Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...

, a kingdom of Angles, in what is now

northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

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

Mercia la, Merciorum regnum , conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia , common_name=Mercia , status=Kingdom , status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex () , life_span=527–918 , era= Heptarchy , event_start= , date_start= , ...

n king

Penda Penda (died 15 November 655)Manuscript A of the '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' gives the year as 655. Bede also gives the year as 655 and specifies a date, 15 November. R. L. Poole (''Studies in Chronology and History'', 1934) put forward the theo ...

; according to

Bede Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 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 ...

, 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 Ælfwine (also ''Aelfwine'', ''Elfwine'') is an Old English personal name. It is composed of the elements ''ælf'' " elf" and ''wine'' "friend", continuing a hypothetical Common Germanic given name ''*albi- winiz'' which is also continued in Old Hi ...

, the brother of the childless king

Ecgfrith Ecgfrith ( ang, Ecgfrið) was the name of several Anglo-Saxon kings The Heptarchy were the seven petty kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England that flourished from the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain in the 5th century until they were consolidated in ...

, 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 Norse is a demonym for Norsemen, a medieval North Germanic ethnolinguistic group ancestral to modern Scandinavians, defined as speakers of Old Norse from about the 9th to the 13th centuries. Norse may also refer to: Culture and religion * Nor ...

rule.

Kings of Bernicia

Kings of Deira

Kings of Northumbria

Kings of Northumbria in the Norse era

The kings of Northumbria in the Norse era variously controlled Jórvík, the former Deira, from its capital York or the northern part of the kingdom, the former Bernicia, from Bamburgh. The southern kings were usually Vikings while the northern rulers were Anglo-Saxons. Some of the rulers controlled all or most of Northumbria although there is some doubt over the details as the history of Northumbria in the ninth and tenth centuries is poorly recorded. Although

Eadred Eadred (c. 923 – 23 November 955) was King of the English from 26 May 946 until his death. He was the younger son of Edward the Elder and his third wife Eadgifu, and a grandson of Alfred the Great. His elder brother, Edmund, was killed tr ...

claimed rule from 946, the Kingdom of Northumbria was not absorbed permanently into England until after 954. Thereafter Osulf had control of all Northumbria under Eadred.Rollason, ''Northumbria'', pp. 65—6 See Rulers of Bamburgh for subsequent lords of Bamburgh after Osulf, none of whom ruled as kings.

Family tree

- Kings of Bernicia; - Kings of Deira; - Kings of Northumbria

Notes

References

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External links

The History Files - Anglo-Saxon Britain - The Kings of Northumbria
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Monarchs Of Northumbria