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Wulfhere or Wulfar (died 675) was King of Mercia from 658 until 675 AD. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of Northumbria's overlordship of southern England, and Wulfhere extended his influence over much of that region. His campaigns against the West Saxons led to Mercian control of much of the Thames valley. He conquered the Isle of Wight and the Meon valley and gave them to King Æthelwealh of the South Saxons. He also had influence in Surrey, Essex, and Kent. He married Eormenhild, the daughter of King Eorcenberht of Kent. Wulfhere's father, Penda, was killed in 655 at the Battle of Winwaed, fighting against Oswiu of Northumbria. Penda's son Peada became king under Oswiu's overlordship but was murdered a year later. Wulfhere came to the throne when Mercian nobles organized a revolt against Northumbrian rule in 658 and drove out Oswiu's governors. By 670, when Oswiu died, Wulfhere was the most powerful king in southern Britain. He was effectively the overlord of Britain south of the Humber from the early 660s, although not overlord of Northumbria as his father had been. In 674, he challenged Oswiu's son Ecgfrith of Northumbria, but was defeated. He died, probably of disease, in 675. Wulfhere was succeeded as King of Mercia by his brother, Æthelred. Stephen of Ripon's ''Life of Wilfrid'' describes Wulfhere as "a man of proud mind, and insatiable will".〔Colgrave, ''Life of Bishop Wilfred'', c. 20.〕 ==Mercia in the seventh century== England in the early 7th century was ruled almost entirely by the Anglo-Saxon peoples who had come to Britain from northwestern Europe, starting in the early 5th century. The monk Bede, who wrote in the 8th century, considered the Mercians to be descended from the Angles, one of the invading groups; the Saxons and Jutes settled in the south of Britain, while the Angles settled in the north.〔Bede, ''HE'', I, 15, p. 63.〕 Little is known about the origins of the kingdom of Mercia, in what is now the English midlands, but according to genealogies preserved in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' and the Anglian collection the early kings were descended from Icel; the dynasty is therefore known as the Iclingas.〔Yorke, Barbara, "The Origins of Mercia" in Brown and Farr, ''Mercia'', pp. 15–16〕 The earliest Mercian king about whom definite historical information has survived is Penda of Mercia, Wulfhere's father.〔Barbara Yorke, "The Origins of Mercia" in Brown and Farr, ''Mercia'', pp. 18–19〕 According to Bede's ''Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum'', a history of the English church, there were seven early Anglo-Saxon rulers who held ''imperium'', or overlordship, over the other kingdoms.〔Bede, ''HE'', II, 5, p. 111.〕 The fifth of these was Edwin of Northumbria, who was killed at the battle of Hatfield Chase by a combined force including Cadwallon, a British king of Gwynedd, and Penda. At the time of this victory, Penda was probably not yet king of Mercia. His children included two future kings of Mercia: Wulfhere and Æthelred.〔Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', pp. 103–4〕 After Edwin's death, Northumbria briefly fell apart into its two constituent kingdoms. Within a year Oswald killed Cadwallon and reunited the kingdoms, and subsequently re-established Northumbrian hegemony over the south of England.〔Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', p. 83.〕 However, on 5 August 642, Penda killed Oswald at the battle of Maserfield, probably at Oswestry in the northwest midlands.〔Kirby, ''Earliest English Kings'', pp. 88–90〕 Penda is not recorded as overlord of the other southern Anglo-Saxon kings, but he became the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon kings after he defeated Oswald.〔Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p. 105〕 On Oswald's death, Northumbria was divided again: Oswald's son Oswiu succeeded to the throne of Bernicia, and Osric's son Oswine to Deira, the southern of the two kingdoms.〔Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p. 78〕 The main source for this period is Bede's ''History'', completed in about 731. Despite its focus on the history of the church, this work also provides valuable information about the early pagan kingdoms. For other kingdoms than his native Northumbria, such as Wessex and Kent, Bede had an informant within the ecclesiastical establishment who supplied him with additional information. This does not seem to have been the case with Mercia, about which Bede is less informative than about other kingdoms.〔Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p. 100〕 Further sources for this period include the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', compiled at the end of the 9th century in Wessex. The ''Chronicles anonymous scribe appears to have incorporated much information recorded in earlier periods.〔Simon Keynes, "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle", in ''Blackwell Encyclopedia'', p. 35〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wulfhere of Mercia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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