwulf took action.<ref name=Kirby_178/> The Mercians captured Eadberht, put out his eyes and cut off his hands,<ref name=Yorke_121>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p.&nbsp;121.</ref> and led him in chains to Mercia, where according to later tradition he was imprisoned at Winchcombe, a religious house closely affiliated with Coenwulf's family.<ref name=Story_142>Story, ''Carolingian Connections'', p.&nbsp;142.</ref> By 801 at the latest Coenwulf had placed his brother, [[Cuthred of Kent|Cuthred]], on the throne of Kent.<ref name=Kirby_179/> Cuthred ruled until the time of his death in 807, after which Coenwulf took control of Kent in name as well as fact.<ref name=Yorke_32>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p.&nbsp;32.</ref> Coenwulf styled himself "King of the Mercians and the Province of Kent" (''rex Merciorum atque provincie Cancie'') in a charter dated 809.<ref name=S_164>{{cite web | url = http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=seek&query=S+164 | title = Anglo-Saxons.net: S 164 | publisher = Sean Miller|access-date=2 February 2008}}</ref>

Offa's domination of the [[kingdom of Essex]] was continued by Coenwulf. King [[Sigeric of Essex]] left for Rome in 798, according to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'',<ref name=Swanton_56>Swanton, ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', p.&nbsp;56.</ref> presumably abdicating the throne in favour of his son, [[Sigered of Essex|Sigered]]. Sigered appears on two charters of Coenwulf's in 811 as king (''rex'') of Essex, but his title is reduced thereafter, first to ''subregulus'', or subking, and thereafter to ''dux'' or [[ealdorman]].<ref name=Yorke_51>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p.&nbsp;51.</ref><ref name=Stenton_305>Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', p.&nbsp;305.</ref>

[[File:Coenwulf of Mercia lead bulla.jpg|thumb|Lead [[bulla (seal)|bulla]] of king Coenwulf of Mercia ([[British Museum]])]]
The course of events in East Anglia is less clear, but Eadwald's coinage ceased, and new coinage issued by Coenwulf began by about 805, so it is likely that Coenwulf forcibly re-established Mercian dominance there.<ref name=Kirby_179>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p.&nbsp;179.</ref> The resumption of friendly relations with Wessex under Beorhtric received a setback when Beorhtric died and the throne of Wessex passed to Egbert, who, like Eadberht, had been an exile at Charlemagne's court.<ref name=Zaluckyj_232>Sarah and John Zaluckyj, "Decline", in Zaluckyj & Zaluckyj, ''Mercia'', p.&nbsp;232.</ref> The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' records that on the same day that Egbert came to the throne, an ealdorman of the Hwicce named Æthelmund led a force across the Thames at [[Kempsford]] but was defeated by the men of Wiltshire under the leadership of Weohstan, also an ealdorman.<ref name="Swanton_58-9">Swanton, ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', pp.&nbsp;58–59.</ref> Egbert may also have had a claim on the Kentish throne, according to the ''Chronicle'', but he made no move to recover it during Coenwulf's reign.<ref name=Kirby_189>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p.&nbsp;189.</ref> Egbert appears to have been independent of Mercia from the beginning of his reign, and Wessex's independence meant that Coenwulf was never able to claim the overlordship of the southern English that had belonged to Offa and Æthelbald.<ref name = Stenton_225/> He did, however, claim the title of "Emperor" on one charter, the only Anglo-Saxon king to do so before the 10th century.<ref name=TAS_101>Patrick Wormald, "The Age of Offa and Alcuin", in Campbell et al. ''The Anglo-Saxons'', p.&nbsp;101.</ref>

In 796 or 797 the Welsh engaged Mercian forces at [[Rhuddlan]]. By 798 Coenwulf was in a position to invade in return, killing [[Caradog ap Meirion]], the King of [[Gwynedd]].<ref name = Kirby_187/> A civil war in Gwynedd in the 810s ended with the succession of [[Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog|Hywel ap Caradog]] in 816 or 817, and Coenwulf invaded again, this time ravaging [[Snowdonia]] and taking control of Rhufuniog, a small Welsh territory near [[Rhos (North Wales)|Rhos]]. It is not clear if the Mercians were involved in a battle recorded in [[Anglesey]] in 817 or 818, but the following year Coenwulf and his army devastated [[Dyfed]].<ref name=Kirby_188>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p.&nbsp;188.</ref>

