Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

How are you today? I hope you're feeling really good.

My name is Mrs. Afzal and I'll be your teacher for this lesson.

I'm feeling very happy about that because we've got an interesting topic ahead.

We are looking at the rise of Mercia.

That is the name of our lesson.

I wonder, have you heard of Mercia? Do you know anything about the rise of Mercia? Don't worry either way if you do or if you don't, it's okay.

We are gonna be getting into this subject today.

Our lesson comes from the unit of work, Britain Settlement by Anglo-Saxons, What Changed After the Romans Left? So we are going to get right into this period of history finding out about the rise of Mercia, and I hope you're feeling ready for that.

If you have energy, focus, and enthusiasm, we'll begin our lesson now.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can explain how Mercia came to be the most powerful Anglo-Saxon Kingdom by 796 CE.

I hope that sounds interesting to you.

We have some keywords in our lesson.

I'd like us to go through them one at a time saying them out loud, my turn your turn.

Northumbria.

Mercia.

Supremacy.

Barrier.

Good to hear those words out loud.

Let's find out what they mean.

Northumbria was a former Anglo-Saxon Kingdom in northeast England in modern-day Northumberland.

Mercia was a major Anglo-Saxon kingdom in the central part of England.

Having supremacy is having more power than anyone else.

A barrier is a fence or obstacle that prevents movement or access.

So these are our keywords, Northumbria, Mercia, supremacy, and barrier.

I'd like you to share with someone, had you heard of any of these keywords before or did you know the meanings of any of these keywords? Pause here and share with someone nearby.

Thanks for sharing.

So let's be on a lookout for these keywords.

Let's listen out for them, let's think carefully about our keywords, Northumbria, Mercia, supremacy, and barrier.

They will all be coming up in our lesson today.

Our lesson is called The Rise of Mercia and it has three learning cycles.

The rise of major kingdoms, King Offa's Mercia, and Offa's challenges and legacies.

Let's begin by exploring the rise of major kingdoms. By 750 CE, Northumbria and Mercia were the two largest and most powerful of the seven kingdoms. Pause here and share with someone what were the names of the seven kingdoms? Thanks for sharing.

These kingdoms, Northumbria and Mercia, controlled vital trade routes, had large amounts of fertile farming land, and had strong leaders.

Let's have a check for understanding, which two kingdoms were the largest and most powerful by 750 CE? Choose from this selection, A, Mercia, B, Wessex, C, East Anglia, D, Northumbria.

Pause here while you decide which two kingdoms were the largest and most powerful by 750 CE.

Well done if you selected Mercia and Northumbria, these two kingdoms were the largest and most powerful by 750 CE.

Northumbria had huge amounts of land in the north of Britain where people could go to settle.

Mercia was in the middle of Britain, which gave it access to multiple trade routes and the chance to try and control the other kingdoms nearby.

Let's have a check for understanding, true or false.

Mercia and Northumbria were the most powerful kingdoms because they did not have large amounts of land.

Pause here while you decide, is this statement true or false? Well done if you selected false, and now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this, "Northumbria controlled huge amounts of land in the north and Mercia controlled huge amounts of land in the middle by 750 CE." Well done if you answered in this way.

And now it's time for your first task.

Do you agree with Aisha or Andeep? And explain your answer.

Here's Aisha, "I think Mercia was the most powerful kingdom." And Andeep, "I think Northumbria was the most powerful kingdom." So pause here while you have a go at this task of deciding who it is that you agree with, Aisha or Andeep, and then explaining your answer.

Enjoy your task and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task of explaining who is that you agree with, Aisha or Andeep? Your answer might look like this.

I agree with Aisha because Mercia was in the center of Britain so had better access to other kingdoms for trade.

Alternatively, your answer might look like this.

I agree with Andeep because Northumbria had larger amounts of land which could attract more settlers.

Well done for giving your answer and your explanation, perhaps in one of these two ways.

Well done for having a go at this explanation task.

And now we're onto our next learning cycle, King Offa's Mercia.

King Offa of Mercia, who ruled from 757 to 796 CE, was one of the most powerful Anglo-Saxon kings.

Pause here and share with someone how many years did King Offa of Mercia rule for? Well done for sharing, perhaps you came up with the answer, 39 years.

That's how long King Offa of Mercia ruled for.

From 757 to 796 CE.

And here we can see a silver penny which has the head of King Offa on it.

This is the King Offa of Mercia Silver Penny.

Pause here and share with someone any details you notice on this penny.

Thanks for sharing.

Perhaps you notice some of the writing.

Can you see the name Offa? Perhaps you notice something about the image of King Offa.

King Offa's wife was Queen Cynethryth from the Frankish territories.

By marrying her, Offa was able to join Mercia and the Frankish lands in friendship.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Who was Queen Cynethryth? Choose from this selection, A, the powerful wife of King Offa and Queen of Wessex.

B, The powerful wife of King Offa and Queen of Mercia.

C, The powerful Queen of Mercia before King Offa.

Pause here while you decide who was Queen Cynethryth.

Well done if you selected answer B.

Indeed, Queen Cynethryth was the powerful wife of King Offa and Queen of Mercia.

Let's have another check for understanding.

Why was Cynethryth an important woman for Offa to marry? Choose from this selection.

