FROM DOT TO DOMESDAY   Early Medieval   The Birth of Nations: England
NORTHUMBRIA
According to Bede: "From the Angles ... are descended ... all the race of the Northumbrians, that is, of those nations that dwell on the north side of the river Humber ..."  Northumbria was formed by the joining of two smaller kingdoms: Bernicia, to the north, and Deira, to the south.
There are suggestions that these two kingdoms developed from settlements granted, by the Britons, to Anglo-Saxon mercenaries who had been hired to repel the Scots and Picts. The 'Historia Brittonum' says that Hengist (who, according to tradition, was leader of the mercenaries) made an offer to the British leader, Vortigern: "... if you approve, I will send for my son and his brother, both valiant men who at my invitation will fight against the Scots, and you can give them the countries in the north, near the wall called 'Gual'."  The 'Historia' (not considered the most reliable of sources) says that Vortigern, the "incautious sovereign", agreed to Hengist's proposal. Certainly, the archaeological evidence does show that Germanic settlement, in Deira, dates from the 5th century.
The original heartland of Bernicia seems to have been around the Tyne. The East Riding of Yorkshire was the nucleus of Deira. The names of both kingdoms are probably derived from the names of the British territories which they superseded. It appears that Deira was the earlier of the two to become established, and the greater number of cemeteries suggests that it was also the more densely settled. As Bernicia and Deira developed, the River Tees became the border between them. During the 7th century, the unified kingdom, Northumbria, expanded west to the Irish Sea, and north to occupy much of, what is now, southern Scotland. But, around the middle of the 8th century, Northumbria went into a rapid decline. There was continual internecine conflict, added to which, at the end of the 8th century, the Northumbrian monasteries, famous for their intellectual achievements, became prime targets for Viking raiders. Eventually, the raiders settled and established their own kingdom based on York (Jorvick).
The Lindisfarne Gospels were, according to Aldred, the author of a note added during the third quarter of the 10th century, originally written by Eadfrith, Bishop of Lindisfarne (d.721): "... in honour of God and St.Cuthbert [d.687] and the whole company of saints whose relics are on the island. And Æthelwald, Bishop of the Lindisfarne islanders [d.c.740], bound it on the outside and covered it, as he knew well how to do."  The book is written and painted on 259 calf-skin vellum leaves (13.4in/340mm x 9.6in/245mm). The Latin text of the gospels closely follows that in St.Jerome's late-4th/early-5th century 'Vulgate' bible. There are fifteen elaborately decorated pages: three precede each of the four gospels (a 'title page', showing the saint's picture; an ornamental cross design - often called a 'carpet page'; and an 'initial page', featuring a highly decorative opening capital letter); one (an 'initial page') marks the start of the Christmas Gospel in Matthew; two at the beginning of the whole manuscript (a 'carpet page' and an 'initial page'). Aldred, who by his own admission "glossed it in English" i.e. he wrote a word-for-word Anglo-Saxon translation between the lines of the Latin text, also says that:"Billfrith, the anchorite, wrought the ornaments on the outside and adorned it with gold and with gems and gilded silver, unalloyed metal."  In 875, as a result of Viking depredations, the 'Gospels', along with St.Cuthbert's relics, accompanied the fleeing monks, first to Chester-le-Street (where Aldred was a priest, and eventually provost), and then to Durham. Both Æthelwald's cover and Billfrith's bejewelled casing having disappeared (possibly removed in the sixteenth century, during Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries), the manuscript was acquired by Sir Robert Cotton (1571-1631). In 1852 a replacement, jewelled silver, binding was provided by Edward Maltby, Bishop of Durham. The 'Lindisfarne Gospels' are now in the keeping of the British Library (Cotton Nero D IV).
King of Bernicia
King of Deira
547 - 559  Ida
'Historia Brittonum': "The more the Saxons were vanquished, the more they sought for new supplies of Saxons from Germany; so that kings, commanders, and military bands were invited over from almost every province. And this practice they continued till the reign of Ida, who was the son of Eoppa, he, of the Saxon race, was the first king in Bernicia ..."
A chronicle-fragment, based on Bede (probably produced in France, as an example of Latin grammar, during the 9th century), notes that Ida: "... was the son of Eoppa the son of Eosa. It was Eosa who first came to Britain."
The 'Historia Brittonum' names the British leader who opposed Ida: "... Dutigirn at that time fought bravely against the nation of the Angles."
The 'Historia' also says that Ida had twelve sons.
Bede: "In the year 547, Ida began to reign; he was the founder of the royal family of the Northumbrians, and he reigned twelve years."  The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' notes that Ida "... built Bamburgh-Castle, which was first surrounded with a hedge, and afterwards with a wall."		 The 'Historia Brittonum' says that the great-great-great grandfather of Ælle (the first Deiran king whose existence is secure) was "... Soemil, who first separated Deur [Deifr/Deira] from Berneich [Bryneich/Bernicia]."  If this comment has any validity, it seems to imply that Deira became independent of British control around the middle of the 5th century.
During this period, the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' fails to acknowledge the existence of two separate Northumbrian kingdoms - a 'Northumbrian' line of succession being traced from Ida of Bernicia, via Ælle and Æthelric, both of Deira, to Æthelfrith, who actually did reign over a united Northumbria. However, in the Northumbrian king list which appears in the so called 'Moore Memoranda' - extra material appended to the oldest (c.737) extant manuscript of Bede's 'Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum' - the following sequence of Bernician kings is recorded:
560 - 588  Ælle
The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle', alongside the year 560, announces that, "on the death of Ida", Ælle (son of Yffe) began to reign in the kingdom of "the Northumbrians" (see opposite), and that he "reigned thirty winters" (although his death is recorded in 588).
Pope Gregory 'the Great' (St.Gregory) died in 604. In his obituary for Gregory, Bede writes: "It is said that one day, when some merchants had lately arrived at Rome, many things were exposed for sale in the market place, and much people resorted thither to buy: Gregory himself went with the rest, and saw among other wares some boys put up for sale, of fair complexion, with pleasing countenances, and very beautiful hair. When he beheld them, he asked, it is said, from what region or country they were brought? and was told, from the island of Britain, and that the inhabitants were like that in appearance. He again inquired whether those islanders were Christians, or still involved in the errors of paganism, and was informed that they were pagans. Then fetching a deep sigh from the bottom of his heart, "Alas! what pity," said he, "that the author of darkness should own men of such fair countenances; and that with such grace of outward form, their minds should be void of inward grace. He therefore again asked, what was the name of that nation? and was answered, that they were called Angles. "Right," said he, "for they have an angelic face, and it is meet that such should be co-heirs with the Angels in heaven. What is the name of the province from which they are brought?" It was replied, that the natives of that province were called Deiri. "Truly are they Deira," said he, "saved from wrath, and called to the mercy of Christ. How is the king of that called?" They told him his name was Aelli [Ælle]; and he, playing upon the name, said, "Allelujah, the praise of God the Creator must be sung in those parts.""
559 - 560  Glappa
560 - 568  Adda
Son of Ida
568 - 572  Æthelric
Son of Adda
572 - 579  Theodoric
Son of Ida
579 - 585  Frithuwald
585 - 592  Hussa
Glappa is not listed by the 'Historia Brittonum', but subsequently the 'Historia' and the 'Memoranda' tally. The 'Historia' provides the only direct information, scant as it is, about the above kings (Bede mentions none of them), and names four British kings ....
  • Urbgen - Urien of Rheged; in modern north-west England and the Scottish border country.
  • Riderchhen - Rhydderch Hen i.e. 'the Old', also known as Rhydderch Hael i.e. 'the Generous', of Strathclyde; in modern south-west Scotland.
  • Guallanc - Gwallawg of Elmet; around modern Leeds.
  • Morcant - Morcant Bulc appears in Welsh genealogies as a descendant of Coel Hen - as do Urien and Gwallawg. The genealogies do not assign a territory to the dynastic lines, but Morcant is usually surmised to have been ruler of Bryneich; the British precursor of Anglo-Saxon Bernicia.
.... in a manner which, it is often stated, implies that they were acting in concert, as an organised alliance under the leadership of Urien, in a campaign against Hussa. However, the phraseology is not very precise, apparently switching between general and particular references, and interpretations vary. It is possible that it was Ida's successors, in general, who were fought against, and not necessarily by the British kings acting together. At any rate, the 'Historia' continues: "Theodoric fought bravely, together with his sons, against that Urien. But at that time sometimes the enemy and sometimes our countrymen were defeated, and he [Urien] shut them up three days and three nights in the island of Metcaud [Lindisfarne]; and whilst he was on an expedition he was murdered, at the instance of Morcant, out of envy, because he possessed so much superiority over all the kings in military science."  Which still leaves one wondering who exactly was besieged on Lindisfarne? Whatever, the 'Welsh Triads' provide the information that it was "... Llofan Law Ddifo ['Severing Hand'] who slew Urien son of Cynfarch."
Urien's 'court bard' is said to have been Taliesin. 'The Battle of Argoed Llwyfain', a poem attributed to Taliesin, describes a battle between Urien's Britons and the Anglo-Saxon forces of one Fflamddwyn i.e. Flame-Bearer (whose identity is the subject of speculation - Theodoric being a popular candidate), in which Fflamddwyn is defeated and killed. Another poem attributed to Taliesin, 'A Lament for Owein', says that it was Urien's son, Owein, who killed Fflamddwyn. Owein features in the Arthurian romances found in the Mabinogion, and is the eponymous hero of 'Yvain, le chevalier au lion' (Yvain, the Knight with the Lion) by medieval French poet Chrétien de Troyes.
