Theodric or Ðeodric ruled from 572 to 579. He was the fifth known ruler of the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

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 ...

. Theodric was the son of

Ida of Bernicia Ida () (died c. 559) is the first known king of the Anglian kingdom of Bernicia, which he ruled from around 547 until his death in 559. Little is known of his life or reign, but he was regarded as the founder of a line from which later Anglo-Saxo ...

, founder of the kingdom of Bernicia, and a brother of his predecessor, Æthelric. Little is known of Theodric's life and reign although

Urien Urien (; ), often referred to as Urien Rheged or Uriens, was a late 6th-century king of Rheged, an early British kingdom of the Hen Ogledd (today's northern England and southern Scotland) of the House of Rheged. His power and his victories, i ...

, the king of

Rheged Rheged () was one of the kingdoms of the ''Hen Ogledd'' ("Old North"), the Brittonic-speaking region of what is now Northern England and southern Scotland, during the post-Roman era and Early Middle Ages. It is recorded in several poetic and ba ...

, was said to have subjected Theodric and his sons to a three-day siege on the island of

Lindisfarne Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th century AD; it was an important ...

. Theodric has been identified with an Anglian ruler nicknamed ''Fflamddwyn'' in Welsh, who, according to medieval Welsh poetry such as ''Gweith Argoed Llwyfain'' (''The

Battle of Argoed Llwyfain The Battle of Argoed Llwyfain was fought between the forces of the Kingdom of Rheged under the command of Urien and Owain mab Urien and the forces of the Kingdom of Bernicia under ''Fflamddwyn'' (Firestealer or Flamebearer). Most of what is known ...

'' or ''Battle of Leeming Lane'') from the

Book of Taliesin The Book of Taliesin ( cy, Llyfr Taliesin) is one of the most famous of Middle Welsh manuscripts, dating from the first half of the 14th century though many of the fifty-six poems it preserves are taken to originate in the 10th century or before ...

, was killed in battle by Urien's son,

Owain mab Urien Owain mab Urien (Middle Welsh Owein) (died c. 595) was the son of Urien, king of Rheged c. 590, and fought with his father against the Angles of Bernicia. The historical figure of Owain became incorporated into the Arthurian cycle of legends wh ...

, after he demanded hostages and Owain refused to give in. The dates for Theodric's rule are conjecture; the earliest authorities differ widely on the order and the regnal years of the kings between the death of Ida and the beginning of Æthelfrith's rule in 592/593.

Notes

External links

* 579 deaths Anglo-Saxon warriors Bernician monarchs History of Northumberland 6th-century English monarchs Year of birth unknown Idings {{England-bio-stub