In 674, Benedict Biscop received a land grant from King Ecgfrith for the explicit purpose of erecting a monastery.
26 July - Offa dies and is succeeded by his son Ecgfrith who reigns only until December; Wessex regains its independence.
Ecgfrith's attack on Fortriu was made against the counsel of his advisors, including Cuthbert, who had recently been made Bishop of Lindisfarne.
Land that had traditionally been on the borders of Mercia and Wessex were administered by the Mercian court, as is seen in Charters of Offa, and his son Ecgfrith.
Eventually, in about 672, Æthelthryth persuaded Ecgfrith to allow her to become a nun, and “she entered the monastery of the Abbess Æbbe, who was aunt to King Ecgfrith, at the place called the city of Coludi (Coldingham, Berwickshire), having received the veil of the religious habit from the hands of the aforesaid Bishop Wilfrid”.
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The Northumbrians were lured by a feigned flight in the mountains and Ecgfrith was then slain at the Battle of Nechtansmere, located at either Dunnichen in Angus or Dunachton in Badenoch.
The later Mercian kings Æthelbald, Offa and Ecgfrith were descended from Eowa; the period of their rule began in 716 following the death of Penda's grandson Ceolred and ended with Ecgfrith's death in December 796.
In June 684 Ecgfrith, the King of Northumbria, sent an army under Berht to Ireland which laid waste to the plain of Brega, the heart of Fínsnechta's kingdom.
They conflicted over land which they both claimed as theirs, and Jænberht refused to crown Offa's son Ecgfrith.