Coenred of Mercia

Coenred
Coenred
King of Mercia
Reign	704–709
Predecessor	Æthelred
Successor	Ceolred
Dynasty	Iclingas
Father	Wulfhere
Mother	Eormenhild
Religion	Christian

Coenred (also spelled Cenred or Cœnred^[3] fl. 675–709) was king of Mercia from 704 to 709. Mercia was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in the English Midlands. He was a son of the Mercian king Wulfhere, whose brother Æthelred succeeded to the throne in 675 on Wulfhere's death. In 704, Æthelred abdicated in favour of Coenred to become a monk.

Coenred's reign is poorly documented, but a contemporary source records that he faced attacks from the Welsh. Coenred is not known to have married or had children, although later chronicles describe him as an ancestor of Wigstan, a 9th-century Mercian king. In 709, Coenred abdicated and went on pilgrimage to Rome, where he remained as a monk until his death. In the view of his contemporary, Bede, Coenred "who had ruled the kingdom of Mercia for some time and very nobly, with still greater nobility renounced the throne of his kingdom".^[4] Æthelred's son Ceolred succeeded Coenred as king of Mercia.

^ Hodgkin, History of the Anglo-Saxons, "Geneological Tables: Table I"
^ Hunt, Warriors, Warlords and Saints: The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Mercia p. 30
^ Williams, "Cœnred", in Biographical Dictionary, p. 82
^ Bede, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Oxford University Press, 1994, p. 267

[1] Hodgkin, History of the Anglo-Saxons, "Geneological Tables: Table I"

[2] Hunt, Warriors, Warlords and Saints: The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Mercia p. 30

[3] Williams, "Cœnred", in Biographical Dictionary, p. 82

[4] Bede, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Oxford University Press, 1994, p. 267

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