Penda

Penda (d. 655), king of Mercia, can in many ways be seen as the anti-hero of Bede's Ecclesiastical History—a resolute pagan, responsible for the deaths of many Christian kings in battle, including that of St Oswald at Maserfield. However, Bede also admitted that he allowed Christian missionaries to preach in areas under his control and that he was vir strenuissimus ‘a man exceptionally gifted as a warrior’. Penda first appears in recorded history in 626 battling with rulers of the West Saxons for control of the province of the Hwicce. The Northumbrians apparently first encountered him in alliance with Cadwallon of Gwynedd at the battle of Heathfield in 633 and he also fought at least two major battles with the East Angles. Penda's energetic campaigns from his midland base greatly increased the territory under Mercian control and enabled him to establish a wide-ranging overlordship, recognized in Northumbria and parts of Wales as well as in the southern English kingdoms. It was Oswiu of Bernicia's challenge to his authority as overlord which led to Penda's death at the battle of Winwaed in 655, where he had come with 30 duces regii, probably commanders leading military contingents from his subject provinces.

Barbara Yorke