 The 'Annales Cambriae' suggest the deaths of Gwrgi and Peredur occurred in 580. Gwrgi and Peredur were brothers, and kings of Ebrauc (the British kingdom based on York). The 'Welsh Triads' are lists of people, events, or places, categorised in threes, which, it is thought, were a device used by medieval bards to enable them to commit narrative detail to memory. One triad, 'Three Faithless War-Bands of the Islands of Britain', refers to: "... the War-Band of Gwrgi and Peredur, who abandoned their lord at Caer Greu, when they had an appointment to fight the next day with Eda Great-Knee; and there they were both slain ..."  Eda Great-Knee's identity is, of course, the subject of speculation. If any credence is to be attached to the date suggested by the 'Annales Cambriae', it is difficult to reconcile with the obvious candidates: Bernician kings Ida and Adda.
Peredur appears in the Arthurian romance 'Peredur Son of Efrawg', found in the 'Mabinogion', and French poet Chrétien de Troyes (late 12th century) was responsible for transforming him into the Grail-seeking knight, Sir Percival.
In any event, at some stage, the territory of Ebrauc was absorbed into Deira, and Cair Ebrauc (York) became Anglo-Saxon Eoforwic.
Through York flows the Ouse, its waters teeming with fish,
along its banks stretch fields laden with flowers,
all about the countryside is lovely with hills and woods,
and this beautiful, healthy place of noble setting
was destined to attract many settlers by its richness.
So wrote, the eminent educator, scholar and theologian, Alcuin (d.804), in his poem 'De Pontificibus et Sanctis Ecclesiae Eboracensis' (On the Bishops and Saints of the Church of York).
588 - 593  Æthelric
The entry for 588, in the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle', reads: "This year died King Ella [Ælle]; and Ethelric [Æthelric] reigned after him five years."
Not to be confused with the Bernician king (568-572) of the same name.
King of Northumbria

The 'Historia Brittonum' refers to Æthelfrith as Eadfered Flesaurs ('the Twister'). It says that Æthelfrith gave the town of Din Guaire to his wife (probably first wife) Bebba "... which from her is called Bebbanburg [now Bamburgh]."  Bede doesn't actually name the king, but confirms that Bamburgh "... has its name from Bebba, formerly its queen."
592 - 616  Æthelfrith
Son of Æthelric (of Bernicia)
Æthelfrith is the first ruler of a united Northumbria. The 'Historia Brittonum' suggests that he had ruled Bernicia for twelve years before managing to establish his rule in Deira as well. How this was achieved is unknown. Æthelfrith married Acha, daughter of Ælle, but he also forced Ælle's son, Edwin, into exile. Bede reports that : "... the brave and ambitious king, Ethelfrid [Æthelfrith], governed the kingdom of the Northumbrians, and ravaged the Britons more than all the chiefs of the English, insomuch that he might be compared to Saul of old, king of the Israelites, save only in this, that he was ignorant of Divine religion. For he conquered more territories from the Britons than any other chieftain or king, either subduing the inhabitants and making them tributary, or driving them out and planting the English in their places."
Attributed to the bard Aneirin (fl.c.600) is 'Y Gododdin', a long elegiac poem (about 1000 lines) which records the defeat of a band of warriors, who marched from the northern British kingdom of Gododdin (modern south-east Scotland), against the Northumbrians at Catraeth (identified with Catterick). The greatly outnumbered forces of Gododdin, under the leadership of Mynyddawg Mwynfawr ('The Wealthy'), were annihilated.
Bede continues: "Hereupon, Aedan [Aedán], king of the Scots that dwell in Britain, being alarmed by his success, came against him with a great and mighty army ....
The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' adds: "Hering, the son of Hussa, led the enemy thither."  Hussa being King of Bernicia 585-592.
.... but was defeated and fled with a few followers; for almost all his army was cut to pieces at a famous place, called Degsastan, that is, Degsa Stone. In which battle also Theodbald, brother to Ethelfrid, was killed, with almost all the forces he commanded....
The 'Annals of Tigernach' name Æthelfrith's brother as Eanfrith, and add that he was killed by one Mael Umai, son of Baetán.
.... This war Ethelfrid brought to an end in the year of our Lord 603, the eleventh of his own reign, which lasted twenty-four years ... From that time, no king of the Scots durst come into Britain to make war on the English to this day."  Later in his reign (between 613 and 616), Æthelfrith ("having raised a mighty army", says Bede), defeated British forces at Chester. Selyf ap Cynan, king of Powys, was killed. The battle was made infamous by Æthelfrith's attack against the monks of Bangor-Is-Coed. Bede tells the story: "Being about to give battle, he [Æthelfrith] observed their priests, who were come together to offer up their prayers to God for the combatants, standing apart in a place of greater safety; he inquired who they were, and what they came together to do in that place. Most of them were of the monastery of Bangor, in which, it is said, there was so great a number of monks, that the monastery being divided into seven parts, with a superior set over each, none of those parts contained less than three hundred men, who all lived by the labour of their hands. Many of these, having observed a fast of three days, had come together along with others to pray at the aforesaid battle, having one Brocmail for their protector, to defend them, whilst they were intent upon their prayers, against the swords of the barbarians. King Ethelfrid being informed of the occasion of their coming, said; "If then they cry to their God against us, in truth, though they do not bear arms, yet they fight against us, because they assail us with their curses." He, therefore, commanded them to be attacked first, and then destroyed the rest of the impious army, not without great loss of his own forces. About twelve hundred of those that came to pray are said to have been killed, and only fifty to have escaped by flight. Brocmail, turning his back with his men, at the first approach of the enemy, left those whom he ought to have defended unarmed and exposed to the swords of the assailants."
Bede believed that the "very great slaughter" of Britons, at Chester, was Divine retribution. Earlier, St.Augustine had held a meeting with representatives of the British Church (often called the 'Celtic Church'): "... Augustine, with the help of King Ethelbert [Æthelberht of Kent], drew together to a conference the bishops and doctors of the nearest province of the Britons ... and began by brotherly admonitions to persuade them to preserve Catholic peace with him, and undertake the common labour of preaching the Gospel to the heathen for the Lord's sake. For they did not keep Easter Sunday at the proper time, but from the fourteenth to the twentieth moon; which computation is contained in a cycle of eighty-four years. Besides, they did many other things which were opposed to the unity of the church... He said to them, "Many things ye do which are contrary to our custom, or rather the custom of the universal Church, and yet, if you will comply with me in these three matters, to wit, to keep Easter at the due time; to fulfil the ministry of Baptism, by which we are born again to God, according to the custom of the holy Roman Apostolic Church; and to join with us in preaching the Word of God to the English nation, we will gladly suffer all the other things you do, though contrary to our customs." They answered that they would do none of those things, nor receive him as their archbishop ... Then the man of God, Augustine, is said to have threatened them, that if they would not accept peace with their brethren, they should have war from their enemies; and, if they would not preach the way of life to the English nation, they should suffer at their hands the vengeance of death. All which, through the dispensation of the Divine judgement, fell out exactly as he had predicted."  The date of the battle at Chester is suggested as 613 by the 'Annales Cambriae' and the 'Annals of Ulster' (Bede does not give a date). However, establishing a precise date from the 'Annales Cambriae' is notoriously difficult, and the 'Annals of Ulster' is found to be two or three years early, at least in some of its dating, around this period. Further, the 'Annals of Tigernach' say that Æthelfrith's victory at Chester was immediately prior to his death - which, as will be seen, was in 616. The modern tendency, therefore, is to place the battle at Chester c.616. Incidentally, the 'Annals of Tigernach' mention the death, in the battle, of an otherwise unknown king, Cetula. It seems clear that Powys was the prime target of Æthelfrith's attack (Selyf ap Cynan is called "king of the Britons" by the Irish annals), though the 'Annales Cambriae' raise the possibility that Iago ap Beli, of Gwynedd, was also killed in the fighting. Just how significant the battle was is the subject of debate. It is often represented as the defining moment when the Britons of the North were separated from the Britons of, what would become known as, Wales. On the other hand, Bede attaches no such importance to it. There is always the possibility that it was only the slaughter of the monks of Bangor which ensured the battle at Chester would be remembered when many others were forgotten. The 'Annales Cambriae' indicate that the Welsh eventually adopted the Roman Easter in 768: "Easter is changed among the Britons, Elfoddw, servant of God, emending it."  Elfoddw, whose death is placed in 809 (he is called "archbishop in the Gwynedd region" in his 'Annales Cambriae' obituary), is the Elvodugus, of whom Nennius (purported author of the 'Historia Brittonum') claims to have been a "disciple".
Meanwhile, the fugitive Edwin had found refuge with Rædwald, king of East Anglia. Æthelfrith failed in his attempt to bribe Rædwald into murdering Edwin, and instead, in 616, Rædwald mounted a surprise attack against Æthelfrith. Roger of Wendover tells the story of the ensuing battle, which took place on the east bank of the river Idle: "Ethelfrid [Æthelfrith], fierce and full of rage, and greatly wondering that any one should be so bold as to fight with him, made a desperate but disorderly attack on the enemy, although Reodwald's [Rædwald's] army, skilfully drawn up, inspired the beholders with no small terror. The king of the Northumbrians, however, as if he had found a booty, rushing suddenly into the thickest of the enemy's troops, slew Reiner, the chief of king Reodwald's army, together with all his forces, fiercely consigning them to the infernal regions. Nothing daunted by so great a slaughter, but rather kindled to take revenge, Reodwald bravely pierced Ethelfrid's battalions, and after a terrible slaughter of the foe, slew the proud king; then pursuing the enemy without mercy, he routed and destroyed their entire army. In this battle the valour of Edwin was very praiseworthy, who had been driven from that kingdom, and had found refuge with Reodwald for seventeen years."
616 - 632  Edwin (St.Edwin)
Son of Ælle
Bede: "When Ethelfrid [Æthelfrith], his predecessor, was persecuting him, he [Edwin] wandered for many years as an exile, hiding in divers places and kingdoms ..."  Welsh tradition has it that one of those places was Gwynedd, and he certainly must have spent time in Mercia, since Bede talks of "... Osfrid and Eadfrid, King Edwin's sons who were both born to him, whilst he was in banishment, of Quenburga [Cwenburh], the daughter of Cearl, king of the Mercians."  Edwin eventually found refuge with Rædwald, king of East Anglia, who took up his cause. In 616, Æthelfrith was defeated and killed, and his seven sons were exiled. The 'Historia Brittonum' reports that Edwin: "... seized on Elmete, and expelled Cerdic [Ceretic], its king."