The Northumbrian king, [[Æthelred I of Northumbria|Æthelred]], was assassinated in April 796, and less than a month later his successor, [[Osbald of Northumbria|Osbald]], was deposed in favour of [[Eardwulf of Northumbria|Eardwulf]].<ref name=Kirby_155>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p.&nbsp;155.</ref> Eardwulf had [[Alkmund of Derby|Alhmund]] killed in 800; Alhmund was the son of King [[Alhred of Northumbria]], who had reigned from 765 to 774. Alhmund's death was regarded as a martyrdom, and his cult subsequently developed at [[Derby]], in Mercian territory, perhaps implying Mercian involvement in Northumbrian politics at the time. Coenwulf gave hospitality to Eardwulf's enemies, who had been exiled from Northumbria, and consequently Eardwulf invaded Mercia in 801. The invasion was inconclusive, however, and peace was arranged on equal terms. Coenwulf may also have been behind the coup in 806 that led to Eardwulf losing his throne,<ref name=Yorke_95>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p.&nbsp;95.</ref> and he likely continued to support Eardwulf's enemies after Eardwulf returned in 808.<ref name=Kirby_197>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p.&nbsp;197.</ref>

==Relations with the church==
[[Image:Offa dioceses.gif|thumb|left|The dioceses of England during Coenwulf's reign. The boundary between the archdioceses of Lichfield and Canterbury is shown in bold.]]

In 787, Offa had persuaded the Church to create a new archbishopric at Lichfield, dividing the arch[[diocese]] of Canterbury. The new archdiocese included the sees of Worcester, Hereford, Leicester, Lindsey, Dommoc and Elmham; these were essentially the midland Anglian territories. Canterbury retained the sees in the south and southeast.<ref name=Kirby_174>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p.&nbsp;174.</ref><ref name=Brooks_119>According to Brooks, the earliest source for the list of dioceses attached to Lichfield is the 12th-century [[William of Malmesbury]]; Brooks emphasizes that this is a late source, though he acknowledges the division given is plausible. Brooks, ''Early History'', p.&nbsp;119.</ref> [[Hygeberht]], already Bishop of [[Lichfield]], was the new archdiocese's first and only archbishop.<ref name="Stenton_217-8">Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', pp.&nbsp;217–218 & 218 notes 3 & 4.</ref>

Two versions of the events that led to the creation of the new archdiocese appear in the form of an exchange of letters in 798 between Coenwulf and [[Pope Leo III]]. Coenwulf asserted in his letter that Offa wanted the new archdiocese created out of enmity for [[Jænberht]], the Archbishop of Canterbury at the time of the division; but Leo responded that the only reason the papacy agreed to the creation was because of the size of the kingdom of Mercia.<ref name="EHD_204-5">Whitelock, ''English Historical Documents'', 204 & 205, pp.&nbsp;791–794.</ref> The comments of both Coenwulf and Leo are partisan, as each had his own reasons for representing the situation as they did: Coenwulf was entreating Leo to make London the sole southern archdiocese, while Leo was concerned to avoid the appearance of complicity with the unworthy motives Coenwulf imputed to Offa.<ref name="Kirby_169-170">Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', pp.&nbsp;169–170.</ref> Coenwulf's desire to move the southern archbishopric to London would have been influenced by the situation in Kent, where Archbishop [[Æthelhard|Æthelheard]] had been forced to flee by Eadberht Præn. Coenwulf would have wished to retain control over the archiepiscopal seat, and at the time he wrote to the pope Kent was independent of Mercia.<ref name=Brooks>Brooks, ''Early History of Canterbury'', pp.&nbsp;120–125.</ref>

Æthelheard, who had succeeded Jaenberht in 792, had been the abbot of a monastery at [[Louth, Lincolnshire|Louth]] in [[Kingdom of Lindsey|Lindsey]].<ref name=Stenton_225>Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', p.&nbsp;225.</ref> On 18 January 802 Æthelheard received a papal privilege that re-established his authority over all the churches in the archdiocese of Lichfield as well as those of Canterbury. Æthelheard held a council at Clovesho on 12 October 803 which finally stripped Lichfield of its archiepiscopal status. However, it appears that Hygeberht had already been removed from his office; a Hygeberht attended the council of Clovesho as the head of the Church in Mercia but signed as an abbot.<ref name=Stenton_227>Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', p.&nbsp;227.</ref>

