Morcar (Mercia) of Mercia

Descendants

Died 1015 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England

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Biography

Morcar was the son of Arngrim. He had one known sibling: Sigeferth.^[1] He and his brother were leading thanes of the Seven Boroughs, taken to be the five Mercian boroughs of Lincoln, Stamford, Leicester, Nottingham and Derby plus Torksey in Lincolnshire and possibly York.^[2]

Morcar is probably the Morcar to whom Wulfric Spott left some of his estates in his will of 1002-4, and who, according to the will, had a wife called Eadgyth and a daughter who was Wulfric Spott's goddaughter.^[3]

In 1009 Æthelred the Unready granted Morcar land in Derbyshire.^[1]

The 1014 will of Æthelstan, son of Æthelred the Unready, refers to a coat of mail which he owned and which was being held by Morcar.^[4]

In 1015 Eadric Streona lured him and his brother to the room where he was staying in Oxford and ordered his killing. Edmund Ironside secured their lands.^[2] Morcar was buried at Burton in Staffordshire.^[1]

Research Notes

Morcar is related to Wulfric Spot ... how is the question.[1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Charles Cawley. 'Morcar', in "Medieval Lands" database (accessed 30 April 2021)
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Michael Swanton (translator and editor). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, revised edition, Phoenix Press, 2000, pp. 145-146
3. ↑ Dorothy Whitelock (ed.). English Historical Documents, Vol. I, c. 500-1042, 2nd edition, 1979, pp. 587-588
4. ↑ Dorothy Whitelock (ed.). English Historical Documents, Volume I, c.500-1042, 2nd edition, Eyre Methuen, 1979, pp. 593-596