Everything about Peada totally explained
Peada (died
656), a son of
Penda, was briefly
King of southern
Mercia after his father's death in November
655 until his own death in the spring of the next year.
In about the year
653, Peada was made king of the
Middle Angles by his father.
Bede, describing Peada as "an excellent youth, and most worthy of the title and person of a king", wrote that he sought to marry Alchflaed, the daughter of King
Oswiu of Northumbria; Oswiu, however, made this conditional upon Peada's
baptism and
conversion to
Christianity, along with the Middle Angles (Peada was, at this time, still a
pagan, like his father). Bede says that Peada eagerly accepted conversion:
» When he heard the preaching of truth, the promise of the heavenly kingdom, and the hope of resurrection and future immortality, he declared that he'd willingly become a Christian, even though he should be refused the virgin; being chiefly prevailed on to receive the faith by King Oswy's son Aifrid, who was his relation and friend, and had married his sister Cyneherga, the daughter of King Penda.
Peada was subsequently baptized by
Finan of
Lindisfarne, and this was followed by a campaign to convert Peada's people:
» Accordingly he was baptized by Bishop Finan, with all his earls and soldiers, and their servants, that came along with him, at a noted village belonging to the king, called At the Wall. And having received four priests, who for their erudition and good life were deemed proper to instruct and baptize his nation, he returned home with much joy. These priests were
Cedd and Adda, and Betti and
Diuma; the last of whom was by nation a
Scot, the others English. Adda was brother to Utta, ... a renowned priest, and abbot of the monastery of Gateshead. The aforesaid priests, arriving in the province with the prince, preached the word, and were willingly listened to; and many, as well of the nobility as the common sort, renouncing the abominations of idolatry, were baptized daily.
On
November 15, 655,
According to the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Peada helped found the
monastery at
Peterborough:
» In his time they came together, [Peada] and Oswy, brother of King
Oswald, and declared that they wished to establish a
minster in praise of
Christ and in honor of
St Peter. And they did so, and gave it the name Medeshamstede, because there's a spring there called Medeswael. And then they began the foundations and built upon them, and then entrusted it to a monk who was called Seaxwulf. He was a great friend of God, and all people loved him, and he was very nobly born in the world and powerful. He is now much more powerful with Christ.
However, the
Chronicle continues, "Peada ruled no length of time, because he was betrayed by his own queen at Eastertide";
Bede also reports that Peada was "very wickedly killed" through his wife's treachery "during the very time of celebrating Easter" in 656.
[Further Information]
Get more info on 'Peada'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://peada_of_mercia.totallyexplained.com">Peada of Mercia Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
