Mercia, one of the three chief kingdoms of early England; founded by Anglian settlers in the Upper Trent Valley (now South Staffordshire) In the 6th century; it rose to greatness under Penda 626-655, subsequently succeeded Northumberland in the supremacy, but after the death of Cenwulf 819, waned in turn before Wessex and the Danes.
Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)
Mercenaries * Mercury