Northumbria, a kingdom of Angles, in what is now northern England and south-east Scotland, was initially divided into two kingdoms: Bernicia and Deira. The two were first united by king Æthelfrith around the year 604, and except for occasional periods of division over the subsequent century, they remained so. The exceptions are during the brief period from 633 to 634, when Northumbria was plunged into chaos by the death of king Edwin in battle and the ruinous invasion of Cadwallon ap Cadfan, king of Gwynedd. The unity of the Northumbrian kingdoms was restored after Cadwallon's death in battle in 634.
Another exception is a period from about the year 644 to 664, when kings ruled individually over Deira. In 651, king Oswiu had Oswine of Deira killed and replaced by Œthelwald, but Œthelwald did not prove to be a loyal sub-king, allying with the Mercian king Penda; according to Bede, Œthelwald acted as Penda's guide during the latter's invasion of Northumbria but withdrew his forces when the Mercians met the Northumbrians at the Battle of Winwaed. After the Mercian defeat at Winwaed, Œthelwald lost power and Oswiu's own son, Alchfrith, became king in his place. In 670, Ælfwine, the brother of the childless king Ecgfrith, was made king of Deira; by this point the title may have been used primarily to designate an heir. Ælfwine was killed in battle against Mercia in 679, and there was not another separate king of Deira until the time of Norse rule.
Viking kings ruled Jórvík (southern Northumbria, the former Deira) from its capital York for most of the period between 867 and 954. Northern Northumbria (the former Bernicia) was ruled by Anglo-Saxons from their base in Bamburgh. Many details are uncertain as the history of Northumbria in the ninth and tenth centuries is poorly recorded.
1. Eadwulf II is variously titled as either a king or a reeve and the year in which he came to power is unknown. Conventionally he is thought to have ruled only the northern part of the kingdom (Bamburgh) but he may have ruled the entirely of Northumbria.[7] 2. Siefried and Cnut may have been joint kings in York for part or all of the period between 895 and 905[8]: 79 3. Along with Hálfdan and Eowils, another king, Ingwær, their brother, may have also ruled. All three were killed at the Battle of Tettenhall in 910.
1. There is some evidence that Ealdred submitted to Edward the Elder in 924 who died in that year. 2. Ealdred submitted to Æthelstan in 927, making Æthelstan the overlord of all Northumbria as King of the English from 12 July 927, following the Treaty of Eamont Bridge. It is likely that Ealdred's submission was somewhat nominal with Ealdred ruling semi-independently while acknowledging West Saxon authority.[9][10]
1. The name Adulf mcEtulfe can be taken to be Æthelwulf son of Eadwulf. 2. Alternatively, Adulf mcEtulfe indicates Ealdred son of Eadwulf, i.e. Ealdred I.[12] 3. Adulf mcEtulfe died in 934 and had been named 'King of the Northern Saxons' by the Annals of Clonmacnoise.[13]
After Æthelstan's death in 939, the men of York immediately chose the Viking king of Dublin, Olaf Guthfrithson (or his cousin, Anlaf Cuaran[a]), as their king and the Anglo-Saxon control of the north collapsed.
1. Olaf Sihtricson was restored to the throne. During this time, Osulf I is variously described as the high-reeve or earl of Bamburgh. 2. Olaf Sihtricson was also known as Amlaíb Cuarán.
Eric Bloodaxe was restored to the throne. In 954 Osulf I was responsible for a conspiracy that led to the death of Eric Bloodaxe.
Although Eadred claimed rule from 946,[11]: 185–90 the Kingdom of Northumbria was not absorbed permanently into England until after 954.[11]: 190 Thereafter Osulf had control of all Northumbria under Eadred.[16] See Rulers of Bamburgh for subsequent lords of Bamburgh after Osulf, none of whom ruled as kings.
After the ascension of William the Conqueror in 1066, and in the prelude to the Harrying of the North, a joint Anglo-Danish force loyal to Edgar Ætheling and Sweyn II was able to seize control of York in the second half of 1069 and temporarily assert sovereignty over all of Northumbria. This short-lived independence came to an end when William fought his way North and paid off Sweyn to return to Denmark, leading to the Harrying of the North and the flight of Edgar and his family to Scotland.[17]
Family tree
- Kings of Bernicia;
- Kings of Deira;
- Kings of Northumbria
^Hudson, Benjamin (2005), Viking Pirates and Christian Princes: Dynasty, Religion and Empire in the North Atlantic, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN0-19-516237-4, p. 21
^ abcDownham, Clare (2007), Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: The Dynasty of Ívarr to A.D. 1014, Edinburgh: Dunedin
^Williams, "Ealdred"; Woolf, From Pictland to Alba, p. 158
Downham, Clare (2007), Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: The Dynasty of Ívarr to A.D. 1014, Edinburgh: Dunedin, ISBN978-1-903765-89-0, OCLC163618313