Elmete or Elmet was a British kingdom around the Leeds area. It is remembered in placenames Barwick-in-Elmet and Sherburn-in-Elmet. Bede makes a fleeting reference to one "Hereric, nephew to King Edwin", who had been exiled by Æthelfrith. Bede says that: "Hereric, lived in banishment, under Cerdic, king of the Britons, where he was also poisoned ..."  There is a theory that it was revenge for this killing which provided the immediate reason for Edwin's attack on Elmet.
Edwin became the most powerful ruler in England. Bede says that "... he reduced under his dominion all the parts of Britain that were provinces either of the English, or of the Britons, a thing which no English king had ever done before; and he even subjected to the English the Mevanian islands [Anglesey and the Isle of Man] ..."  The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' says he "... subdued all Britain, except the men of Kent alone ..."  He is the 5th Bretwalda recorded by the 'Chronicle'. Bede believed that his success was a reward for his adoption of Christianity. Edwin's wife must have died since he contacted King Eadbald of Kent and asked to marry his sister, Æthelburh ("otherwise called Tata"). Eadbald agreed to the match after reassurance that Æthelburh and her entourage would be allowed to practice Christianity: "So the maiden was promised, and sent to Edwin, and in accordance with the agreement, Paulinus [St.Paulinus], a man beloved of God, was ordained bishop, to go with her, and by daily exhortations, and celebrating the heavenly Mysteries, to confirm her, and her company, lest they should be corrupted by intercourse with the pagans. Paulinus was ordained bishop by the Archbishop Justus [St.Justus], on the 21st day of July, in the year of our Lord 625, and so came to King Edwin with the aforesaid maiden as an attendant on their union in the flesh. But his mind was wholly bent upon calling the nation to which he was sent to the knowledge of truth ... The next year there came into the province one called Eumer, sent by the king of the West-Saxons, whose name was Cuichelm [Cwichelm], to lie in wait for King Edwin, in hopes at once to deprive him of his kingdom and his life. He had a two-edged dagger, dipped in poison, to the end that, if the wound inflicted by the weapon did not avail to kill the king, it might be aided by the deadly venom. He came to the king on the first day of the Easter festival, at the river Derwent, where there was then a royal township, and being admitted as if to deliver a message from his master, whilst unfolding in cunning words his pretended embassy, he startled up on a sudden, and unsheathing the dagger under his garment, assaulted the king. When Lilla, the king's most devoted servant, saw this, having no buckler at hand to protect the king from death, he at once interposed his own body to receive the blow; but the enemy struck home with such force, that he wounded the king through the body of the slaughtered thegn. Being then attacked on all sides with swords, in the confusion he also slew impiously with his dagger another of the thegns, whose name was Forthhere.  On that same holy Easter night, the queen had brought forth to the king a daughter, called Eanfled. The king, in the presence of Bishop Paulinus, gave thanks to his gods for the birth of his daughter; and the bishop, on his part, began to give thanks to Christ, and to tell the king, that by his prayers to Him he had obtained that the queen should bring forth the child in safety, and without grievous pain. The king, delighted with his words, promised, that if God would grant him life and victory over the king by whom the murderer who had wounded him had been sent, he would renounce his idols, and serve Christ; and as a pledge that he would perform his promise, he delivered up that same daughter to Bishop Paulinus, to be consecrated to Christ. She was the first to be baptized of the nation of the Northumbrians, and she received Baptism on the holy day of Pentecost, along with eleven others of her house. At that time, the king, being recovered of the wound which he had received, raised an army and marched against the nation of the West-Saxons; and engaging in war, either slew or received in surrender all those of whom he learned that they had conspired to murder him. So he returned victorious into his own country, but he would not immediately and unadvisedly embrace the mysteries of the Christian faith, though he no longer worshipped idols, ever since he made the promise that he would serve Christ; but first took heed earnestly to be instructed at leisure by the venerable Paulinus, in the knowledge of faith, and to confer with such as he knew to be the wisest of his chief men, inquiring what they thought was fittest to be done in that case. And being a man of great natural sagacity, he often sat alone by himself a long time in silence, deliberating in the depths of his heart how he should proceed, and to which religion he should adhere... Paulinus perceived that it was a difficult task to incline the king's proud mind to the humility of the way of salvation and the reception of the mystery of the life-giving Cross, and at the same time was employing the word of exhortation with men, and prayer to the Divine Goodness, for the salvation of Edwin and his subjects; at length, as we may suppose, it was shown him in spirit what the nature of the vision was that had been formerly revealed from Heaven to the king."  This was a vision that Edwin had at the time of his exile with Rædwald. Edwin had promised a visiting spirit "... that he would in all things follow the teaching of that man who should deliver him from so many great calamities ..."  Paulinus having received knowledge of the vision "... lost no time, but immediately admonished the king to perform the vow which he had made, when he received the vision, promising to fulfil it, if he should be delivered from the troubles of that time, and advanced to the throne."  And so it was that: "King Edwin, therefore, with all the nobility of the nation, and a large number of the common sort, received the faith, and the washing of holy regeneration, in the eleventh year of his reign, which is the year of our Lord 627 ... He was baptized at York, on the holy day of Easter, being the 12th of April ....
The 'Historia Brittonum' claims that "... Edwin himself received baptism, and twelve thousand of his subjects with him. If any one wishes to know who baptized them, it was Rum Map Urbgen: he was engaged forty days in baptizing all classes of the Saxons, and by his preaching many believed in Christ."  "Rum Map Urbgen" being Rhun, son of King Urien of Rheged.
.... in the church of St.Peter the Apostle, which he himself had built of timber there in haste, whilst he was a catechumen receiving instruction in order to be admitted to baptism. In that city also he bestowed upon his instructor and bishop, Paulinus, his episcopal see. But as soon as he was baptized, he set about building, by the direction of Paulinus, in the same place a larger and nobler church of stone ... Paulinus, for the space of six years from this time, that is, till the end of the king's reign, with his, consent and favour, preached the Word of God in that country ..."
Bede says that Pope Honorius (625-638): "When he learned that the nation of the Northumbrians, with their king, had been, by the preaching of Paulinus, converted to the faith and confession of Christ, he sent the pall to the said Paulinus ..."  The pall, or pallium, is the vestment of an archbishop. Paulinus became the first Archbishop of York.
"Edwin was so zealous for the true worship, that he likewise persuaded Eorpwald, king of the East Angles, and son of Redwald [Rædwald], to abandon his idolatrous superstitions, and with his whole province to receive the faith and mysteries of Christ... It is told that there was then such perfect peace in Britain, wheresoever the dominion of King Edwin extended, that, as is still proverbially said, a woman with her new-born babe might walk throughout the island, from sea to sea, without receiving any harm. That king took such care for the good of his nation, that in several places where he had seen clear springs near the highways, he caused stakes to be fixed, with copper drinking-vessels hanging on them, for the refreshment of travellers; nor durst any man touch them for any other purpose than that for which they were designed, either through the great dread they had of the king, or for the affection which they bore him. His dignity was so great throughout his dominions, that not only were his banners borne before him in battle, but even in time of peace, when he rode about his cities, townships, or provinces, with his thegns, the standard-bearer was always wont to go before him."  Welsh tradition suggests that Edwin treacherously turned on Gwynedd - the country which had sheltered him when he was exiled by Æthelfrith. Edwin is referred to as "the great deceiver" in 'Moliant Cadwallon' (In Praise of Cadwallon), a poem of debatable antiquity, and a 'Welsh Triad' lists Edwin as the third of the: "Three Great Oppressions of Môn, nurtured therein."  Môn [Anglesey] being the island stronghold of Gwynedd, which Bede says was conquered by Edwin. Cadwallon was king of Gwynedd ....
According to Geoffrey of Monmouth's imaginative 'Historia Regum Britanniae' (History of the Kings of Britain, written in the 1130s) Cadwallon and Edwin were "brought up together in a manner suitable to their royal birth" by Cadwallon's father, Cadfan. The two fell out when Cadwallon refused to let Edwin wear a crown.
.... and another triad, 'Three Faithful War-Bands of the Island of Britain', notes: "The War-Band of Cadwallawn [Cadwallon] son of Cadfan, who were with him seven years in Ireland; and in all that time they did not ask him for anything, lest they should be compelled to leave him ..."  So there is the possibility that Cadwallon, due to persecution by Edwin, was forced to flee Gwynedd. The triad, 'Three Fettered War-Bands of the Islands of Britain', mentions: "... the War-Band of Belyn of Llyn [the Llyn Peninsula] when fighting with Edwin at Bryn Edwin in Rhos [north-eastern Gwynedd]."  The 'Annales Cambriae' place Belyn's death in 627, and two years later record: "The besieging of king Cadwallon in the island of Glannauc [Priestholm, off Anglesey]."  It seems that, alone, Cadwallon didn't have the strength to defeat Edwin; a situation he soon rectified, as Bede reports: "Caedwalla [Cadwallon], king of the Britons, rebelled against him, being supported by the vigorous Penda, of the royal race of the Mercians ... A great battle being fought in the plain that is called Haethfelth [Hatfield Chase, near Doncaster], Edwin was killed on the 12th of October, in the year of our Lord 633 [probably 632 by modern reckoning], being then forty-eight years of age, and all his army was either slain or dispersed. In the same war also, Osfrid [Osfrith], one of his sons, a warlike youth, fell before him; Eadfrid [Eadfrith], another of them, compelled by necessity, went over to King Penda, and was by him afterwards slain in the reign of Oswald, contrary to his oath. At this time a great slaughter was made in the Church and nation of the Northumbrians; chiefly because one of the chiefs, by whom it was carried on, was a pagan, and the other a barbarian, more cruel than a pagan; for Penda, with all the nation of the Mercians, was an idolater, and a stranger to the name of Christ; but Caedwalla, though he professed and called himself a Christian, was so barbarous in his disposition and manner of living, that he did not even spare women and innocent children, but with bestial cruelty put all alike to death by torture, and overran all their country in his fury for a long time, intending to cut off all the race of the English within the borders of Britain. Nor did he pay any respect to the Christian religion which had sprung up among them; it being to this day the custom of the Britons to despise the faith and religion of the English, and to have no part with them in anything any more than with pagans. King Edwin's head was brought to York, and afterwards taken into the church of the blessed Peter the Apostle, which he had begun ..."  Æthelburh and St.Paulinus escaped to Kent, where Æthelburh's brother, Eadbald, was still king. Paulinus subsequently became Bishop of Rochester, and died in 644.		 
