Osulf or Oswulf (died 1067) was the son of Eadwulf IV, Earl of Bamburgh (killed 1041), and grandson of

Uhtred the Bold Uhtred of Bamburgh (sometimes Uchtred); died c. 1016), was ruler of Bamburgh and from 1006 to 1016 the ealdorman of Northumbria. He was the son of Waltheof I, ruler of Bamburgh (Bebbanburg), whose family the Eadwulfings had ruled the surroun ...

, ruler of Bamburgh and ealdorman of Northumbria (killed 1016). Oswulf’s family ruled Bamburgh from 954 until 1041, though their independence may have been compromised after 1041 when Siward the Stout killed Eadwulf and gained hegemony over the north. In 1065,

Morcar Morcar (or Morkere) ( ang, Mōrcǣr) (died after 1087) was the son of Ælfgār (earl of Mercia) and brother of Ēadwine. He was the earl of Northumbria from 1065 to 1066, when he was replaced by William the Conqueror with Copsi. Dispute with t ...

succeeded Tostig as ealdorman of Northumbria and nominal overlord of Oswulf, ruling the portion north of the River Tyne. However, because of Morcar’s resistance to the Norman invasion of England by

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

in 1066, he was deposed and imprisoned. William then appointed

Copsi Copsi (or Copsig; ang, Cōpsige; died 1067) was a Northumbrian magnate in late Anglo-Saxon England. He was a supporter of Tostig, and was exiled along with him in 1065. Copsi soon fled to Orkney (then a part of Norway). The next year (1066), ...

(sometimes Copsig), Tostig’s former deputy, as Morcar's replacement. In February 1067, Copsi came north and forced Oswulf to seek shelter in the hills. Oswulf began to gather an army. Because Copsi was seen as an invader and a tax-gatherer for William, he was deeply unpopular among the Northumbrians north and south of the Tyne, and Oswulf had no trouble in gathering recruits. On 12 March, he surprised Copsi and his men at a banquet at Newburn-upon-Tyne. Copsi fled to a nearby church but this was set on fire, forcing Copsi out. Oswulf then had Copsi's head cut off. Oswulf appears to have seized control of the earldom of Bamburgh, and was not threatened by any expeditions to remove him. However, in the autumn of 1067, Oswulf, who appears to have been carrying out his duties as

earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form '' jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particula ...

, intercepted an outlaw and was run through by the man’s spear. He was succeeded as earl by his cousin, Gospatric, who allegedly paid King William for the latter's recognition of his earldom.

Sources

* Aird, William M., "Osulf , earl of Bamburgh (d. 1067)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 200
, accessed 30 Dec 2008
* Kapelle, William E., ''The Norman Conquest of the North'', University of North Carolina Press, 1979. * Stenton, Sir Frank M. ''Anglo-Saxon England Third Edition''.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1971.

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Oswulf 02 Of Bamburgh 1067 deaths 11th-century English nobility Anglo-Saxon warriors Year of birth unknown Rulers of Bamburgh