Archbishop Æthelheard died in 805 and was succeeded by [[Wulfred]].<ref name=BEASE_491>S.E. Kelly, "Wulfred", in Lapidge et al., ''Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon History'', p.&nbsp;491.</ref> Wulfred was given freedom to mint coins that did not name Coenwulf on the reverse, probably indicating that Wulfred was on good terms with the Mercian king. In 808 there was evidently a rift of some kind: a letter from Pope Leo to Charlemagne mentioned that Coenwulf had not yet made peace with Wulfred. After this no further discord is mentioned until 816, when Wulfred presided over a council which attacked lay control of religious houses.<ref name=Kirby_186>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p.&nbsp;186.</ref> The council, held at Chelsea, asserted that Coenwulf did not have the right to make appointments to nunneries and monasteries, although both Leo and his predecessor, [[Pope Adrian I|Pope Hadrian I]], had granted Offa and Coenwulf the right to do so. Coenwulf had recently appointed his daughter, [[Cwenthryth|Cwoenthryth]], to the position of abbess of [[Minster-in-Thanet]]. Leo died in 816, and his successor, [[Pope Stephen IV|Stephen IV]], died the following January; the new pope, [[Pope Paschal I|Paschal I]] confirmed Coenwulf's privileges but this did not end the dispute.<ref name=Kirby_187>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p.&nbsp;187.</ref> In 817 Wulfred witnessed two charters in which Coenwulf granted land to [[Denebeorht|Deneberht]], bishop of Worcester, but there is no further record of Wulfred acting as archbishop for the rest of Coenwulf's reign.<ref name=Kirby_187/> One account records that the quarrel between Wulfred and Coenwulf led to Wulfred being deprived of his office for six years, with no baptisms taking place during that time, but this may have been an exaggeration, with four years being the more likely term of the suspension.<ref name=Kirby_186/><ref name=Stenton_229_5>Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', p.&nbsp;229 n.&nbsp;5.</ref>

In 821, the year of Coenwulf's death, a council was held in London at which Coenwulf threatened to exile Wulfred if the archbishop did not surrender an estate of 300 [[hide (unit)|hides]] and make a payment of 120 pounds to the king.<ref name=Kirby_187/><ref name="Stenton_229-30">Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', pp.&nbsp;229–230.</ref> Wulfred is recorded to have agreed to these terms, but the conflict continued well past Coenwulf's death, with an apparently final agreement between Wulfred and Coenwulf's daughter Cwoenthryth reached in 826 or 827. However, Wulfred officiated at the consecration of Coenwulf's brother and heir, Ceolwulf, on 17 September 822, so it is evident that some accommodation had been reached by that time. Wulfred had probably resumed his archiepiscopal duties earlier that year.<ref name=Kirby_187/><ref name=BEASE_491/>

==Coinage==
[[File:An Early Medieval silver penny of Coenwulf dating AD805-810 (FindID 547548).jpg|thumb|right|A silver penny of Coenwulf from c. AD 807]]
The coinage of Coenwulf follows the broad silver [[History of the English penny (c. 600 – 1066)|penny]] format established under [[Offa]] and his contemporaries. His very first coins are very similar to the heavy coinage of Offa's last three years, and since the mints at [[Canterbury]] and in [[Kingdom of the East Angles|East Anglia]] were under the control of Eadbert Præn and Eadwald, respectively, these earliest pennies must be the product of the [[Royal Mint#Origin|London mint]]. Before 798 the new ''tribrach'' type appeared, with a design consisting of three radial lines meeting at the centre. The tribrach design was introduced initially at London alone but soon spread to Canterbury after it was reconquered from the rebels. It was not struck in East Anglia, but there are tribrach pennies in the name of Cuthred, sub-king of Kent. Around 805 a new portrait coinage was introduced to all three of the southern mints. After around 810 a range of reverse designs was introduced, though several were common to many or all of the [[moneyer]]s.<ref name="BG_284-8">Blackburn & Grierson, ''Medieval European Coinage'', pp.&nbsp;284–288.</ref> From this date there is also evidence of a new mint, at [[Rochester, Kent|Rochester]] in Kent.<ref name=BF_221>Gareth Williams, "Mercian Coinage and Authority", in Brown and Farr, ''Mercia'', p.&nbsp;221.</ref>

