MERCIA, one of the ancient kingdoms of the Saxon heptarchy in England, bounded on the N. by Northumbria,
Mercier
Mercurius.
E. by East Anglia and Essex, S. by Wessex, and W. by Wales; and including the modern counties of Chester, Derby, Nottingham, Lincoln, Salop, Stafford, Leicester, Rutland, Northampton, Huntingdon, Hereford, Worcester, Warwick, Gloucester, Oxford, and Buckingham, along with parts of Hertford and Bedford. It is believed to have been founded by a body of Angles under Crida in 585 A.D. It was conquered by the Northumbrians in the seventh century, but soon after regained its independence, subdued the kingdoms of East Anglia and Kent, and was finally incorporated in his dominions by Egbert, King of Wessex, in the year 825.