Osric (died 633 or 634) was a

King of Deira 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 ...

(632–633 or 633–634) in northern

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was a cousin of king

Edwin of Northumbria Edwin ( ang, Ēadwine; c. 586 – 12 October 632/633), also known as Eadwine or Æduinus, was the List of monarchs of Northumbria, King of Deira and Bernicia – which later became known as Northumbria – from about 616 until hi ...

, being the son of Edwin's uncle

Æthelric of Deira Æthelric (died ''c''. 604?) was supposedly a King of Deira (''c''. 589/599–''c''. 604). He is thought to have succeeded Ælla of Deira, but his existence is historically obscure. Manuscript A of the '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' reports that � ...

. Osric was also the father of Oswine. After Edwin was killed in battle against

Cadwallon ap Cadfan Cadwallon ap Cadfan (died 634A difference in the interpretation of Bede's dates has led to the question of whether Cadwallon was killed in 634 or the year earlier, 633. Cadwallon died in the year after the Battle of Hatfield Chase, which Bede rep ...

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 ...

and

Penda of Mercia 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 theor ...

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 ...

fell into disarray, with Eanfrith taking power in the sub-kingdom 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 ...

and Osric taking power in Deira. 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 o ...

, Osric was, like Eanfrith, a Christian who reverted to

paganism Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christianity, early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions ot ...

upon coming to power. Cadwallon continued his ruinous invasion of Northumbria, however. Bede says that Osric

besieged Besieged may refer to: * the state of being under siege * ''Besieged'' (film), a 1998 film by Bernardo Bertolucci {{disambiguation ...

Cadwallon "in a strong town", but Cadwallon successfully "sallied out on a sudden with all his forces, by surprise, and destroyed him sricand all his army." The year in which he and Eanfrith ruled was subsequently deemed so abhorrent because of their paganism that it was decided to add that year to the reign of the Christian Oswald of Bernicia, who defeated Cadwallon and came to rule both Bernicia and Deira, so as to ignore the brief reigns of Osric and Eanfrith.

References

*Bede, ''

Ecclesiastical History of the English People The ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' ( la, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum), written by Bede in about AD 731, is a history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict be ...

''
Book III, Chapter I.

External links

* 630s deaths Anglo-Saxon warriors Deiran monarchs 7th-century English monarchs Year of birth unknown Converts to pagan religions from Christianity {{UK-royal-stub