The first mafia? How an early medieval kingdom perfected the art of deadly diplomacy

And, as archaeologist Max Adams argues on the HistoryExtra podcast, their tactics may bear more than a passing resemblance to a later infamous institution built on blood ties and brutal deals: the mafia.

“Early medieval politics is like the politics of the mafia, really,” Adams says. “These people are heavily family-oriented. They’re prepared to do very unpleasant, violent things to people. And yet they have another side of them which is thoughtful and subtle.”

A violent world built on loyalty and reputation

The Anglo-Saxon period in Britain stretched from the early 5th century — following the collapse of Roman rule — to the Norman Conquest of 1066. During the majority of this time, England wasn’t a unified kingdom but a shifting patchwork of rival realms: Wessex, Northumbria, East Anglia, Kent, and Mercia, among others.

In these competing kingdoms there were no standing armies, no central bureaucracy, and no clear rulebook for succession. Claims to power were fiercely contested. Kings relied on bands of warrior followers bound by oath and reward to enforce authority. Loyalty was earned through gifts, land, marriages and, when necessary, fear.

• Read more | Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians: the warrior queen who crushed the Vikings

Mercia, located in what is now the English Midlands, rose to prominence in the 7th and 8th centuries. From a relatively marginal position, it developed into a political heavyweight, capable of confronting the powerful Northumbria to the north and Wessex to the south.

Its name, from the Old English ‘Mierce’ meaning ‘boundary people’, hints at its volatile origins. Positioned on the frontier between Brittonic and Anglo-Saxon peoples, Mercia was shaped by a context of conflict and negotiation — traits it carried into the political sphere.

Mercian muscle and medieval diplomacy

But Mercian kings also understood that soft power mattered as much as sharp blades. Highlighting this dual approach, Adams explains, they were able to wield the various instruments of power incredibly cannily:

“Mercian kings send assassins to kill people. And yet, they [simultaneously] correspond with missionary Christians on the continent exchanging gifts of falcons and fine robes.”

• Read more | 7 medieval kings of England you should know about

Such gifts weren’t random. Falcons were symbols of elite status, while fine robes reflected access to trade routes and continental wealth. These were items that reinforced both religious affiliation and political sophistication.

England’s conversion to Christianity, beginning in the late 6th century, also added new tools to the diplomatic arsenal. By supporting monastic foundations and maintaining correspondence with the Pope and Frankish missionaries, kings could project an image of moral legitimacy, even as they plotted assassinations behind closed doors.

Family first: the politics of blood

No mafia comparison would be complete without the role of the family.

“Offa binds his family very much into his dynastic program,” says Adams, referencing King Offa, the most formidable ruler of Mercia, who reigned between 757 to 796.

Offa’s reign represents the apex of Mercian power. He ruled over much of southern England and exercised overlordship (bretwalda) over neighbouring kingdoms. His wife, Queen Cynethryth, was unusually prominent for the period. Her image even appeared on coinage, a rare honour for any woman in Anglo-Saxon England.

By placing family members in key religious and political positions, Offa created a network of influence that extended across ecclesiastical institutions and local lordships. Dynastic marriages helped secure allies and neutralised rivals. Sons were trained for kingship or bishoprics; daughters married into noble families.

A marriage offer from Charlemagne

Mercia’s influence extended well beyond Britain. Perhaps the most dramatic sign of its stature came from Charlemagne, king of the Franks and later the first Holy Roman Emperor, who dominated western Europe.

“Charlemagne sends an envoy to King Offa to ask if Offa’s daughter Ælfflæd will marry his son Charles. And Offa accepts, but then says, only if my son can marry your daughter.”

• Read more | A brief history of Offa’s Dyke

This was an audacious move. Charlemagne had unified much of Western Europe and had been crowned Emperor by the Pope in 800 AD. For Offa to demand a reciprocal marriage was a bold assertion of equality, and it strained diplomatic relations for years.

But the proposal speaks volumes. It shows how Mercian rulers saw themselves as active players on a continental stage.

Mercia’s lasting legacy

While later Anglo-Saxon kings from Wessex — most notably Alfred the Great and his successors — would eventually unify England, it was Mercia that laid the groundwork. Its rulers developed many of the tools of kingship that others would later refine.

“[It’s in] Mercia for the first time, we really see these lines of political transaction being almost codified as tools of statehood,” Adams reflects.

Offa’s government standardised weights and measures, supported a unified coinage system, and built monumental defences — including Offa’s Dyke, a vast earthwork along the Welsh border. These initiatives speak to an early form of central authority and administrative ambition rarely seen in Europe outside the Carolingian Empire.

The comparison to the mafia might be provocative, but Adams’ point is clear: Mercian kings operated in a world where violence and statecraft were inseparable, and where family loyalty, intimidation and diplomacy functioned as parts of a single political strategy.

They ruled not with total control, but by navigating a volatile web of allegiances, marriage alliances and reputational power, and they helped lay the foundation for what would eventually become the English monarchy.

Max Adams was speaking to David Musgrove on the HistoryExtra podcast. Listen to the full conversation.