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The Mercian supremacy of England reached its peak under Offa in the last decades of the 8th Century. Following his death, the Kingdom fell to instability due to a convolution series of successions and eventually an uprising in East Anglia led to the end of Mercia's dominance.

But what if Offa had a successor worthy of him, and Mercia went on to unite England and put it on a secure footing in the early 800s? Could an earlier united English Kingdom have defeated the Viking invasions? Could they have exploited the disunited lands north of Hadrian's Wall more effectively? How would governance have been different without the Wessex system of shires?
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