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
Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...
. 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
Å’thelwald, but Å’thelwald did not prove to be a loyal sub-king, allying with the
Mercian king
Penda; 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 ...
, Å’thelwald 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
The Battle of the Winwaed (Welsh: ''Maes Gai''; lat-med, Strages Gai Campi) was fought on 15 November 655 between King Penda of Mercia and Oswiu of Bernicia, ending in the Mercians' defeat and Penda's death. According to Bede, the battl ...
. After the Mercian defeat at Winwaed, Å’thelwald 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, 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.
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
JórvÃk, 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 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
See also
*
Rulers of Bamburgh
*
Earl of York
*
Earl of Northumbria
*
Earl of Northumberland
*
List of English monarchs
Notes
References
*
*
*
External links
The History Files - Anglo-Saxon Britain - The Kings of Northumbria
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Monarchs Of Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria