biography
| biography:
| King of Mercia (757–96). He was the greatest Anglo-Saxon ruler in the 8th-c, treated as an equal by Charlemagne. He asserted his authority over all the kingdoms S of the Humber, and regarded their rulers as subordinate provincial governors. He was responsible for constructing Offa's Dyke, stretching for 70 mi along the Welsh border, and established a new currency based on the silver penny which, with numerous changes of design, remained the standard coin of England for many centuries. His reign represents an important but flawed attempt to unify England, with the Mercian supremacy collapsing soon after his death. |
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