Lichfield

district, administrative and historic county of Staffordshire, west-central England. It is located on the northern margin of both the West Midlands plateau and the metropolitan complex centred on Birmingham.

…the kingdom’s political capital, and Lichfield became its religious centre. At the end of the 9th century the Danes ravaged the area, and throughout the 10th and much of the 11th century the county was the scene of considerable fighting, including a rebellion against William I the Conqueror. Domesday Book…

…recent attribution of manuscripts to Lichfield suggests that Mercian scholarship has been underestimated. Offa himself took an interest in education, and men from all areas corresponded with the missionaries. The Mercian schools that supplied Alfred with scholars in the 9th century may go back to this period. Vernacular poetry was…