Offa
r. 757-796
Anglo-Saxon King
Ruler of Mercia, a kingdom in England, Offa left behind what is undoubtedly the third most well-known structure of pre-Norman Britain, after Stonehenge and Hadrian's Wall. Like the latter, Offa's Dyke is a line between one nation and its enemies. But whereas Hadrian intended his wall as a form of protection for Roman Britain—a purpose in which it failed miserably, as the fifth-century invasion of Offa's Anglo-Saxon ancestors made clear—Offa built his earthen dyke simply as a line of demarcation.
Offa's birth year is unknown, and his life prior to 757, when he became king of Mercia in southern England, is a mystery. Upon assuming the throne, he proceeded to bring southern England to the greatest degree of political unification and stability it had enjoyed since the Anglo-Saxon period began three centuries before.
When Offa's cousin Aethelbald (r. 716-757) was murdered, sparking a civil war, Offa quelled the rebellion with ruthless use of power. In the process, he seized control of the land and suppressed the smoldering remnants of insurrection both in Mercia and surrounding vassal kingdoms. The result of these efforts was the creation of a single state that ruled most of southern England.
As the first truly significant Anglo-Saxon king, Offa set out to establish diplomatic relations with the two most powerful forces in western Europe at the time: the Carolingian Empire, and the church. Offa and Charlemagne (742-814) had several disagreements, but just before Offa's death in 796 they signed a commercial treaty. Perhaps even more remarkable was his relationship with the pope, who created a temporary archbishopric in Lichfield to offset the power of Canterbury's archbishop. The office of the archbishop was and is the highest office in the English church, though today that church is no longer affiliated with Rome. Because Canterbury was located in realms belonging to Kent, enemies of Mercia, Offa was willing to grant the pope greater authority over the English church in exchange for the creation of the new archbishopric.
Late in his reign, Offa called for the creation of an earthen wall to mark his kingdom's western border with Wales. This wall became Offa's Dyke, which runs for some 150 miles (240 km) from the Dee estuary in the north to the River Wye in the south. The builders used natural barriers wherever possible, but were still forced to construct 81 miles (130 km) of dyke—a length nearly 13 miles (20 km) greater than Hadrian's Wall.
Whereas Hadrian's Wall was made of stone and garrisoned with soldiers, Offa meant for his dyke simply to serve as a clear line between his realm and the "barbarians" to the west. Offa's Dyke certainly made for a formidable barrier: even today, it is as tall as 8.25 feet (2.5 m) in some places, and with the ditch beside it, is as wide as 65.5 feet (20 m). The wall, representing the work of thousands of men, runs perfectly straight for miles at a time, a testament to Anglo-Saxon engineering skills.
Another technological contribution of Offa's reign was his establishment of a new form of coinage. Coins minted by the Mercian kingdom bore the king's name and image, along with the name of the government minister who was responsible for ensuring the quality of the coins. This tradition continues even today on U.S. paper currency, which bears the signature of the treasury secretary, and the rules of coinage established by Offa prevailed in Britain for many centuries following his death.
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