A gold coin bearing the name Coenwulf was discovered in 2001 at [[Biggleswade]] in [[Bedfordshire]], England, on a footpath beside the [[River Ivel]]. The {{Convert|4.33|g|abbr=on}} [[mancus]], worth about 30 silver pennies, is only the eighth-known Anglo-Saxon gold coin dating to the mid-to-late Anglo-Saxon period.
The coin's inscription, "DE VICO LVNDONIAE", indicates that it was minted in London.<ref>EMC Number 2004.167, Early Medieval Corpus, Fitzwilliam Museum. Now British Museum nr. 2006,0204.1.</ref>
It has seen little or no circulation, as it was probably lost shortly after it was issued.
The similarity to a coin of [[Charlemagne]] inscribed ''vico Duristat'' has been taken to suggest that the two coins reflect a rivalry between the two kings, although it is unknown which coin has priority.<ref>
*Gareth Williams, ''Early Anglo-Saxon Coins'' (2008), 43&ndash;45.
*John Blair, ''Building Anglo-Saxon England'' (2018), [https://books.google.com/books?id=qng9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA230 p. 230].</ref>
Initially sold to American collector Allan Davisson for £230,000 at an auction held by [[Spink auction house]] in 2004, the British Government subsequently put in place an export ban in the hope of saving it for the British public.<ref name=BBC_1>"Ancient coin could fetch £150,000", BBC.</ref><ref name=NYT_1>Healey, "Museum Buying Rare Coin to Keep It in Britain".</ref> In February 2006 the coin was bought by the [[British Museum]] for £357,832 with the help of funding from the [[National Heritage Memorial Fund]] and [[The British Museum Friends]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1593837&partId=1 |title=Coenwulf mancus |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2006 |website=[[British Museum]]}}</ref> making it the most expensive British coin purchased until then, though the price was exceeded the following July by the third-known example of a [[Florin (English coin)|Double Leopard]].<ref name=BBC_3>"Rare Coin Breaks Auction Record", BBC.</ref>

==Family and succession==
[[Image:Coenwulf family tree.svg|thumb|402px|right|Coenwulf's family tree]]

A charter of 799 records a wife of Coenwulf named Cynegyth; the charter is forged, but this detail is possibly accurate.<ref name=S_156>{{cite web | url = http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=seek&query=S+156 | title = Anglo-Saxons.net: S 156 | publisher = Sean Miller|access-date=2 February 2008}}</ref><ref name=BF_42>Pauline Stafford, "Political Womena", in Brown & Farr, ''Mercia'', p.&nbsp;42, n.&nbsp;5.</ref> Ælfthryth is more reliably established as Coenwulf's wife, again from charter evidence; she is recorded on charters dated between 804 and 817.<ref name="PASE_Ælfthryth_3">Ælfthryth 3, PASE.</ref> Coenwulf's daughter, [[Cwoenthryth]], survived him and inherited the monastery at [[Winchcombe]] which Coenwulf had established as part of the patrimony of his family.<ref name="Yorke_118-9">Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', pp.&nbsp;118–119.</ref> Cwoenthryth subsequently was engaged in a long dispute with Archbishop Wulfred over her rights to the monastery.<ref name=Kirby_187/> Coenwulf also had a son, [[Saint Kenelm|Cynehelm]], who later became known as a saint, with a cult dating from at least the 970s.<ref name=Thacker_8>Thacker, "Kings, Saints and Monasteries", p.&nbsp;8.</ref> According to [[Alfred the Great]]'s biographer, the Welsh monk and bishop, [[Asser]], Alfred's wife Ealhswith was descended from Coenwulf through her mother, Eadburh, though Asser does not say which of Coenwulf's children Eadburh descends from.<ref name=Kirby_212>Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p.&nbsp;212.</ref>

