COENWIJLF (d. 821), king of Mercia, successor of Ecgfrith, son of Offa, in 796. In 798 he invaded Kent, imprisoned Ead berht Praen, and made his own brother Cuthred king. On Cuth red's death (807) Coenwulf seems to have taken Kent into his own hands. He abolished the archbishopric of Lichfield, probably before 8o3, as the Hygeberht who signed as an abbot at the coun cil of Cloveshoe in that year was presumably the former arch bishop. Coenwulf appears from the charters to have had a long dispute with Wulfred of Canterbury, who was consecrated in 8o6. It was probably only settled in 825, when the lawsuit of Cwoen thryth, his daughter, with Wulfred was terminated. He died in 821 and was succeeded by his brother Ceolwulf I.
796, 819 (Oxford, 1892) ; W. de G. Birch, Cartularium Saxonicum,