Mercia remaining the dominant English power?

Is this possible, to have Mercia eventually absorbing Wessex as part of a greater Mercia? I suspect you'd have to butterfly away the Vikings, or at least reduce their impact, but it could have some interesting effects. Would Tamworth and Lichfield become the major economic centre of England ITTL? Would Lichfield remain an Archbishopric?
 
Nice idea. Nothing more to add at the moment, hopefully someone who knows more will have something interesting to contribute.
 
Is this possible, to have Mercia eventually absorbing Wessex as part of a greater Mercia? I suspect you'd have to butterfly away the Vikings, or at least reduce their impact, but it could have some interesting effects. Would Tamworth and Lichfield become the major economic centre of England ITTL? Would Lichfield remain an Archbishopric?

Te Northerner is sowing in you BG. As a Londoner however, I have to agree that Mercia dn the North were more economically important than the south for many years, especially between the 5th and 8th centuries. Danelaw really killed the north, or at least bloodied it badly.

If the Vikings are bought off, destroyed, or resettled (I'm thinking a Viking Netherlands or something fun like that) then Mercia, as the largest kingdom, would stad a good change of local hegemony.
 
Is this possible, to have Mercia eventually absorbing Wessex as part of a greater Mercia? I suspect you'd have to butterfly away the Vikings, or at least reduce their impact, but it could have some interesting effects. Would Tamworth and Lichfield become the major economic centre of England ITTL? Would Lichfield remain an Archbishopric?

During this period, england was slowly moving towards political consolidation, which in effect was going to happen under the banners of Mercia or Wessex, because those were the largest (ie most powerful) kingdoms. Now, for a time, under Ethelbald and Offa, Mercia was effectively the dominant power in England. But a series of incompetent rulers lead to a decline in Mercian power, and the kingdom was eventually supplanted by Egbert of Wessex.

Why? A few reasons, but to my mind the biggest issue is succession. Egbert and his successors had a stable line of succession, and managed to keep the crown consolidated within one royal line. Offa, on the other hand, was succeeded by a son, who promptly died, and then a series of barely (if at all) related rulers from a series of competing dynasties. Get a more stable form of succession, and Mercia may maintain hegemony for a while longer.
 
Mercia had indeed reduced East Anglia to tributary status under Offa, and given a secure sucession, should easily manage to do the same to Essex, Kent and Sussex. Unification should follow easily.

As for the effects, Tamworth as the capital works well in the end becasue of the central location. Nottingham becomes a major town because of the key location on the crossing of the River Trent, London is a major port developing along similar lines to Newcastle or Portsmouth.

The Archbishopic of Lichfield would have interesting effects. It could set a precident for the creation of archbishopics over more local areas. Perhaps we see Wales and Scotland getting their own Archbishops.

Liverpool and Bristol probably develop earlier too
 
To be fair, from my perspective, what looks like the North to you certainly isn't if you really are a Northerner. The Midlands are distinct to everyone but you darned Southerners, I suspect. :p Down with Wessex!

Huzzah! Mercian and proud of it :) But as long as you promise not to call me 'southern' I'll be happy.

I suspect the Midlands and North could have remained far more influential even under the hegemony of Wessex, as long as the genocide that the Normans visited on lands north of the Trent (the Harrying of the North) can be avoided. But I love the idea, BG.

I think you would have to avoid the Norman invasion, but then with a different line of succession leading to the first King of England you could do away with the excuse they used for their invasion, which might prevent them coming at all. If the Normans invade, their main interests are still in France, and the focus of power will still shift to the south-east.

Assuming no Normans then, I think we could end up with an England that focuses as much on the Baltic as on the Low Countries and northern France for trade, and one where the basic language is likely still an English we could understand (common English descended from Mercian English as most people could understand it. We'd just lose a huge heap of French words, the structure would stay essentially the same.)

The counties would be quite different as well, as Wessex did away with what had gone before and imposed their own scheme.

I wonder if industrialisation could happen any earlier, even in part, with the English power base being much closer to the coal and iron fields of the Midlands, Lancashire and Yorkshire, and also further inland from the sea?
 
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