Hwicce, kingdom of the

An Anglo-Saxon kingdom conterminous with the diocese of Worcester. The royal house of the Hwicce, whose earliest recorded kings Eanhere and his brother Eanfrid belong to the second half of the 7th cent., may have been established with Mercian help. Five generations of rulers are known, with several instances of joint rule by brothers. The Hwicce seem to have come increasingly under Mercian domination and the last independent Hwiccian rulers appear as subordinates in the charters of Æthelbald and Offa of Mercia.