A, she was rich, which meant Offa would get all of her money.

B, she was a fierce fighter, which meant Offa could beat his enemies and battle.

C, she was Frankish, which meant that her people would be a powerful friend for Offa and Mercia.

Pause here while you decide, why was Cynethryth an important woman for Offa to marry? Well done if you selected answer C.

Indeed, it's because she was Frankish, which meant that her people would be a powerful friend for Offa and Mercia.

That's why Cynethryth was an important woman for Offa to marry.

And Cynethryth became even more important and there were actually coins with her image on them, which was very unusual at the time.

She was one of the first queens at that time in that part of the world to have her image on a coin.

Offa wanted to establish the supremacy of Mercia and become bretwalda, the ruler of all of Britain.

Pause here and share with someone.

Can you remember what the word supremacy means? Thanks for sharing.

Supremacy means having more power than anyone else.

So that's what Offa wanted.

He wanted Mercia to have more power than any of the other kingdoms. By the end of Offa's reign, Mercia ruled over East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Sussex, and Wessex.

And then we can see a map here showing Mercia's growth during Offa's reign.

We can see how towards the end of King Offa's reign, so much more of the map is green, showing that these areas are all ruled over by Mercia.

Mercia had supremacy over these regions.

Let's have a check for understanding, true or false.

Mercia ruled over all the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms by the end of Offa's reign.

Pause here while he decide, is this statement true or false? Well done if you selected false.

And now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this, Mercia ruled over every kingdom except Northumbria.

Pause here and share with someone.

Can you remember the names of some of the other kingdoms that Mercia ruled over? Well done if you remembered the other kingdoms that Mercia ruled over, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Sussex, and Wessex.

These were the other kingdoms that Mercia ruled over.

And now it's time for your next task.

I would like you to give three reasons why Offa thought he should have the title of bretwalda.

You might want to use these words to help you, battle, supremacy, marriages, tribute.

So pause here while you have a go at this task giving three reasons why Offa thought he should have the title of bretwalda.

And remember, you might like to include the words battle, supremacy, marriages, and tribute as you give your reasons.

Enjoy your task and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

How did he get on with that task of giving three reasons why Offa thought he should have the title of bretwalda.

Your answers might look like this.

One, he led Mercia to supremacy over most of the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms by defeating them in battle.

Two, he created agreements with other powerful rulers through marriages.

Three, he started a tribute system where other kingdoms paid him for protection or to show they respected him.

Well done if you had answers like these.

Well done for having a go at this task.

Now we're onto our next learning cycle, Offa's challenges and legacies.

Offa faced many challenges to his reign.

The Welsh kingdoms kept fighting back against Offa's army and Welsh tribes would attack and steal things from Mercian villages along the border between them.

And here we can see a map showing Mercia and the border with the Welsh kingdoms. Let's have a check for understanding, which area kept fighting back against Offa? Choose from this selection, A, Kent, B, Sussex, C, Whales.

Pause here while you decide.

Well done if you selected answer C, Wales.

This is the area which kept fighting back against Offa.

Offa's **** built as a barrier to protect Mercia from Welsh attacks.

Parts can still be seen today.

And here we can see on the map the location of Offa's **** between Wales and Mercia.

And we can see a photo of Offa's **** today.

Mercian workers dug up earth and stacked it in a pile to create a ditch on the Welsh side and a raised bank on the Mercian side.

It showed just how far Offa was willing to go to protect and mark his kingdom's boundaries.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Why did King Offa order Offa's **** to be built? Choose from this selection, A, to defend his land from the Welsh tribes.

B, to build a wall that would surround the whole of Mercia.

C, as a monument to his wife, Cynethryth.

Pause here while you decide why did King Offa Order Offa's **** to be built? Well done if you selected answer A.

Indeed King Offa ordered Offa's **** to be built to defend his land from the Welsh tribes.

And now it's time for your final task.

I would like you to write one paragraph explaining why Offa's was important for Offa's legacy as a powerful Anglo-Saxon King.

You can include the following words in your answer.

Powerful, defend, barrier.

So pause here while you have a go at this task.

I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task of writing one paragraph explaining why Offa's **** was important for Offa's legacy as a powerful Anglo-Saxon King.

Your answer might look something like this.

Offa's **** was important for King Offa's legacy as it showed what a powerful king he was because he could overcome challenges he faced.

It showed that he was able to defend his kingdom by creating a barrier between Mercia and a Welsh so that he was not attacked.

Well done if you wrote something like this.

In our lesson, the Rise of Mercia, we have covered the following.

By 750 CE, the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria were the most powerful in Anglo-Saxon Britain.

King Offa of Mercia and his wife Cynethryth led the kingdom to supremacy over most of the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Due to this supremacy, Offa saw himself as bretwalda, the ruler of all of Britain.

Offa was unable to defeat the Welsh, so he built a barrier on his western borders called Offa's **** to protect his kingdom against them.

Well done everyone for joining in with this lesson.

It was so interesting to explore the rise of Mercia, to find out all about King Offa and his wife Cynethryth, and how Offa gradually gained supremacy over most of the country.

I hope you enjoyed this lesson and learn lots of new things.

I really enjoyed teaching you and I look forward to seeing you at another lesson soon.

Bye for now.