Coenwulf died in 821 at [[Basingwerk]] near [[Holywell, Flintshire|Holywell]], [[Flintshire]], probably while making preparations for a campaign against the Welsh that took place under his brother and successor, [[Ceolwulf I of Mercia|Ceolwulf]], the following year.<ref name=Stenton_230>Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', p.&nbsp;230.</ref> Coenwulf's body was moved to [[Winchcombe]] where it was buried in St Mary's Abbey<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xksjPqoqVbcC&pg=PA166 | title=Religion and Literature in Western England, 600–800| isbn=978-0521673426| last1=Sims-Williams| first1=Patrick| date=2005| publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref> (later known as [[Winchcombe Abbey]]). A mid-11th-century source asserts that Cynehelm briefly succeeded to the throne while still a child and was then murdered by his tutor Æscberht at the behest of Cwoenthryth. This version of events "bristles with historical problems", according to one historian, and it is also possible that Cynehelm is to be identified with an ealdorman who is found witnessing charters earlier in Coenwulf's reign, and who appears to have died by about 812.<ref name=Thacker_8/><ref name=Yorke_119>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p.&nbsp;119.</ref> The opinion of historians is not unanimous on this point: [[Simon Keynes]] has suggested that the ealdorman is unlikely to be the same person as the prince and that Cynehelm therefore may well have survived to the end of his father's reign.<ref name=BEASE_111/> Regardless of interpretation of Cynehelm's legend, there does appear to have been dynastic discord early in Ceolwulf's reign: a document from 825 says that after the death of Coenwulf "much discord and innumerable disagreements arose between various kings, nobles, bishops and ministers of the Church of God on very many matters of secular business".<ref name=Kirby_188/>

Coenwulf was the last of a series of Mercian kings, beginning with Penda in the early 7th century, to exercise dominance over most or all of southern England. In the years after his death, Mercia's position weakened, and the [[battle of Ellendun]] in 825 firmly established [[Egbert of Wessex]] as the dominant king south of the Humber.<ref>Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', pp. 104–105, 112, 122.</ref>

The Anglo-Saxonist and historian [[John Blair (historian)|John Blair]] has identified evidence that Coenwulf came to be venerated as a saint, at least by the 12th century, and included him in his 'Handlist of Anglo-Saxon Saints'. The evidence is that the king appears to have been honoured as a 'holy benefactor' [Blair] at Winchcombe Abbey in the 12th century, and that a [[relic]] of ''Sanctus Kenulfus'' appears in a 12th-century relic list from [[Peterborough Abbey]].<ref>John Blair, 'A Handlist of Anglo-Saxon Saints', in {{cite book |last1=Thacker|first1= Alan|last2= Sharpe|first2= Richard |title=Local Saints and Local Churches in the Early Medieval West|year= 2002 |publisher= Oxford University Press|pages=495–565 |isbn=0198203942}}, at p. 521, where as indicated in Blair's introduction (at p. 495) the italicization of his name signals that his holiness is attested only in post-Conquest evidence and thus that his status as a pre-Conquest saint is hypothetical.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Kings of Mercia family tree]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{Refbegin}}

===Primary sources===
* {{cite book|last1= Keynes|first1= Simon|author-link= Simon Keynes|last2= Lapidge|author-link2= Michael Lapidge|first2= Michael|title= Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred and other contemporary sources|year= 2004|publisher= Penguin Classics|isbn= 978-0-14-044409-4|url-access= registration|url= https://archive.org/details/alfredgreatasser0000asse |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last= Bede|author-link= Bede|title= Ecclesiastical History of the English People|translator= [[Leo Sherley-Price]]|others= Revised by [[R.E. Latham]]|editor= D.H. Farmer|location= London|publisher= Penguin|year= 1991|isbn= 978-0-14-044565-7|title-link= Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum |ref=none}}
* {{PASE|5605|Ælfthryth 3|access-date=2008-02-09 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last= Swanton|first= Michael|title= The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle|year= 1996| location=New York|publisher= Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-92129-9 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Whitelock|first=Dorothy|author-link=Dorothy Whitelock|title=English Historical Documents Volume I c. 500–1042|year=1968|location=London|publisher=Eyre & Spottiswoode |ref=none}}

