Beornwulf of Mercia

Beornwulf (died 826) was King of Mercia (roughly the Midlands of England) from 823 to 826. His short reign saw the collapse of Mercia's supremacy over the other kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. Biography A man named Beornwulf is mentioned as having witnessed a charter of King Coenwulf in 812 and another of King Ceolwulf in 823, but his position on each of these charters suggests that he was not of an exceptionally high rank. Beornwulf deposed Ceolwulf I in 823. In 825 Beornwulf marched against the West Saxons. Beornwulf's army met them at Ellandun (now Wroughton near Swindon in Wiltshire). The battle ended in a disastrous defeat for the Mercians, and is seen by historians as the end of the so-called Mercian Supremacy. In 826 Ecgberht's son Æthelwulf invaded Kent and drove out its pro-Mercian king, Baldred. In the wake of these events, Mercia's dominance in southern England rapidly unravelled. Essex and Sussex switched their loyalty to Ecgberht; and the East Anglians asked for Ecgberht's protection against the Mercians in the same year. Beornwulf was killed by the East Anglians in battle while attempting to put down a rebellion.