632 - 633
There followed a year of chaos, as Bede explains: "Edwin being slain in battle, the kingdom of the Deiri, to which province his family belonged, and where he first began to reign, passed to Osric, the son of his uncle Ælfric, who, through the preaching of Paulinus, had also received the mysteries of the faith. But the kingdom of the Bernicians - for into these two provinces the nation of the Northumbrians was formerly divided - passed to Eanfrid [Eanfrith], the son of Ethelfrid [Æthelfrith], who derived his origin from the royal family of that province. For all the time that Edwin reigned, the sons of the aforesaid Ethelfrid, who had reigned before him, with many of the younger nobility, lived in banishment among the Scots or Picts ....
Pictish king lists show the rule, for four years (653-657), of Eanfrith's son, Talorcen.
.... and were there instructed according to the doctrine of the Scots, and were renewed with the grace of Baptism. Upon the death of the king, their enemy, they were allowed to return home, and the aforesaid Eanfrid, as the eldest of them, became king of the Bernicians. Both those kings, as soon as they obtained the government of their earthly kingdoms, abjured and betrayed the mysteries of the heavenly kingdom to which they had been admitted, and again delivered themselves up to defilement and perdition through the abominations of their former idolatry.  But soon after, the king of the Britons, Caedwalla [Cadwallon, king of Gwynedd], the unrighteous instrument of rightful vengeance, slew them both. First, in the following summer, he put Osric to death; for, being rashly besieged by him in the municipal town, he sallied out on a sudden with all his forces, took him by surprise, and destroyed him and all his army. Then, when he had occupied the provinces of the Northumbrians for a whole year, not ruling them like a victorious king, but ravaging them like a furious tyrant, he at length put an end to Eanfrid, in like manner, when he unadvisedly came to him with only twelve chosen soldiers, to sue for peace. To this day, that year is looked upon as ill-omened, and hateful to all good men; as well on account of the apostasy of the English kings, who had renounced the mysteries of the faith, as of the outrageous tyranny of the British king. Hence it has been generally agreed, in reckoning the dates of the kings, to abolish the memory of those faithless monarchs, and to assign that year to the reign of the following king, Oswald, a man beloved of God. This king, after the death of his brother Eanfrid, advanced with an army, small, indeed, in number, but strengthened with the faith of Christ; and the impious commander of the Britons, in spite of his vast forces, which he boasted nothing could withstand, was slain at a place called in the English tongue Denisesburna, that is, the brook of Denis."
633 - 641  Oswald (St.Oswald)
Son of Æthelfrith
In 616, Oswald and his brothers had been expelled from Northumbria by their uncle, Edwin. In 632 (by modern reckoning), an alliance of Britons, lead by Cadwallon of Gwynedd, and the Mercians of King Penda defeated and killed Edwin. Edwin was succeeded in Bernicia by Eanfrith (Oswald's older brother), and in Deira by Osric. Both of these rulers, who had renounced Christianity on their accession, were killed by Cadwallon, who spent a year ravaging Northumbria. Oswald stepped into the shoes of the dead kings, and prepared to meet Cadwallon in battle. St.Adomnán (d.704), in his biography of St.Columba, writes: "... King Oswald, after pitching his camp, in readiness for the battle, was sleeping one day on a pillow in his tent, he saw St.Columba in a vision, beaming with angelic brightness, and of figure so majestic that his head seemed to touch the clouds. The blessed man having announced his name to the king, stood in the midst of the camp, and covered it all with his brilliant garment, except at one small distant point; and at the same time he uttered those cheering words which the Lord spake to Jesua Ben Nun before the passage of the Jordan, after Moses' death, saying, "Be strong and of a good courage; behold, I shall be with thee," etc. Then St.Columba having said these words to the king in the vision, added, "March out this following night from your camp to battle, for on this occasion the Lord has granted to me that your foes shall be put to flight, that your enemy Catlon [Cadwallon] shall be delivered into your hands, and that after the battle you shall return in triumph, and have a happy reign." The king, awaking at these words, assembled his council and related the vision, at which they were all encouraged; and so the whole people promised that, after their return from the war, they would believe and be baptized, for up to that time all that Saxon land had been wrapt in the darkness of paganism and ignorance, with the exception of King Oswald and the twelve men who had been baptized with him during his exile among the Scots. What more need I say? On the very next night, King Oswald, as he had been directed in the vision, went forth from his camp to battle, and had a much smaller army than the numerous hosts opposed to him, yet he obtained from the Lord, according to His promise, an easy and decisive victory ..."
Adomnán, who was the ninth Abbot of Iona, adds: "I, Adamnan [Adomnán], had this narrative from the lips of my predecessor, the Abbot Failbe, who solemnly declared that he had himself heard King Oswald relating this same vision to Segine [Ségéne] the abbot."
Oswald's victory was not so easy according to the 'Historia Brittonum', which says: "Oswald son of Ethelfrid [Æthelfrith], reigned nine years ....
Bede: "Oswald, the most Christian king of the Northumbrians, reigned nine years, including that year which was held accursed for the barbarous cruelty of the king of the Britons and the reckless apostasy of the English kings; for, as was said above, it is agreed by the unanimous consent of all, that the names and memory of the apostates should be erased from the catalogue of the Christian kings, and no year assigned to their reign."
.... the same is Oswald Llauiguin ['Bright Blade']; he slew Catgublaun [Cadwallon], king of Guenedot [Gwynedd], in the battle of Catscaul, with much loss to his own army."  Be that as it may, Bede adds "The place is shown to this day, and held in much veneration, where Oswald, being about to engage in this battle, erected the symbol of the Holy Cross, and knelt down and prayed to God that he would send help from Heaven to his worshippers in their sore need. Then, we are told, that the cross being made in haste, and the hole dug in which it was to be set up, the king himself, in the ardour of his faith, laid hold of it and held it upright with both his hands, till the earth was heaped up by the soldiers and it was fixed. Thereupon, uplifting his voice, he cried to his whole army, "Let us all kneel, and together beseech the true and living God Almighty in His mercy to defend us from the proud and cruel enemy; for He knows that we have undertaken a just war for the safety of our nation." All did as he had commanded, and accordingly advancing towards the enemy with the first dawn of day, they obtained the victory, as their faith deserved. In the place where they prayed very many miracles of healing are known to have been wrought, as a token and memorial of the king's faith; for even to this day, many are wont to cut off small splinters from the wood of the holy cross, and put them into water, which they give to sick men or cattle to drink, or they sprinkle them therewith, and these are presently restored to health.  The place is called in the English tongue Hefenfelth, or the Heavenly Field, which name it undoubtedly received of old as a presage of what was afterwards to happen, denoting, that the heavenly trophy was to be erected, the heavenly victory begun, and heavenly miracles shown forth to this day. The place is near the wall in the north which the Romans formerly drew across the whole of Britain from sea to sea, to restrain the onslaught of the barbarous nations ... they have lately built a church there, which has attached additional sanctity and honour in the eyes of all men to that place; and this with good reason; for it appears that there was no symbol of the Christian faith, no church, no altar erected throughout all the nation of the Bernicians, before that new leader in war, prompted by the zeal of his faith, set up this standard of the Cross as he was going to give battle to his barbarous enemy."  Oswald requested that the Scots send a bishop to spread Christianity through Northumbria. The bishop was duly sent, but "... after preaching for some time to the English and meeting with no success, not being gladly heard by the people, returned home, and in an assembly of the elders reported, that he had not been able to do any good by his teaching to the nation to whom he had been sent, because they were intractable men, and of a stubborn and barbarous disposition."  The elders held a council, to decide on a course of action. Having impressed the council by his reasoning, Aidan (St.Aidan) was ordained and despatched to Northumbria: "On the arrival of the bishop [in 635], the king appointed him his episcopal see in the island of Lindisfarne, as he desired. Which place, as the tide ebbs and flows, is twice a day enclosed by the waves of the sea like an island; and again, twice, when the beach is left dry, becomes contiguous with the land. The king also humbly and willingly in all things giving ear to his admonitions, industriously applied himself to build up and extend the Church of Christ in his kingdom; wherein, when the bishop, who was not perfectly skilled in the English tongue, preached the Gospel, it was a fair sight to see the king himself interpreting the Word of God to his ealdormen and thegns, for he had thoroughly learned the language of the Scots during his long banishment. From that time many came daily into Britain from the country of the Scots, and with great devotion preached the Word to those provinces of the English, over which King Oswald reigned, and those among them that had received priest's orders administered the grace of Baptism to the believers. Churches were built in divers places; the people joyfully flocked together to hear the Word; lands and other property were given of the king's bounty to found monasteries; English children, as well as their elders, were instructed by their Scottish teachers in study and the observance of monastic discipline. For most of those who came to preach were monks. Bishop Aidan was himself a monk, having been sent out from the island called Hii [Iona] whereof the monastery was for a long time the chief of almost all those of the northern Scots, and all those of the Picts, and had the direction of their people."  Also in 635, Oswald stood as the godfather of Cynegils of Wessex, and married Cynegils' daughter. Northumbria continued its northwards expansion. Irish annals record the besieging of Edinburgh, in 638, which is thought to mark the end of the British kingdom of Gododdin. Bede says that Oswald: "... brought under his dominion all the nations and provinces of Britain, which are divided into four languages, to wit, those of the Britons, the Picts, the Scots, and the English. Though raised to that height of regal power, wonderful to relate, he was always humble, kind, and generous to the poor and to strangers."  Oswald is listed as the 6th Bretwalda by the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'. However, in 641 (by modern reckoning), Bede reports that "... Oswald was killed in a great battle, by the same pagan nation and pagan king of the Mercians [Penda], who had slain his predecessor Edwin, at a place called in the English tongue Maserfelth [traditionally identified with Oswestry], in the thirty-eighth year of his age, on the fifth day of the month of August... it came to pass that many took up the very dust of the place where his body fell, and putting it into water, brought much relief with it to their friends who were sick. This custom came so much into use, that the earth being carried away by degrees, a hole was made as deep as the height of a man. Nor is it surprising that the sick should be healed in the place where he died; for, whilst he lived, he never ceased to provide for the poor and the sick, and to bestow alms on them, and assist them... the king who slew him commanded his head, and hands, with the arms, to be cut off from the body, and set upon stakes. But his successor in the throne, Oswy [Oswiu], coming thither the next year with his army, took them down, and buried his head in the cemetery of the church of Lindisfarne, and the hands and arms in his royal city [Bamburgh]."
