 Offa appears to have moved to eliminate dynastic rivals to the succession of his son, Ecgfrith. According to a contemporary letter from Alcuin of York, an English deacon and scholar who spent over a decade as a chief advisor at Charlemagne's court, "the vengeance of the blood shed by the father has reached the son"; Alcuin added, "This was not a strengthening of the kingdom, but its ruin." Offa died in July 796. Ecgfrith succeeded him but reigned for less than five months before Coenwulf came to the throne. The surviving sources do not record whether Ecgfrith died of natural causes or was assassinated, though Alcuin's letter seems to imply the latter.
