24/10/2026
In 716, King Ceolred of Mercia was buried in a crypt beneath Lichfield Cathedral, despite the fact that he had died at a feast, ‘gibbering with demons and cursing the priests of God’. St Boniface believed him to have been possessed by a demon but I strongly suspect he may have been poisoned.
My chief culprit is his successor Æthelbald who also met with an untimely end. In 757, he was slain at Seckington, betrayed by his own bodyguards, with some suggesting Beornred of Mercia was behind the treachery.
After Æthelbald’s death, Beornred seized the Mercian throne. Little is known about him and within a year, Æthelbald’s cousin Offa launched his own claim to be king and most likely offed him in the process. By contrast, there is much to be said about Offa, who elevated the status of Lichfield to an archdiocese. However, as I started on the subject of murder, let’s continue on that theme.
A marriage between King Æthelberht of East Anglia and one of the daughters of Offa and Cynethryth of Mercia was arranged to take place at a palace on Sutton Walls in Herefordshire. Yet before the bridegroom could make it to the altar and pledge his hand in marriage, he was beheaded. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle attributes the deed to Offa. By the twelfth century there’s a shift in narrative and blame to Cynethryth.
Was she really the wicked queen she is depicted as by chroniclers like Roger of Wendover or was it a cynical attempt to wash at least some of the blood off Offa’s hands? We know Cynethryth was powerful, her name appearing on charters and her face appearing on coins. Perhaps there’s an element of medieval misogyny involved in the tarnishing of her image? After Offa died in 796, Cynethryth took holy orders and became the abbess of a monastery at Cookham. In 2021, archaeologists found the foundations of this abbey alongside Cookham church and further excavations may even find the final resting place of this misrepresented Mercian queen.
What are the chances of the remains of King Ceolred and the royal crypt here at Lichfield being revealed I wonder?
Katie G 👑
