# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/offa-of-mercia
# Generated: 2026-08-15T09:03:58.457Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/offa-of-mercia"
name: "Offa of Mercia"
slug: "offa-of-mercia"
description: "An eighth-century Mercian king who beheaded a rival monarch, strong-armed the Pope into creating a new archbishopric to crown his son, and left coins so finely struck they outshone Charlemagne's — yet built no lasting kingdom. What survives is the ruthlessness, not the realm."
tagline: "King of Mercia"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Offa_head.gif"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Historical Figures"
  slug: "historical-figures"
profileType:
  name: "Historical Figure"
  slug: "historical-figure"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q2798645"
birthDate: "800"
deathDate: "0796-07-29"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           55.69
  momentum:             1.332830062070122
  historical:           22.486396
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  60
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Politicians"
    slug: "politicians"
  - name: "Historical Figure"
    slug: "historical-figure"
  - name: "Royalty"
    slug: "royalty"
  - name: "Politics"
    slug: "politics"
  - name: "Medieval Era"
    slug: "medieval-era"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offa_of_Mercia"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q233573"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Offa%20of%20Mercia"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%81%D8%A7_%D9%85%D9%84%D9%83_%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A7"
    title: "اوفا ملك ميرسيا"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%81%D8%A7%DB%8C_%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%B3%DB%8C%D8%A7"
    title: "اوفای مرسیا"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mersiyal%C4%B1_Offa"
    title: "Mersiyalı Offa"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9E%D1%84%D0%B0"
    title: "Офа"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%93%E0%A6%AB%E0%A6%BE_%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B8_(%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC%E0%A6%BE)"
    title: "ওফা রেক্স (মার্সিয়া)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offa_Mercia"
    title: "Offa Mercia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offa_de_M%C3%A8rcia"
    title: "Offa de Mèrcia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offa_Mercijsk%C3%BD"
    title: "Offa Mercijský"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offa%2C_brenin_Mersia"
    title: "Offa, brenin Mersia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offa_af_Mercia"
    title: "Offa af Mercia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offa_von_Mercia"
    title: "Offa von Mercia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%8C%CF%86%CE%B1_%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%82_%CE%9C%CE%B5%CF%81%CE%BA%CE%AF%CE%B1%CF%82"
    title: "Όφα της Μερκίας"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offa_(Mercia)"
    title: "Offa (Mercia)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offa_de_Mercia"
    title: "Offa de Mercia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%81%D8%A7%DB%8C_%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%B3%DB%8C%D8%A7"
    title: "اوفای مرسیا"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offa"
    title: "Offa"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://frr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offa_faan_Mercia"
    title: "Offa faan Mercia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offa_(roi_de_Mercie)"
    title: "Offa (roi de Mercie)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offa_fan_Mersia"
    title: "Offa fan Mersia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gd.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offa"
    title: "Offa"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offa_de_Mercia"
    title: "Offa de Mercia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%90%D7%95%D7%A4%D7%94%2C_%D7%9E%D7%9C%D7%9A_%D7%9E%D7%A8%D7%A1%D7%99%D7%94"
    title: "אופה, מלך מרסיה"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ang.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offa_Miercna_Cyning"
    title: "Offa Miercna Cyning"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A3%D9%88%D9%81%D8%A7_(%D9%85%D9%84%D9%83_%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A7)"
    title: "أوفا (ملك مرسيا)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Offa seized Mercia's throne in 757 after civil war and the assassination of his predecessor, defeating the claimant Beornred. Through the 760s and 770s he pressed outward, taking Sussex by 771 and exploiting Kent's weakness to claim overlordship, though his grip on both remained contested. By the 780s he controlled most of southern England: he married his daughter Eadburh to the king of Wessex, became overlord of East Anglia, and in 794 had its king Æthelberht II beheaded, likely for rebellion. He fought the Archbishop of Canterbury and convinced Pope Adrian I to split the archdiocese, creating Lichfield so his son Ecgfrith could be consecrated king in 787. His coinage was the finest in Europe — some pieces depicted his wife Cynethryth, the only Anglo-Saxon queen ever shown on a coin, and three gold survivors include one copied from an Abbasid dinar. He died in 796; Ecgfrith lasted five months before the throne passed to another line.