Penda Heathen King Of Mercia

The first book to gather the fragmentary sources on this dynamic 7th century warrior king, who expanded his territory with war craft and politics in a time of great upheaval. The tale is told within the context of Anglo Saxon culture: food, costume, law, housing, finance, slavery and the competing Pagan & Christian religions.

Since the Venerable Bede wrote his iconic Ecclesiastic History of England in the eighth century, King Penda has been relegated to the role of villain and treated as a barrier to advancement in a battle between new ideas and a new culture. Paul Barrett outlines the background to the Anglo-Saxon takeover in England and explores the broad concepts of the Angles’ traditional culture, before delving into the life of Penda (605 – 655). Penda’s life spanned the first half of the seventh century, the era which gave birth to national identities which still form the central components of modern Britain; Wales, Scotland, and England all take shape through this period. Penda’s seemingly impossible ascent to prominence starts on the very periphery of power and ends with the dominance of Britain. He is at the centre of Mercia’s birth, expansion and rise. Throughout his reign his kingdom becomes a bastion of stability in a period of endemic warfare, climate change challenges, cultural competition, and unstable nation-to nation relationships. Throughout his life Penda challenges the status quo and shows the value of cultural pluralism in a time when the growing power of a new faith, Christianity, was pushing all others into extinction. Guided by his loyalty to an ancient culture, service to his family, and his powerful Queen Cynewise, Penda launched Mercia towards eventual supremacy, which would last for over 200 years. He was the last of the great Anglo-Saxon heathen warlords.

This volume, which is the first third of a book that was used in Charlotte Mason's schools for English History, contains the history of Britain from the landing of Julius Caesar to the death of Richard III. ""A small book, written in simple language, sufficiently full to serve for reference, and at the same time sufficiently interesting to be read as well as to be consulted, and a book within the reach of all in matter of price, is what very many men and women, both young and old, undoubtedly require. To supply such a book has been the sole aim of the author."" -H. O. Arnold-Forster Originally published in 1907, it tells of characters and events which are worthy of study today. ""It is a great thing to possess a pageant of history in the background of one's thoughts...the present becomes enriched with the wealth of all that has gone before."" (Charlotte Mason)

Charles Moorman reexamines several major works of the western heroic tradition: The Iliad, The Odyssey, Beowulf, The Song of Roland, The Nibelungenlied, the Norse sagas, and the Arthurian cycle. Disregarding the usual limited definitions which have controlled the study of heroic literature, he draws together these disparate works by proposing a theme common to them all: the opposition of two major figures whom he names king and captain. The figure of the king arises from the community with its need for responsible government, while the captain, derived from myth, is a highly individualistic, irresponsible heroic figure. The tension which Moorman sees between them is used as a means of reinterpreting the works under study. Though widely separated in time and cultural milieu, The Illiad, and The Song of Roland, for example, can be compared by interpreting both the Agamemnon-Achilles and the Oliver-Roland relationships as conflicts between king and captain. These essays will prove illuminating for layman and scholar alike.