641 - 670  Oswiu
Son of Æthelfrith
King of Deira
644 - 651  Oswine (St.Oswine)
Son of Osric
The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' for 644: "This year the son of Oswy's [Oswiu's] uncle, the son of Osric, assumed the government of Deira, and reigned seven winters."  Bede speaks highly of Oswine: "... a man of wonderful piety and devotion, who governed the province of the Deiri seven years in very great prosperity, and was himself beloved by all men."  All men, that is, except Oswiu, who "... could not live at peace with him ..."  Eventually "... when each had raised an army against the other, Oswin [Oswine] perceived that he could not maintain a war against his enemy who had more auxiliaries than himself, and he thought it better at that time to lay aside all thoughts of engaging, and to reserve himself for better times. He therefore disbanded the army which he had assembled, and ordered all his men to return to their own homes ... He himself, with only one trusty thegn, whose name was Tondhere, withdrew and lay concealed in the house of Hunwald, a noble, whom he imagined to be his most assured friend. But, alas! it was far otherwise; for Hunwald betrayed him, and Oswy, by the hands of his reeve, Ethilwin, foully slew him and the thegn aforesaid. This happened on the 20th of August, in the ninth year of his reign, at a place called Ingetlingum [Gilling], where afterwards, to atone for this crime, a monastery was built, wherein prayers should be daily offered up to God for the redemption of the souls of both kings, to wit, of him that was murdered, and of him that commanded the murder....
Elsewhere, Bede says that it was Oswiu's wife, Eanflæd, who begged him to allow one Trumhere, a relative of Oswine, to build the monastery. Eanflæd was also, of course, relative of Oswine.
The term 'gerefa' (reeve) applies to a whole raft of administrative officials. In the course of time, there arose the position of 'scir gerefa' (shire reeve), which evolved into 'sheriff'.
.... King Oswin was of a goodly countenance, and tall of stature, pleasant in discourse, and courteous in behaviour; and bountiful to all, gentle and simple alike; so that he was beloved by all men for the royal dignity of his mind and appearance and actions, and men of the highest rank came from almost all provinces to serve him. Among all the graces of virtue and moderation by which he was distinguished and, if I may say so, blessed in a special manner, humility is said to have been the greatest ..."
Bede adds that St.Aidan, Bishop of Lindisfarne "... was also taken out of this world, not more than twelve days after the death of the king he loved, on the 31st of August ... he had been bishop sixteen years ..."
651 - 654?  Œthelwald
Son of Oswald
St.Cedd, at the request of Œthelwald, founded the monastery of Lastingham, in Yorkshire. It was during a visit to the monastery that, in 664, Cedd died.
Cedd died of a plague, which Bede says "... depopulated first the southern parts of Britain, and afterwards attacking the province of the Northumbrians, ravaged the country far and near, and destroyed a great multitude of men..."
Despite his kinship with Oswiu, it seems likely that Œthelwald ruled with the backing of Penda. Certainly, Bede says that he "was on the enemy's side" at the battle of the river Winwæd, and it must be presumed that his reign ended with Penda's defeat and death at that battle.
Sub-King of Deira
654? - 664?  Alhfrith
Son of Oswiu
Alhfrith had married Penda's daughter, Cyneburh, prior to 653.  He fought alongside his father at the battle of the river Winwæd (15th November 654), where Penda was killed, and it seems reasonable to assume that Alhfrith became under-king of Deira at this time.  After spending three years in Lyons, St.Wilfrid returned to Northumbria in about 658. Eddius Stephanus, Wilfrid's biographer, says that: "Alhfrith, who was reigning alongside his father Oswiu, got wind of Wilfrid's arrival, and hearing that he was an adherent of the true Easter rule and an expert in the discipline of the Church of St.Peter (to which the king himself was greatly devoted), on the advice of his faithful friend Coenwalh [Cenwalh], king of the West Saxons, he ordered him to appear before him."  Alhfrith appears to have fallen under Wilfrid's spell; Eddius says "... their souls intertwined in the most wonderful way, just as we read of David's soul being knit to Jonathan's."  Following the Synod of Whitby (663/4), at which Wilfrid was spokesman of the Roman Catholic delegation, he was sent to Gaul, by Alhfrith, to be ordained as Bishop of York. In his 'Historia Abbatum' (Lives of the Abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow), Bede notes that (in a context which suggests a date around 664-5) Alhfrith was about to set out on a pilgrimage to Rome, in the company of St.Benedict Biscop (who later founded the monasteries of Wearmouth and Jarrow), but was prevented from doing so by Oswiu (Benedict carried on alone). Alhfrith's death is not recorded, but when St.Wilfrid returned to Northumbria, c.666, no mention is made of him.
In his 'Ecclesiastical History', Bede makes the comment that, during his reign, Oswiu suffered "much trouble, being attacked by the pagan nation of the Mercians, that had slain his brother, as also by his son Alchfrid [Alhfrith], and by his nephew Oidilwald (Œthelwald)". His meaning is obvious regarding the Mercians and Œthelwald, but his reference to Alhfrith remains rather obscure. One suggestion is that Alhfrith rebelled against Oswiu, and was elevated to under-king as a conciliatory gesture. Another ('The Earliest English Kings' by D.P. Kirby) is that Alhfrith rebelled against Oswiu whilst Wilfrid was in Gaul being ordained, and that it was this rebellion which delayed Wilfrid's return. Further, the theory says that Alhfrith was replaced by another of Oswiu's sons, Ecgfrith, as sub-king of Diera. When Ecgfrith succeeded Oswiu (670), he, in turn, elevated his brother, Ælfwine, to the position.
Bede: "Oswald being translated to the heavenly kingdom, his brother Oswy [Oswiu], a young man of about thirty years of age, succeeded him on the throne of his earthly kingdom, and held it twenty-eight years with much trouble, being attacked by the pagan nation of the Mercians, that had slain his brother, as also by his son Alchfrid [Alhfrith], and by his nephew Oidilwald [Œthelwald], the son of his brother who reigned before him... Oswy, during the first part of his reign, had a partner in the royal dignity called Oswin [Oswine], of the race of King Edwin, and son to Osric of whom we have spoken above ..."  Oswine ruled in Deira. There was a long history of animosity between the families of Oswiu and Oswine. Oswiu's father, Æthelfrith, had persecuted Edwin. Edwin, with the help of Rædwald of East Anglia, had overthrown Æthelfrith (616), and Oswiu, and his brothers, were forced into exile with the Scots. In a measure presumably designed to heal this rift, Oswiu married Eanflæd, the daughter of Edwin.
The 'Historia Brittonum' says that Oswiu's first wife was Riemmelth. Riemmelth was the great-granddaughter of Urien, famous king of North Rheged, the British kingdom whose heartland had been modern Cumbria. This marriage may well have been designed to ease the transition from British rule to Anglo-Saxon.
Following Edwin's death (632/3), Eanflæd had escaped to Kent with her mother, Æthelburh, who was the sister of Eadbald, king of Kent.
It is clear, however, that there was no love lost between Oswiu and Oswine "... and at last, when the causes of their disagreement increased, he [Oswiu] murdered him [Oswine] most cruelly [in 651]."  Oswine was succeeded by Œthelwald, the son of Oswiu's brother, Oswald. Meanwhile "... the hostile army of the Mercians, under the command of Penda, cruelly ravaged the country of the Northumbrians far and near, even to the royal city [Bamburgh] ..."  In 653, Peada, Penda's son, approached Oswiu with a suggestion that he might marry Alhflæd, Oswiu's daughter "... but he could not obtain his desire unless he would receive the faith of Christ, and be baptized, with the nation which he governed....
At this time, Peada ruled "... the Middle Angles, that is, the Angles of the Midland country ..." for his father.
.... When he heard the preaching of the truth, the promise of the heavenly kingdom, and the hope of resurrection and future immortality, he declared that he would willingly become a Christian, even though he should not obtain the maiden; being chiefly prevailed on to receive the faith by King Oswy's son Alchfrid [Alhfrith], who was his brother-in-law and friend, for he had married his sister Cyneburg [Cyneburh], the daughter of King Penda."  Accordingly, Peada and his retinue were baptised, and he returned home with four priests "... who by reason of their learning and good life were deemed proper to instruct and baptize his nation ..."  Sigeberht of Essex, who was "... a friend to King Oswy ..." was also persuaded to become a Christian. He and his retinue were baptised in the same township that Peada had been "... which is called At the Wall, because it is close by the wall which the Romans formerly drew across the island of Britain, at the distance of twelve miles from the eastern sea."
