It must have been with a high degree of confidence, therefore, that, in 825, Beornwulf marched against the West Saxon’s, but was badly defeated at the battle of Ellandun at the hands of their king Egbert, fought at present day Wroughton near Swindon, Wiltshire.
He became king after the death of Beornwulf in battle against the rebellious East Angles, but he too was killed in another failed attempt to subjugate them in the next year.
Some historians have suggested that it was Offa’s defeat of the Welsh and the West Saxons of Wessex that established the Mercian Supremacy, which remained unchallenged until 825 when Egbert of Wessex supported an East Anglian rebellion against Beornwulf of Mercia, whose death at Ellandun effectively brought the Supremacy to an end.
King Beornwulf was killed fighting the East Anglians in 826, his successor Ludeca suffered the same fate the following year, and Mercia was conquered and occupied by Ecgberht of Wessex in 829.
Mercia | Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia | Offa of Mercia | Æthelbald of Mercia | Beornwulf of Mercia | Wulfhere of Mercia | Penda of Mercia | Edwin, Earl of Mercia | Ecgfrith of Mercia | Wiglaf of Mercia | Leofric, Earl of Mercia | Coenwulf of Mercia | West Mercia Police Authority | Peada of Mercia | Mercia Mudstone Group | Ludeca of Mercia | Eowa of Mercia | Earl of Mercia | Ceolwulf I of Mercia | Æthelred of Mercia | Ælfflæd of Mercia |
It was also in 825 that one of the most important battles in Anglo-Saxon history took place, when Egbert defeated Beornwulf of Mercia at Ellendun—now Wroughton, near Swindon.