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The Kingdom of Lindsey or Linnuis ( ang, Lindesege) was a lesser
Anglo-Saxon kingdom 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 the 8th century into the four kingdoms of Mercia, Northumbria, Wes ...
, which was absorbed into Northumbria in the 7th century. The name Lindsey derives from the
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
toponym , meaning "Isle of Lind". was the Roman name of the settlement which is now the City of Lincoln in Lincolnshire. ( was shortened in Old English to and then .) was a Latinised form of a
native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...
Brittonic name which has been reconstructed as *''Lindon'' (; cf. modern Welsh ').


Geography

Lindsey lay between the Humber estuary and the Wash, forming its inland boundaries from the courses of the Witham and
Trent Trent may refer to: Places Italy * Trento in northern Italy, site of the Council of Trent United Kingdom * Trent, Dorset, England, United Kingdom Germany * Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen United States * Trent, California, ...
rivers, and the Foss Dyke between them. A marshy region south of the Humber known as the Isle of Axholme was also included. It is believed that Roman Lindum ( Lincoln) was the capital of Lindsey: the continuity of the place name suggests continuity of settlement traditions: in 625, Bede recounts, the missionary Paulinus of York was received by the '' praefectus'' of Lindum. Place-name evidence indicates that the Anglian settlement known as Lindisfaras spread from the Humber coast. Lindsey means the 'island of Lincoln': it was surrounded by water and very wet land. Lincoln was in the south-west part of the kingdom. During the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, from about 450, Lindsey was one of the lesser kingdoms. Although it has its own list of kings, at an early date it came under external influence. It was from time to time effectively part of Deira, of the Northumbrian kingdom and, particularly later, of Mercia. Lindsey lost its independence long before the arrival of the Danish settlers.


History

Toby Martin and Catherine Hills identify Lindsey as an area in which large-scale settlement by the Anglo-Saxons occurred. However, a continuing British presence in the region is indicated by the fact that major settlements such as Lincoln, and Lindsey itself, have partially Celtic names. Caitlin Green suggests that some communities may have continued to speak Brittonic until the eighth century. Lindsey's prominence was before the historical period. By the time of the first historical records of the kingdom, it had become a subjugated polity, under the alternating control of Northumbria and Mercia. Its subjugation may have occurred around AD 500. Its territories were absorbed into the historical English county of Lincolnshire, the northern part of which is called Lindsey.


Kings of Lindsey

The
Anglian collection ''The Anglian collection'' is a collection of Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies and regnal lists. These survive in four manuscripts; two of which now reside in the British Library. The remaining two belong to the libraries of Corpus Christi College, ...
of genealogies, which was created in the last years of the reign of
Offa of Mercia Offa (died 29 July 796 AD) was List of monarchs of Mercia, King of Mercia, a kingdom of History of Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa of Mercia, Eowa, Offa came to ...
, gives a pedigree for Aldfrið, presumed to have been ruler of Lindsey. It traces him to the Anglo-Saxon god,
Woden Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...
, likewise made ancestor of the other Anglo-Saxon dynasties, and provides Woden's ancestry for several further generations. *Geot – Compare the
Geats The Geats ( ; ang, gēatas ; non, gautar ; sv, götar ), sometimes called ''Goths'', were a large North Germanic tribe who inhabited ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the late Middle Ages. They are one of th ...
who are frequently mentioned in
Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The ...
's story. *Godulf *Finn *Frioðulf *Frealaf *Woden, the god. *Winta – Compare Winteringham (the homestead of Winta's people) and
Winterton, Lincolnshire Winterton is a town in North Lincolnshire, England, north-east of Scunthorpe. The 2021 census found 4,765 inhabitants living in the town. Winterton is located near the banks of the Humber and is south-west of the Humber Bridge which can be s ...
(the farm/village of Winta's people). *Cretta *Cuelgils *Caedbaed *
Bubba In American usage, "Bubba" is a term of endearment mainly given to boys. Being formed from the word "brother", it often indicates that someone is a "little brother". Etymology and history The linguist Ian Hancock has described similarities betw ...
*Beda *Biscop *Eanferð *Eatta *Aldfrið None of the individuals can be securely dated, though the name Biscop,
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
for ' bishop', suggests a time after conversion. Likewise, the practice of agnatic inheritance akin to
blood tanistry Tanistry is a Gaelic system for passing on titles and lands. In this system the Tanist ( ga, Tánaiste; gd, Tànaiste; gv, Tanishtey) is the office of heir-apparent, or second-in-command, among the (royal) Gaelic patrilineal dynasties of ...
in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms means that it cannot be determined which of the listed male-line ancestors of Aldfrið actually ruled the kingdom. Finally, it is uncertain at what point between Aldfrið and Woden the pedigree ceases to be historical, since this pedigree is the sole source for all of the individuals named, except perhaps Aldfrið. With regard to Aldfrið, Frank Stenton referred to the witness list for an Anglo-Saxon charter which includes an "Ealfrid rex", and dated its writing to some time between the years 787 and 796. Scholars now believe that the name on the witness list should read " Ecgfrið Rex", and refers to
Offa Offa (died 29 July 796 AD) was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of Æt ...
's son. He was anointed King of the Mercians in 787, nine years before his succession in 796, and would have been correctly styled ''rex''. Stenton suggested that the name 'Biscop' came from the title 'bishop' and must post-date Paulinus's mission to Lindsey of 628 CE. But, as
Sarah Foot Sarah Rosamund Irvine Foot (born 23 February 1961) is an English Anglican priest and Early Middle Ages, early medieval historian, currently serving as Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History at the University of Oxford. Early life and educa ...
has pointed out, Biscop does not need to have been derived from an external origin. The other genealogies in the Anglian collection close with historic personages whose dates are known, such as Edwin of Deira (616–33), Ethelred of Mercia (675–704) and Ethelbert II of Kent (725–62), but this wide range offers little help in dating Aldfrið.


See also

* Lindisfaras * Lindsey, Lincolnshire *
Bishop of Lindsey The Bishop of Lindsey was a prelate who administered an Anglo-Saxon diocese between the 7th and 11th centuries. The episcopal title took its name after the ancient Kingdom of Lindsey. History The diocese of Lindsey (Lindine) was established whe ...


References


Bibliography

*


External links


Lindisware (Lindissi / Lindsey)
at History Files. {{Lincolnshire History of Lincolnshire Lindsey Petty kingdoms of England States and territories established in the 5th century Sub-kingdoms of Mercia Parts of Lindsey Former monarchies of Europe