Æthelric (died ''c''. 604?) was supposedly a
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
of
Deira
Deira ( ; Old Welsh/Cumbric: ''Deywr'' or ''Deifr''; ang, Derenrice or ) was an area of Post-Roman Britain, and a later Anglian kingdom.
Etymology
The name of the kingdom is of Brythonic origin, and is derived from the Proto-Celtic *''daru' ...
(''c''. 589/599–''c''. 604). He is thought to have succeeded
Ælla of Deira
Ælla or Ælle is the first known king of the Anglian kingdom of Deira, which he ruled from around 560 until his death in 588.
Biography
The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' records that Ælla became king in 560.Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, s.a. 560 Anachro ...
, but his existence is historically obscure.
Manuscript A of the ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alf ...
'' reports that Ælle, king of Deira, was succeeded by Æthelric in 588. According to
Bede
Bede ( ; ang, BÇ£da , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...
, Deira was invaded and taken over by
Æthelfrith
Æthelfrith (died c. 616) was King of Bernicia from c. 593 until his death. Around 604 he became the first Bernician king to also rule the neighboring land of Deira, giving him an important place in the development of the later kingdom of North ...
of
Bernicia
Bernicia ( ang, Bernice, Bryneich, Beornice; la, Bernicia) was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England.
The Anglian territory of Bernicia was ap ...
in about the year 604.
[Bede, ''Historia Ecclesiastica'', I.34, III.6; ''Historia Brittonum'', chapter 61.] The circumstances of this are unclear, and Æthelric's fate is unknown. The fact that
Edwin
The name Edwin means "rich friend". It comes from the Old English elements "ead" (rich, blessed) and "ƿine" (friend). The original Anglo-Saxon form is Eadƿine, which is also found for Anglo-Saxon figures.
People
* Edwin of Northumbria (died ...
, a son of Ælla and possibly Æthelric's brother, had to flee into exile suggests that Deira may have been conquered by Æthelfrith, and in this case Æthelric may have been killed during warfare. Æthelfrith ruled both Deira and Bernicia, the two components of Northumbria, until he was killed in battle and the Deiran line was restored for a time under
Edwin
The name Edwin means "rich friend". It comes from the Old English elements "ead" (rich, blessed) and "ƿine" (friend). The original Anglo-Saxon form is Eadƿine, which is also found for Anglo-Saxon figures.
People
* Edwin of Northumbria (died ...
.
References
Further reading
*Kirby, D.P. ''The Earliest English Kings''. London, 1991. 56-8.
*Miller, M. "The dates of Deira." ''Anglo-Saxon England'' 8 (1979): 35–61.
*Yorke, Barbara. ''Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England''. London, 1990. p. 77.
External links
*
6th-century births
604 deaths
Anglo-Saxon warriors
Deiran monarchs
6th-century English monarchs
7th-century English monarchs
Year of birth unknown
{{England-bio-stub