Offa died in July 796 and his son Ecgfrith 141 days later. Coenwulf, a distant relative, succeeded to the Mercian throne after Ecgfrith's death. Soon after his accession Coenwulf sought to replace the two archdioceses with one at London, arguing that Pope Gregory I's original plan had been that there be an archbishopric at London instead of at Canterbury. In 797 and 798 Coenwulf sent envoys to Rome to Pope Leo III, suggesting that a new archdiocese be created at London for Æthelhard. The king's envoys laid the blame for the problems encountered with the Lichfield archdiocese on Pope Hadrian I's incompetence. Displeased by criticism of the papacy, Leo ruled against the king's plan. In 801 Coenwulf put down a Kentish rebellion, allowing him to once more assert his authority in Canterbury and control the archbishopric. Finally, in 802, Pope Leo III granted that Hadrian's decision was invalid, after the English clergy told him it had been achieved by Offa's misrepresentation. Leo returned all jurisdiction to Canterbury, a decision announced by Æthelhard at the Council of Clovesho in 803.