Beornred
King of Mercia
Reign757
PredecessorÆthelbald
SuccessorOffa
Died757
HouseUnknown

Beornred (Old English: Beornræd) (?-757) was a Mercian Thane who was briefly King of Mercia in 757.[1] Beornred ascended the throne following the murder of King Æthelbald.[2] However, he was defeated by Offa and forced to flee the country, and was killed that same year.[1] There is very little information about him and mentions about him are commonly brief.

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in 757: "...Æthelbald, king of Mercia, was killed at Seckington, and his body rests at Repton; and he ruled 41 years. And then Beornred succeeded to the kingdom, and held it a little while and unhappily; and that same year Offa put Beornred to flight and succeeded to the kingdom, and held it 39 years..."[3] According to Ingulf, an 11th-century Benedictine abbot, Beornred was regarded as a tyrant, while Roger of Wendover, a thirteenth-century chronicler, states that he was an unjust king and that the people of Mercia rose in rebellion against him.[1][4] He was possibly involved in his predecessor's death.[5] According to Professor Michelle P. Brown, Beornred has been considered by some historians to have been part of the same dynasty as Beorhtric of Wessex, as well as several other prominent Anglo-Saxon nobles whose names begin with the letter B.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Glover, Stephen (1829). Thomas Noble (ed.). The History of the County of Derby: drawn up from actual observation, and from the best authorities. H. Mosley & Son. p. 327. OCLC 3618252.
  2. ↑ Mark, Joshua J. (30 November 2018). "Kingdom of Mercia". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  3. ↑ Michael Swanton, ed. (1996) [1116]. "manuscript E, 755 (757)". The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Orion Publishing. ISBN 978-0460877374.
  4. ↑ Whitehead, Annie (2018). Mercia: The Rise and Fall of a Kingdom. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 9781445676531.
  5. ↑ Ryan, M.J.; Higham, Nicholas J. (2013). The Anglo-Saxon World. Yale University Press. p. 186. ISBN 9780300125344.
  6. ↑ Brown, Michelle P.; Farr, Carol Ann (2001). Mercia: An Anglo-Saxon Kingdom in Europe. Leicester University Press. p. 317. ISBN 9780718502317.



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