One of the four priests who accompanied Peada to the Middle-Angles was St.Cedd. After his baptism, Sigeberht asked Oswiu to send some missionaries to Essex. Cedd was given a companion, and transferred from the Middle-Angles. On a subsequent visit to Lindisfarne, Cedd was ordained "... bishop of the nation of the East Saxons ..."
"At this time, King Oswy was exposed to the cruel and intolerable invasions of Penda, king of the Mercians ... at length, compelled by his necessity, he promised to give him countless gifts and royal marks of honour greater than can be believed, to purchase peace; provided that he would return home, and cease to waste and utterly destroy the provinces of his kingdom....
According to the extremely confused account in the 'Historia Brittonum', Oswiu was at a stronghold called Iudeu (identified with Stirling) when he gave "... all the wealth, which was with him in the city, to Penda; who distributed it among the kings of the Britons ..." (who had accompanied him on the expedition).
.... The pagan king refused to grant his request, for he had resolved to blot out and extirpate all his nation, from the highest to the lowest; whereupon King Oswy had recourse to the protection of the Divine pity for deliverance from his barbarous and pitiless foe, and binding himself by a vow, said, "If the pagan will not accept our gifts, let us offer them to Him that will, the Lord our God." He then vowed, that if he should win the victory, he would dedicate his daughter to the Lord in holy virginity, and give twelve pieces of land whereon to build monasteries. After this he gave battle with a very small army: indeed, it is reported that the pagans had thirty times the number of men; for they had thirty legions, drawn up under most noted commanders. King Oswy and his son Alchfrid [Alhfrith] met them with a very small army, as has been said, but trusting in Christ as their Leader; his other son, Egfrid [Ecgfrith] was then kept as a hostage at the court of Queen Cynwise [Cynewise], in the province of the Mercians. King Oswald's son Oidilwald [Œthelwald], who ought to have supported them, was on the enemy's side, and led them on to fight against his country and his uncle; though, during the battle, he withdrew, and awaited the event in a place of safety. The engagement began, the pagans were put to flight or killed, the thirty royal commanders, who had come to Penda's assistance, were almost all of them slain; among whom was Ethelhere, [Æthelhere of East Anglia] ... The battle was fought near the river Winwæd, which then, owing to the great rains, was in flood, and had overflowed its banks, so that many more were drowned in the flight than destroyed in battle by the sword... King Oswy concluded this war in the district of Loidis [Leeds] ..."
The 'Historia Brittonum' says that all the British kings who had fought alongside Penda (the 'Historia' calls the battle site "Gai Campi") were slain. One of them, Cadafael of Gwynedd, however "... rising up in the night, escaped together with his army ..."  Cadafael earned the epithet 'Battle Shirker'.
Bede records the battle's date as 15th of November 655 (probably 654 by modern reckoning). Oswiu's victory was "... to the great benefit of both nations; for he delivered his own people from the hostile depredations of the pagans, and, having made an end of their heathen chief, converted the Mercians and the adjacent provinces to the grace of the Christian faith... King Oswy governed the Mercians, as also the people of the other southern provinces, three years after he had slain King Penda; and he likewise subdued the greater part of the Picts to the dominion of the English."  Initially, Oswiu allowed Peada to govern Southern Mercia, but he was assassinated after just a few months. At this time, Oswiu was at the height of his power and is the 7th Bretwalda listed by the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'. However, three years after Penda's death (i.e. probably in 657), the Mercians rebelled against Oswiu's rule and installed Peada's brother, Wulfhere, on the Mercian throne.  There were, in fact, two Christian doctrines prevalent in Britain at this time. There was the indigenous, so called, 'Celtic Church', as exemplified by St.Aidan and the monks of Iona, and there was the Roman Catholic Church introduced by St.Augustine. When Eanflæd had returned to Northumbria from Kent, she, and her entourage, had continued to follow Catholic practices, whilst Oswiu and his courtiers followed the teachings of Aidan and his successors at Lindisfarne. Since the major difference between the doctrines concerned the calculation of Easter, this had sometimes resulted in the Northumbrian court having two Easters in one year. Bede: "Now Oswy, having been instructed and baptized by the Scots, and being very perfectly skilled in their language, thought nothing better than what they taught; but Alchfrid, having for his teacher in Christianity the learned Wilfrid, who had formerly gone to Rome to study ecclesiastical doctrine, and spent much time at Lyons with Dalfinus, archbishop of Gaul, from whom also he had received the crown of ecclesiastical tonsure, rightly thought that this man's doctrine ought to be preferred before all the traditions of the Scots."  The Synod of Whitby (in 664 according to Bede, but possibly the end of September/beginning of October 663) was convened to resolve the problem. It concluded that the Catholic doctrine was the correct one to follow. Those clergy who would not adapt, including the incumbent Bishop of Lindisfarne, returned to the Scots. St.Cedd was amongst those who converted to the Roman doctrine (he died in 664). His brother, Ceadda (St.Chad), was made Bishop of York whilst Wilfrid, who had been nominated for the position, dallied in Gaul. Deusdedit, the Archbishop of Canterbury, had died ....
Bede makes contradictory references regarding the date of Deusdedit's death. Some scholars believe that, by modern reckoning, he died on 28th October 663. It is from this conclusion that the Synod of Whitby is placed in late September or early October 663.
.... and, in 667, Oswiu, in consultation with Ecgberht of Kent, decided to send a priest, called Wighard, to Rome to be ordained as Deusdedit's replacement. He in turn would then ordain more bishops to spread the Roman version of Christianity throughout England. Unfortunately, Wighard died in an epidemic not long after arriving in Rome. The Pope ordained Theodore, a monk from Tarsus (in modern Turkey) to fill the vacancy (he did not arrive in Canterbury until 669). In 670 "... Oswy, king of the Northumbrians, fell sick, and died, in the fifty-eighth year of his age. He at that time bore so great affection to the Roman Apostolic usages, that he had designed, if he recovered from his sickness, to go to Rome, and there to end his days at the holy places, having asked Bishop Wilfrid [now Bishop of York], with a promise of no small gift of money, to conduct him on his journey. He died on the 15th of February, leaving his son Egfrid [Ecgfrith] his successor."  Oswiu's widow, Eanflæd (St.Eanfleda), entered the monastery at Whitby.
670 - 685  Ecgfrith
Son of Oswiu
In 660, Ecgfrith had married Æthelthryth, daughter of King Anna of East Anglia. Bede asserts that: "Though she lived with him twelve years, yet she preserved the glory of perfect virginity, as I was informed by Bishop Wilfrid, of blessed memory, of whom I inquired, because some questioned the truth thereof; and he told me that he was an undoubted witness to her virginity, forasmuch as Egfrid [Ecgfrith] promised to give him many lands and much money if he could persuade the queen to consent to fulfil her marriage duty, for he knew the queen loved no man more than himself."  Æthelthryth eventually persuaded Ecgfrith to allow her to become a nun, and she "... received the veil of the religious habit from the hands of the aforesaid Bishop Wilfrid ..."  A year later Æthelthryth (St.Etheldreda or St.Audrey) became founding abbess of Ely. This episode appears to mark the beginning of Ecgfrith's antipathy for Wilfrid. Wilfrid's biographer, Eddius Stephanus (writing between 710 and 720), says that: "While he [Ecgfrith] was on good terms with the bishop, as many will tell you, he enlarged his kingdom by many victories; but when they quarrelled and the queen separated from him to give herself to God, the king's triumphs ceased ... In the early years of his reign, while the kingdom was still weak, the vicious tribes of the Picts fiercely resented their being subject to the Saxons; indeed they began to stir up revolt. Swarms of them gathered from every cranny of the north, like ants in summer sweeping up an earthwork to prevent their home from ruin. When the news reached Ecgfrith he quickly mustered a troop of cavalry and putting his trust in God, like Judas Maccabeus, set off with Beornhæth, his trusty sub-king, and the little band of God's people against a vast army hidden in the hills. Ecgfrith was quite gentle with his people and merciful to his enemies, but quick in battle, impatient of delay. Host upon host of the enemy fell before him. He filled two rivers with the slain and his men crossed dry-shod over the corpses to slay the fugitives. Thus the Picts were reduced to slavery, a condition in which they remained until Ecgfrith himself was slain.  After this Ecgfrith ruled his people with God's bishop in justice and holiness... King Wulfhere of Mercia, a man of proud mind and insatiable will, stirred up all the southern nations against our own. Intent not merely on war but meaning even to enslave us to him as tributaries. His designs were not inspired by God. So Ecgfrith, king of Bernicia and Deira, a man of unwavering purpose, took the advice of his counsellors, followed the injunctions of his bishop, put his trust in God and marched forth against the enemy host, in defence of Church and fatherland, with as few troops as had Barak and Deborah. With God's help he laid them low. Countless numbers were slaughtered, their king routed, and the Kingdom of Mercia itself put under tribute. Later [in 675] Wulfhere died (I do not know the exact cause) and Ecgfrith ruled a wider realm in peace."  Bede says that, in 678 "... dissension broke out between King Egfrid and the most reverend prelate, Wilfrid, who was driven from his see, and two bishops substituted for him, to preside over the nation of the Northumbrians, namely, Bosa, to govern the province of the Deiri; and Eata that of the Bernicians; the former having his episcopal see in the city of York, the latter either in the church of Hagustald [Hexham], or of Lindisfarne; both of them promoted to the episcopal dignity from a community of monks. With them also Eadhaed was ordained bishop for the province of Lindsey, which King Egfrid had but newly acquired, having defeated Wulfhere and put him to flight; and this was the first bishop of its own which that province had ..."