===Secondary sources===
* {{cite news | title=Ancient coin could fetch £150,000| date=2004-10-06 | publisher=BBC| url =https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/5130666.stm | access-date = 2008-02-11 |ref=none }}
* {{cite news | title=Museum's £350,000 deal for coin| date=2006-02-08 | publisher=BBC| url =https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/4692162.stm | access-date = 2008-02-11 |ref=none }}
* {{cite news | title=Rare Coin Breaks Auction Record| date=2006-06-29 | publisher=BBC| url =https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/5130666.stm | access-date = 2008-02-11 |ref=none }}
* Blackburn, Mark & Grierson, Philip, ''Medieval European Coinage.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, reprinted with corrections 2006. {{ISBN|0-521-03177-X}}
* Blair, John, 'A Handlist of Anglo-Saxon Saints', in {{cite book |last1=Thacker|first1= Alan|last2= Sharpe|first2= Richard |title=Local Saints and Local Churches in the Early Medieval West|year= 2002 |publisher= Oxford University Press|pages=495–565 |isbn=0198203942 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last= Blair|first= John|title=The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society|year= 2006|publisher= Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-921117-3 |ref=none}}
* Blunt, C.E.; Lyon, C.S.S. & Stewart, B.H. "The coinage of southern England, 796–840", ''British Numismatic Journal'' 32 (1963), 1–74
* {{cite book |author=Brooks, Nicholas |author-link=Nicholas Brooks (historian) |title=The Early History of the Church of Canterbury: Christ Church from 597 to 1066 |publisher=Leicester University Press |location=London |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-7185-0041-2 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1= Brown|first1= Michelle P.|author-link=Michelle P. Brown |last2= Farr |first2= Carole A.|title=Mercia: An Anglo-Saxon kingdom in Europe|year= 2001|publisher= Continuum|isbn=978-0-8264-7765-1 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last= Campbell|first= James|author-link=James Campbell (historian)|title=The Anglo-Saxon State|year= 2000|publisher= Hambledon and London|isbn=978-1-85285-176-7 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1= Campbell|first1= James|author1-link=James Campbell (historian)|last2= John|first2= Eric|last3= Wormald|first3= Patrick|author-link3=Patrick Wormald|title=The Anglo-Saxons|year= 1991|publisher= Penguin Books|isbn=978-0-14-014395-9 |ref=none}}
* {{cite web|url=http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/dept/coins/emc/|title=Early Medieval Corpus of Coin Finds, 410–1180|access-date=2008-02-11|work=Early Medieval Corpus|publisher=The Fitzwilliam Museum|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080218184726/http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/dept/coins/emc/|archive-date=2008-02-18 |ref=none}}
* Kelly, S.E., "Wulfred", in {{cite book |last=Lapidge|first=Michael|title=The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England|year=1999|location=Oxford|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|isbn=978-0-631-22492-1 |ref=none}}
* Keynes, Simon, "Mercia", in {{cite book |last=Lapidge|first=Michael|title=The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England|year=1999|location=Oxford|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|isbn=978-0-631-22492-1 |ref=none}}
* Keynes, Simon, "Offa", in {{cite book |last=Lapidge|first=Michael|title=The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England|year=1999|location=Oxford|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|isbn=978-0-631-22492-1 |ref=none}}
* Keynes, Simon, "Mercia and Wessex in the Ninth Century", in {{cite book |last1= Brown|first1= Michelle P.|last2= Farr |first2= Carole A.|title=Mercia: An Anglo-Saxon kingdom in Europe|year= 2001|publisher= Continuum|isbn=978-0-8264-7765-1 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last= Kirby|first= D.P.|title=The Earliest English Kings|year= 1992|location=London|publisher= Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-09086-5 |ref=none}}
* Lapidge, Michael, "Alcuin of York", in {{cite book |last=Lapidge|first=Michael|title=The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England|year=1999|location=Oxford|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|isbn=978-0-631-22492-1 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Lapidge|first=Michael|title=The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England|year=1999|location=Oxford|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|isbn=978-0-631-22492-1 |ref=none}}
