Person

Penda of Mercia

d. 655 · 7th century · Also known as Penda

Penda was the pagan king of Mercia who made it the strongest kingdom of the English Midlands in the mid-7th century. Allied with Welsh rulers, he killed Edwin of Northumbria at Hatfield Chase in 633 and Oswald at Maserfield in 642, and he defeated East Anglia and drove the king of Wessex into exile. He was killed by Oswiu of Northumbria at the Battle of the Winwaed in 655.

Penda of Mercia
Image: Violetriga · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 3 profiles

Kingdom of GwyneddMilitary, SummaryKingdom of MerciaFoundation, Socioeconomy, Military, SummaryKingdom of NorthumbriaFoundation, Summary

Mentioned in 7 state histories

Kingdom of MerciaKingdom of PengwernKingdom of DeiraKingdom of the HwicceKingdom of the MagonsaeteKingdom of the Middle AnglesKingdom of Northumbria

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Penda of Mercia. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/penda-of-mercia
MLA
“Penda of Mercia.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/penda-of-mercia. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Penda of Mercia.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/penda-of-mercia.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Penda of Mercia’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/penda-of-mercia (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