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Offa
King of the Mercians
Series: The English Monarchs Series
Brief Description
An authoritative biography of Offa of Mercia, revealing his importance as the king who stood at the turning point of Anglo-Saxon history. Offa ruled the Mercian heartland of the West Midlands from 757 to 796. While Alfred the Great and his dynasty are seen as agents...
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Offa
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An authoritative biography of Offa of Mercia, revealing his importance as the king who stood at the turning point of Anglo-Saxon history
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Description
An authoritative biography of Offa of Mercia, revealing his importance as the king who stood at the turning point of Anglo-Saxon history.
Offa ruled the Mercian heartland of the West Midlands from 757 to 796. While Alfred the Great and his dynasty are seen as agents of a new beginning that resulted in a unified Anglo-Saxon kingdom, Offa is best remembered as the builder of a great dyke and as a symbol of an older, divided order.
In this major new biography, Rory Naismith challenges this view. Naismith reveals how Offa cemented Mercia's position as the dominant force in the southern part of Britain, strengthened the internal cohesion of his domains, and laid the basis for a new model of kingship.
Drawing on a wide range of sources, including charters, coins, and chronicles, Naismith reveals Offa as a king who was ambitious and successful, and who carefully constructed his image and that of the royal family. Far from just one in a sequence of overlords, Offa had a lasting impact on how kingship was practised and conceived across England.
Series: The English Monarchs Series
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Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780300257465
Publisher: Yale University Press
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 28 April 2026
Country: United States
Imprint: Yale University Press
Illustration: 33 b-w illus. + 12 maps
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 156.0mm
Height: 235.0mm
Weight: 0g
Pages: 384
About the Author
Rory Naismith is professor of early medieval history at the University of Cambridge and the author of prize-winning books Money and Power in Anglo-Saxon England, The Coinage of Southern England 796–865, Citadel of the Saxons, and Making Money in the Early Middle Ages.
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