Brown, Michelle; Farr, Carol, eds. (2005). Mercia: An Anglo-Saxon Kingdom in Europe. ISBN 0826477658. Mercian rulers remained resolutely pagan until the reign of Peada in 656, although this did not prevent them joining coalitions with Christian Welsh rulers to resist Northumbria. The first appearance of Christianity in Mercia, however, had come at least thirty years earlier, following the Battle of Cirencester of 628, when Penda incorporated the formerly West Saxon territories of Hwicce into his kingdom. [34] Claimed to be a cousin of Wigstan. Usurped the kingship and forced Ælfflæd to marry his son, Beorhtfrith. Possibly a descendant of the C-dynasty, of which Ceolwulf I was a member, perhaps via intermarriage with W-dynasty. Lost eastern Mercia to the Danes in 877.

Simon Schama. A History of Britain: At the Edge of the World? – 3000 BC–AD 1603 Vol 1 BBC Books 2003 Stenton, F. M. (1970). "The Supremacy of the Mercian kings". In Stenton, D. M. (ed.). Preparatory to Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford. pp.48–66. {{ cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link)

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Bradbury, Jim (2004). The Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare. Routledge. p.137. ISBN 978-0415221269. Wife of Æthelred II and daughter of Alfred of Wessex. Possibly descended from earlier Mercian kings via her mother. With her brother, Edward the Elder, reconquered eastern Mercia. Daughter of Æthelred II and Æthelflæd. Deposed by her uncle, Edward the Elder, Dec 918, who annexed Mercia to Wessex.

The ultimate source for the symbolism of white dragons in England would appear to be Geoffrey of Monmouth's fictional work, The History of the Kings of Britain (c. 1136), which recounts an incident in the life of Merlin where a red dragon is seen fighting a white dragon and prevailing. The red dragon was taken to represent the Welsh and their eventual victory over the Anglo-Saxon invaders, symbolised by the white dragon. [56] The name used in Modern English, Mercia, is a Latinisation of Mierce. The name Myrcna land ("Land of the Mercians") also appears in Old English (in 918, at the moment the kingdom lost its independence) [1] and Myrcland [2], though most frequently the English sources refer to the people, not the land as such. The kings bore the title (with various spellings) Miercna cyning; "King of the Mercians". Baxter, Stephen: The Earls of Mercia: lordship and power in late Anglo-Saxon England (Oxford University Press, 2007), ISBN 0-19-923098-6 Edwin of Northumbria had become ruler not only of the newly unified Northumbria, but bretwalda, or high king, over the English kingdoms, and Penda was determined to overthrown Northumbrian lordship. Allied to Cadwallon ap Cadfan, King of Gwynedd, Penda defeated and slew Edwin in 633 at Hatfield Chase. Cadwallon bore the title "King of Britain" and sought to make the paper title a reality in Northumbria, for according to chroniclers he ravaged that land as if to drive the English out and restore Britain to the Britons. At this point Oswald (later known as St Oswald) came to take up the Northumbrian throne and defeated and slew Cadwallon at Heavensfield; when he marched against Penda though in 642, he also was defeated and killed, at the Battle of Maserfield (by Oswestry). In 655, after a period of confusion in Northumbria, Penda brought 30 sub-kings to fight the new Northumbrian king, Oswiu, at the Battle of Winwæd, but on this field Penda was defeated and slain. [7] Penda was the last pagan king of the Mercians. Jolliffe, J. E. A. The Constitutional History of Medieval England from the English Settlement to 1485 London 1961 p.32

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The conversion of Mercia to Christianity occurred in the latter part of the 7th century, and by the time of Penda's defeat and death, Mercia was largely surrounded by Christian states. Diuma, an Irish monk and one of Oswiu's missionaries, was subsequently ordained a bishop – the first to operate in Mercia. Christianity finally gained a foothold in Mercia when Oswiu supported Peada as sub-king of the Middle Angles, requiring him to marry Oswiu's daughter, Alchflaed, and to accept her religion. [35] Margaret Gelling. 'The Early History of Western Mercia'. (p.184–201; In: The Origins of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. S. Bassett. 1989) Foot, Sarah (2011). "Æthelstan (Athelstan) (893/4–939), king of England". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/ref:odnb/833 . Retrieved 28 August 2021. Anglo-Saxon ChroniclePeterborough / Worcester Chronicle(911) Her bræc se here þone frið on Norðhymbrum, 7 forsawon ælc riht þe Eadweard cyning 7 his witan him budon, 7 hergodon ofer Myrcland. References to Mercia and the Mercians continue through the annals recording the reigns of Æthelstan and his successors. In 975 King Edgar is described as "friend of the West Saxons and protector of the Mercians".