What is Coenwulf of Mercia?
{{Infobox Monarch | name =Coenwulf | image =Coenwulf of Mercia.jpg | caption = | title =King of Mercia | reign =796-821 | predecessor =[[Ecgfrith of Mercia|Ecgfrith]] | successor =[[Ceolwulf I of Mercia|Ceolwulf]] | queen = | issue = | father = | birth_date = | death_date =821 <br/> Basingwerk, Wales | burial = }} [[File:Coenwulf of Mercia lead bulla.jpg|thumb|right|300px|{{Center|Lead Seal of Coenwulf of Mercia in the British Museum.}}]] '''Coenwulf''' (also spelled '''Cenwulf''' and '''Kenulf''') (died 821) was a [[Mercia]]n [[nobleman]] and the [[List of monarchs of Mercia|King of Mercia]] from December 796 until his death. He claimed to be a [[:wikt:descendant|descendant]] of a Cenwalh, a brother of [[Penda of Mercia|Penda]] and Eowa. The sudden death of King [[Ecgfrith of Mercia]] was suspicious and certainly benefited Coenwulf but, he was never formally [[:wikt:accused|accused]]. Coenwulf proved to be a strong [[king]] who quickly restored Mercian [[:en:wikt:dominance|dominance]] in southern [[England]]. He was the last of the Mercian [[:wikt:overlords|overlords]] or [[:en:wikt:bretwalda|bretwaldas]]. == King of Mercia == Coenwulf was the son of Cuthbert, a Mercian nobleman.<ref name=Lapidge114>''The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England'', Second Edition, eds. Michael Lapidge, John Blair, et al. (Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, 2014), p. 114</ref> He came to the [[throne]] in 796, the same year [[Offa of Mercia|Offa]] and his son Ecgfrith both died.{{efn|Offa died on 29 July 796. Ecgfrith succeeded him but died in mid-december of the same year.<ref name=Lapidge114/>}} At the same time Coenwulf became king, Eadberht Praen set himself up as king of [[Kent]]. An Eadwald set himself up as king of the [[East Anglia|East Angles]] and began issuing [[:wikt:coins|coins]].{{efn|Offa had controlled Kent and East Anglia going so far as to execute the former king of East Anglia.<ref>John Ca