* [[Janet Nelson|Nelson, Janet]], "Carolingian Contacts", in {{cite book |last1= Brown|first1= Michelle P.|last2= Farr |first2= Carole A.|title=Mercia: An Anglo-Saxon kingdom in Europe|year= 2001|publisher= Continuum|isbn=978-0-8264-7765-1 |ref=none}}
* {{cite news | first=Matthew | last=Healey | title=Museum Buying Rare Coin to Keep It in Britain| date=2006-02-06 | newspaper=New York Times | url =https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/08/international/europe/08coin.html?_r=1&oref=slogin | access-date = 2008-02-11 |ref=none }}
* [[Pauline Stafford|Stafford, Pauline]], "Political Women in Mercia, Eighth to Early Tenth Centuries", in {{cite book |last1= Brown|first1= Michelle P.|last2= Farr |first2= Carole A.|title=Mercia: An Anglo-Saxon kingdom in Europe|year= 2001|publisher= Continuum|isbn=978-0-8264-7765-1 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last= Stenton|first= Frank M.| author-link = Frank Stenton|title= Anglo-Saxon England|url= https://archive.org/details/anglosaxonenglan0000sten|url-access= registration|year= 1971| location=Oxford|publisher= Clarendon Press|isbn=978-0-19-821716-9 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Story |first=Joanna |year=2003 |title=Carolingian Connections: Anglo-Saxon England and Carolingian Francia, c. 750–870 |location=Aldershot |publisher=Ashgate |isbn=978-0-7546-0124-1 |ref=none}}
* {{Cite journal |url=http://www.midlandhistory.bham.ac.uk/issues/1985/thackea.pdf |title=Kings, Saints and Monasteries in Pre-Viking Mercia |last=Thacker |first=Alan |journal=Midland History |volume=10 |year=1985 |access-date=2008-01-10 |issn=0047-729X |pages=1–25 |doi=10.1179/mdh.1985.10.1.1 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080529012040/http://www.midlandhistory.bham.ac.uk/issues/1985/thackea.pdf| archive-date = 29 May 2008 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last=Williams|first=Ann|author-link=Ann Williams (historian)|title=Kingship and Government in Pre-Conquest England c. 500–1066|year=1999|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0-333-56797-5 |ref=none}}
* Williams, Gareth, "Mercian Coinage and Authority", in {{cite book |last1= Brown|first1= Michelle P.|last2= Farr |first2= Carole A.|title=Mercia: An Anglo-Saxon kingdom in Europe|year= 2001|publisher= Continuum|isbn=978-0-8264-7765-1 |ref=none}}
* Wormald, Patrick, "The Age of Offa and Alcuin", in {{cite book |last1= Campbell|first1= James|last2= John|first2= Eric|last3= Wormald|first3=Patrick|title=The Anglo-Saxons|year= 1991|publisher= Penguin Books|isbn=978-0-14-014395-9 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last= Yorke|first=Barbara|author-link=Barbara Yorke|title=Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England|year= 1990  |url=https://archive.org/details/KingsAndKingdomsOfEarlyAngloSaxonEngland/page/n1/mode/2up |location=London|publisher= Seaby|isbn=978-1-85264-027-9 |ref=none}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{PASE|33295|Cenwulf 3}}

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{{s-hou|[[List of monarchs of Mercia|C-dynasty of the Mercians]]||||821}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[Ecgfrith of Mercia|Ecgfrith]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of monarchs of Mercia|King of Mercia]]|years=796–821}}
{{s-aft|rows=3|after=[[Ceolwulf I of Mercia|Ceolwulf I]]}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[Eadwald of East Anglia|Eadwald]]|as=King}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of monarchs of East Anglia|Ruler of East Anglia]]|years=c. 805–821}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[Cuthred of Kent|Cuthred]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of monarchs of Kent|King of Kent]]|years=807–821}}
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{{Bretwalda}}
{{Mercian Monarchs}}
{{Kentish Monarchs}}
{{East Anglian monarchs}}
{{Anglo-Saxon saints}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Featured article}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coenwulf Of Mercia}}
[[Category:8th-century births]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:821 deaths]]
[[Category:Mercian monarchs]]
[[Category:Kentish monarchs]]
[[Category:East Anglian monarchs]]
[[Category:8th-century English monarchs]]
[[Category:9th-century English monarchs]]
[[Category:Anglo-Saxon warriors]]
[[Category:Mercian saints]]