Lindsey, once an independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom, had become a dependency of Mercia. Occupying much of modern Lincolnshire, its borders are fairly precisely known: the river Humber to the north; the sea to the east; the Foss Dyke and river Witham to the south; in the west, the river Trent, but including the Isle of Axholme to the west of the Trent.
Sub-King of Deira
67 . - 679  Ælfwine
Son of Oswiu
At the dedication of the church St.Wilfrid had built at Ripon, Eddius Stephanus refers to the presence of: "Those most devout and Christian kings, Ecgfrith and Ælwine [Ælfwine], the kings beneath them, the abbots and sheriffs, and all kinds of dignitaries besides ..."  Bede reports that, in 679, in battle against the Mercians "... Aelfwine, brother to King Egfrid [Ecgfrith], was slain, a youth about eighteen years of age, and much beloved by both provinces; for King Ethelred [Æthelred] had married his sister Osthryth."  Eddius Stephanus says "... the corpse of King Ælfwini [Ælfwine] was carried into York, at the sight of which the whole population wept and tore their hair for grief and rent their garments."
Before long, however, Wulfhere's successor, Æthelred, won Lindsey back: "In the ninth year of the reign of King Egfrid [679], a great battle was fought between him and Ethelred [Æthelred], king of the Mercians, near the river Trent ..."  During the battle, Ecgfrith's young brother, King Ælfwine, was killed. Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, in order to prevent a protracted war between Mercia and Northumbria, came forward to act as conciliator and arranged for Æthelred to pay compensation to Ecgfrith "... and this peace continued long after between those kings and between their kingdoms."  In 680, St.Wilfrid returned from Rome with papers from the pope which decreed his reinstatement. Instead of reinstatement, however, he was at first imprisoned, and then exiled.  In 684, Ecgfrith sent an army (under the command of one Berht) into Ireland, and, to Bede's indignation: "... miserably laid waste that unoffending nation, which had always been most friendly to the English; insomuch that the invading force spared not even the churches or monasteries....
Irish annals report that: "The Saxons lay waste Mag Breg, and many churches, in the month of June."
.... But the islanders, while to the utmost of their power they repelled force with force, implored the assistance of the Divine mercy, and with constant imprecations invoked the vengeance of Heaven ..."  Bede attributes the disaster which overcame Ecgfrith in 685 to that vengeance: "... those who were justly cursed on account of their impiety, soon suffered the penalty of their guilt at the avenging hand of God."  By this time, it seems that the Northumbrian Angles had advanced beyond the Forth, and were settling in Pictish territory. Ecgfrith "... rashly led his army to ravage the province of the Picts, greatly against the advice of his friends, and particularly of Cuthbert [St.Cuthbert], of blessed memory, who had been lately ordained bishop ....
Cuthbert was ordained bishop on Easter-day (26th March) 685. He died on 20th March 687, and was buried on Lindisfarne.
.... the enemy made a feigned retreat, and the king [i.e. Ecgfrith] was drawn into a narrow pass among remote mountains, and slain, with the greater part of the forces he had led thither, on the 20th of May, in the fortieth year of his age, and the fifteenth of his reign."  The Pictish king responsible for Ecgfrith's defeat and death was Brude (son of Bile), and the site of the battle was Dunnichen (apparently known to the English as Nechtansmere), near Forfar.
In the 'Historia Ecclesiae Dunelmensis' (History of the Church of Durham), Symeon of Durham notes: "His [Ecgfrith's] body was buried in Iona, the island of Columba."
Bede states: "From that time the hopes and strength of the Anglian kingdom began to ebb and fall away for the Picts recovered their own lands, which had been held by the English; and the Scots that were in Britain, and some of the Britons, regained their liberty, which they have now enjoyed for about forty-six years. Among the many English that then either fell by the sword, or were made slaves, or escaped by flight out of the country of the Picts, the most reverend man of God, Trumwine, who had been made bishop over them, withdrew with his people that were in the monastery of Aebbercurnig [Abercorn], in the country of the English, but close by the arm of the sea which is the boundary between the lands of the English and the Picts."
 Mainline 
685 - 704  Aldfrith
Illegitimate son of Oswiu
It seems that Aldfrith was a souvenir of his father's exile amongst the Scots. His mother appears to have been an Irish princess, and he was called, in Irish, 'Flann Fína'. Various literary works in Old Irish, notably the 'Bríathra Flainn Fhína maic Ossu' (Sayings of Flann Fína son of Ossu), are attributed to him. Bede, in his 'Life of St.Cuthbert' (Bede actually wrote two 'Lives' - the earliest in verse, and this later prose version), tells how St.Ælfflæd (Abbess of Whitby and sister of Ecgfrith) sought the advice of St.Cuthbert: "... she with feminine boldness adjured him by the majesty of the Holy One, that he would tell her who would be the heir to the kingdom, seeing that Egfrid [Ecgfrith] had neither sons nor brothers. After a short silence, he said, "Do not say that he is without heirs, for he shall have a successor, whom you shall embrace like Egfrid himself with the affection of a sister. "But," said she, "I beseech you to tell me where he may be found." He answered, "You behold this great and spacious sea, how it aboundeth in islands. It is easy for God out of some of these to provide a person to reign over England." She therefore understood him to speak of Alfrid [Aldfrith], who was said to be the son of her father, and was then, on account of his love of literature, exiled to the Scottish islands... And that his prophecies might be fulfilled in all things, Egfrid was killed the year afterwards in battle with the Picts, and was succeeded on the throne by his illegitimate brother Alfrid, who, a few years before, had devoted himself to literature in Scotland, suffering a voluntary exile, to gratify his love of science."  Returning to the familiar 'Ecclesiastical History', Bede says that Aldfrith was: "... a man most learned in the Scriptures, said to be brother to Egfrid, and son to King Oswy [Oswiu]; he nobly retrieved the ruined state of the kingdom, though within narrower bounds."
In 684, Aldfrith's predecessor, Ecgfrith, had mounted a campaign in Ireland. The 'Annals of Ulster' report that, in 687, St.Adomnán, Abbot of Iona (and biographer of St.Columba) "... brought back sixty former captives to Ireland."  In his biography of St.Columba, Adomnán, himself, mentions two visits to Northumbria: "... I often return my most grateful thanks to God for having, through the intercession of our holy patron, preserved me and those in our islands from the ravages of the pestilence; and that in Saxonia also, when I went to visit my friend King Aldfrid [Aldfrith], where the plague was raging and laying waste many of his villages, yet both in its first attack, immediately after the war of Ecfridus [Ecgfrith], and in its second, two years subsequently, the Lord mercifully saved me from danger, though I was living and moving about in the very midst of the plague. The Divine mercy was also extended to my companions, not one of whom died of the plague, or was attacked with any other disease."  Bede writes that Adomnán "... was sent by his nation on a mission to Aldfrid, king of the English ... This same man wrote a book concerning the holy places ... Adomnán presented this book to King Aldfrid, and through his bounty it came to be read by lesser persons. The writer thereof was also rewarded by him with many gifts and sent back into his country."  During his stay in Northumbria, Adomnán was persuaded that the Roman Catholic doctrine was the correct one. He, in turn, tried to persuade his fellow monks on Iona, but without success. He died in 704. Roman Catholicism was eventually adopted on Iona due to the persuasions of Ecgberht (St.Egbert), an Anglo-Saxon priest who had been based in Ireland, but who moved to Iona in 716. Ecgberht died, aged ninety, in 729. Incidentally, Bede says that Ecgfrith had acted against Ecgberht's advice when he attacked the Irish, "who were doing him no harm", in 684.
In the second year of his reign, Aldfrith recalled the exiled St.Wilfrid; only to expel him again after five years.  With no further comment, Bede notes that: "In the year 698, Berctred [Berhtred], an ealdorman of the king of the Northumbrians, was slain by the Picts."
Irish annals identify Berhtred as the son of Beornhæth - "trusty sub-king" (Eddius Stephanus) of Aldfrith's predecessor, Ecgfrith. Berhtred is probably also to be identified with the military commander, Berht, who Ecgfrith despatched to Ireland.
Aldfrith was married to Cuthburh, sister of Ine of Wessex, but, as Florence of Worcester says: "... both renounced connubial intercourse for the love of God."  Cuthburh (St.Cuthburga) became founding abbess of Wimborne, Dorset. Eddius Stephanus, says that Aldfrith had, on his deathbed, decided to heal the rift with St.Wilfrid: "But the king's illness gained the upper hand; he lay speechless for five days, then died."  Bede: "In the year of our Lord 705, Aldfrid [Aldfrith], king of the Northumbrians, died before the end of the twentieth year of his reign."  The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' for 705: "This year died Ealdferth [Aldfrith], king of the Northumbrians, on the nineteenth day before the calends of January [14th December], at Driffield ..."  Assuming the date of Aldfrith's death is correct, the year would, by modern reckoning, be 704. The chronicles, including Bede, say that he was succeeded by his son, Osred. Eddius Stephanus, however, reveals that this wasn't quite the case.
704 - 705  Eadwulf
Eddius Stephanus, biographer of St.Wilfrid, says that, when Aldfrith died: "Eadwulf succeeded him for a short while. Our holy bishop, who was at Ripon with Eadwulf's son, sent messengers to him as a friend - only to be answered with extreme harshness, for the deep rooted malice of Eadwulf's counsellors had turned him against Wilfrid. This was the reply: "I swear on my life that if you are not out of my kingdom within six days, you and any of your companions I can find shall perish." Shortly afterwards a conspiracy was hatched against the king and he was driven out after a mere two months, reign. The boy Osred, Aldfrith's son, took his place and became our bishop's adopted son."
