Peada

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Peada (d. 656), king of the Middle Angles (c.653–6), was a son of Penda of Mercia, who appointed him king. Shortly afterwards Peada married Alhflaed, daughter of Oswiu of Northumbria, and as a condition of marriage agreed to become a Christian and to allow evangelization by a mission from Lindisfarne. After Oswiu defeated Penda at the battle of Winwaed in 655, he appointed Peada king of the southern Mercians, keeping control of the northern Mercians himself, but, according to Bede, Peada was murdered the following Easter through the treachery of Alhflaed.

Barbara Yorke

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