of Mercia, succeeded to the throne in 796, on
the death of Ecgfrith, son of Offa. His succession is somewhat
remarkable, as his direct ancestors do not seem to have held the throne
for six generations. In 798 he invaded Kent, deposed and imprisoned
Eadberht Praen, and made his own brother Cuthred king. Cuthred reigned in
Kent from 798 to 807, when he died, and Coenwulf seems to have taken
Kent into his own hands. It was during this reign that the archbishopric
of Lichfield was abolished, probably before 803, as the Hygeberht who
signed as an abbot at the council of Cloveshoe in that year was
presumably the former archbishop. Coenwulf appears from the charters
to have quarrelled with Wulfred of Canterbury, who was consecrated in
806, and the dispute continued for several years. It was probably only
settled at Cloveshoe in 825, when the lawsuit of Cwoenthryth, daughter
and heiress of Coenwulf, with Wulfred was terminated. Coenwulf may
have instigated the raid of Aethelmund, earl of the Hwicce, upon the
accession of Ecgberht. He died in 821, and was succeeded by his brother
Ceolwulf I.

See Earle and Plummer's edition of the _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, 796,
819 (Oxford, 1892); W. de G. Birch, _Cartularium Saxonicum_, 378
(London, 1885-1893). (F. G. M. B.)

COERCION (from Lat. _coercere_, to restrain), an application of moral or
physical compulsion by which a person is forced to do or refrain from
doing some act or set of acts apart from his own voluntary motion. Where
the coercion is direct or positive, _i.e._ where the person is compelled
by physical force to do an act contrary to his will,--for example, when
a man is compelled to join a rebel army, and to serve as a soldier under
threats of death,--his act is not legally a crime. Where the coercion is
implied, as when a person is legally under subjection to another, the
person coerced, having no will on the subject, is not responsible. But
this principle is applied only within narrow limits, and does not extend
to the command of a superior to an inferior; of a parent to a child; of
a master to his servant or a principal to his agent. Where, however, a
married woman commits a crime in the presence of her husband, she is
generally presumed to have acted by his coercion, and to be entitled to
acquittal, but this presumption does not extend to grave crimes, nor to
those in which the principal part may be supposed to be taken by the
woman, such as keeping a bro