705 - 716  Osred I
Son of Aldfrith
Osred was about eight years old when he came to the throne. In the first year of his reign, a synod was held, according to Eddius Stephanus, "on the east bank of the Nidd", to resolve the dispute with St.Wilfrid. Eddius reports that: "The parley ended with the decision, in which they [the bishops] were joined by king and counsellors, to make an unconditional peace pact with Wilfrid. He got back the two best monasteries, Ripon and Hexham, with all their revenues."   Wilfrid died in 709.  In view of Osred's age, the reins of power appear, initially at least, to have been held by Ealdorman Berhtfrith, who Eddius refers to as being "second in rank only to the king". The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' records, against the year 710, that Berhtfrith "... fought with the Picts between Hæfe [river Avon] and Cære [river Carron]."  Bede places the event in 711, as do the 'Annals of Ulster', which leave no doubt who were the victors: "A slaughter of the Picts by the Saxons in Mag Manonn ..."
The rivers Avon and Carron join the Forth, on its south bank, about twenty miles west of Edinburgh - the area formerly known as Manau Gododdin. This may have been a battle of some significance, effectively preventing southward expansion by the Picts.
Bede notes that, in 716, Osred "was slain", the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' adds that he "was slain near the southern borders" (Michael Swanton, in his 1996 translation, says "south of the border", and since the comment is in Manuscript E, the 'Peterborough Manuscript', the border may be that with Mercia). William of Malmesbury (d.c.1143), in his 'Gesta Regum Anglorum' (Deeds of the English Kings), writes that Osred, after "... disgracing the throne for eleven years, and spending an ignominious life in the seducing of nuns, was ultimately taken off by the hostility of his relations."  This damning summary of Osred's reign is derived from a letter, written in 746 or 7, by St.Boniface (an archbishop in Germany - although he was English, probably born in Crediton, and originally called Wynfrith) to the Mercian king, Æthelbald. St.Boniface writes: "Ever since St.Gregory sent missionaries to convert the English people to the Catholic faith the privileges of the Church remained inviolate and sacrosanct until the days of Ceolred, King of Mercia and Osred, King of Deira and Bernicia... They persisted in their crimes, namely, in the violation and seduction of nuns and the destruction of monasteries, until they were condemned by the just judgment of God and cast down from their royal state, overtaken by sudden and terrible death, deprived of eternal light and plunged into the depths of hell."  Boniface goes on to say that Osred "... maddened and spurred on by his lust, outraged consecrated virgins in their convents until a shameful and ignominious death deprived him of his glorious kingdom, his young wife and his impure soul."  Osred is also featured in an early-ninth century poem (Æthelwulf 'De Abbatibus'), where he is portrayed as wild and irreligious; regarding the Northumbrian nobility as his enemies, killing many, and forcing others to seek refuge in monasteries.
716 - 718  Cenred
718 - 729  Osric
Bede: "... on the 9th of May, Osric, king of the Northumbrians, departed this life, after he had reigned eleven years, and appointed Ceolwulf, brother to Coenred [Cenred] who had reigned before him, his successor ..."  The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' says that "Osric was slain".
729 - 737  Ceolwulf
Brother of Cenred
Bede completed writing his 'Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation' just a couple of years into Ceolwulf's reign (731), and the book is dedicated: "To the most glorious King Ceolwulf."  Later, Bede states: "... the beginning and progress of whose reign have been so filled with many and great commotions and conflicts, that it cannot yet be known what is to be said concerning them, or what end they will have."  The first of the annalistic entries appended to the 'Ecclesistical History' reports that: "In the year 731 King Ceolwulf was taken prisoner, and tonsured, and sent back to his kingdom ..."  Other chronicles fail to provide further illumination. However, despite these internal difficulties, Bede writes that: "The Pictish people also at this time are at peace with the English nation, and rejoice in having their part in Catholic peace and truth with the universal Church. The Scots that inhabit Britain, content with their own territories, devise no plots nor hostilities against the English nation. The Britons, though they, for the most part, as a nation hate and oppose the English nation, and wrongfully, and from wicked lewdness, set themselves against the appointed Easter of the whole Catholic Church; yet, inasmuch as both Divine and human power withstand them, they can in neither purpose prevail as they desire; for though in part they are their own masters, yet part of them are brought under subjection to the English. In these favourable times of peace and calm, many of the Northumbrians, as well of the nobility as private persons, laying aside their weapons, and receiving the tonsure, desire rather both for themselves and their children to take upon them monastic vows, than to practise the pursuit of war."
In 735, Ecgberht (who, incidentally, was the brother of Ceolwulf's successor, Eadberht) became the first bishop of York since St.Paulinus (who had to flee Northumbria following the death of Edwin in 632/3) to receive the pall - i.e. to be made an archbishop. Also in 735, Bede died.
In 737, Ceolwulf abdicated to become a monk on Lindisfarne. It appears, however, that he did not appreciate the austere lifestyle. The chronicler Roger of Hoveden (Hoveden is now Howden, East Yorkshire - Roger is presumed to have died in 1201, when his 'Chronica' ends somewhat abruptly) notes that: "Through the influence of this king, after he had become a monk, licence was granted to the monks of the church of Lindisfarne to drink wine or ale; for before, they were in the habit of drinking only milk or water ..."  Ceolwulf died in either 760 or 764, depending on the source.
737 - 758  Eadberht
Cousin of Ceolwulf
In the additions to Bede's 'Ecclesiastical History' there is the comment: "In the year 740 ... Ethelbald (Æthelbald), king of the Mercians, cruelly and wrongfully wasted part of Northumbria, their king, Eadbert [Eadberht], with his army, being employed against the Picts."  On Sunday 23rd April 741, Symeon of Durham ('Historia Regum') reports that: "The monastery of the city of York was burnt ..."  Presumably Eadberht's 'employment' against the Picts was cut short before any result worthy of record was achieved, however, he did make gains at the expense of the Strathclyde Britons - the additions to Bede record that, in 750 "... Eadbert added the plain of Kyle and other places to his dominions."  Still in 750, it seems that there was a foiled rebellion on behalf of Offa, son of Aldfrith (685-704). Symeon of Durham, however, says Offa was "an innocent man", and that he sought sanctuary on Lindisfarne, but "... almost dead with hunger, he was dragged unarmed from the church."  The Bishop of Lindisfarne was also taken captive. A few years later (756), saw the Northumbrians and the Picts united against the Britons of Strathclyde. Symeon of Durham says that Eadberht "... and Unust [Oengus], king of the Picts, led an army to the city of Alcwith [Alcluith - Dumbarton]; and they received the Britons there into alliance on the first day of August."  Symeon then, rather cryptically, adds "But on the tenth day of the same month, nearly the whole army perished, which he [Eadberht] led from Ouoma to Newanbirig; that is, to the New Town."  In 758 (some sources say 757), Eadberht abdicated the throne to become a monk. His death is reported in 768.
758 - 759  Oswulf
Son of Eadberht
Alongside the year 758, Symeon of Durham writes: "Eadberht, king of the Northumbrians, of his own accord, gave up the kingdom bestowed upon him by God, to his own son named Osulf [Oswulf]; who during one single year held, parted from and lost, the kingdom: for he was wickedly put to death by his family, on the ninth of the kalends of August [24th July], near Mechil Wongtune."
759 - 765  Æthelwald Moll
Symeon of Durham says that, in 759: "Ethelwald [Æthelwald], who was also called Moll, began to reign on the nones of August [5th August]."  The extension to Bede's 'History' notes that in his "... second year there was great tribulation by reason of pestilence, which continued almost, two years, divers grievous sicknesses raging, but more especially the disease of dysentery."  At the beginning of Æthelwald's third year (761), according to Symeon of Durham: "... a severe battle was fought on the eighth of the ides of August [6th August], beside Eldunum, near Melrose. In which, after three days, Oswin was slain, on Sunday. King Ethelwald, or Moll, obtained the victory in the battle."  Æthelwald had managed to fend off that particular challenge to his authority, but, in 765: "Ethelwald lost the kingdom of the Northumbrians at Winchan-heale ..."  Symeon's statement seems to imply that Æthelwald came to a violent end, but Roger of Hoveden makes it clear that: "After having reigned six years, Mollethelwald [Æthelwald Moll] resigned the kingdom of Northumbria ..."  The Irish 'Annals of Tigernach' note that he became a monk, and William of Malmesbury asserts that he "... fell a victim to the treachery of Alcred [Alhred]."  The implication seems to be that Æthelwald's decision to resign and adopt the tonsure was not entirely of his own making.
765 - 774  Alhred
Symeon of Durham mentions that, in 769, Catterick was "... burnt by the tyrant Eanred; and by the judgement of God, he himself miserably perished by fire in the same year."  There is still in existence a letter (from Alhred to Lull, Archbishop of Mainz) which shows that Alhred was trying to establish relations with King Charles (Charlemagne) of the Franks, however, the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' entry for 774 announces that: "This year the Northumbrians banished their king, Alred [Alhred], from York at Easter-tide ..."  Symeon (who seems to have been dubious about the claim that Alhred was a descendant of Ida, the first king of Bernicia) notes that: "He went with a few companions of his flight, first to the city of Bebba [Bamburgh], and afterwards to the king of the Picts, Cynoht [Kenneth 763-775] by name... Moreover, Ethelred [Æthelred], the son of Ethelwald [Æthelwald], in the place of this person, received the kingdom ..."
It was under the auspices of Alhred that St.Willehad (a Northumbrian, probably educated at York) was despatched to Frisia, where he began his missionary work. Eventually, after an adventurous career, Willehad was consecrated bishop (at Worms in 787), but died (in 789) just days after dedicating his new cathedral at Bremen.
774 - 779  Æthelred I
Son of Æthelwald Moll
Æthelred appears to have ruthlessly suppressed any opposition. Symeon of Durham notes that, in 775 "... duke Eadwlf, taken by cunning treachery, was in a short space of time killed, buried, and forgotten."  And then: "In the fourth year of king Ethelred [Æthelred], that is the year 778, three dukes, namely, Aldwlf, Cynwlf, and Ecga, at the command of the same king, were treacherously put to death by the princes Ethelbald and Heardberht, on the third of the kalends of October [29th September]. What happened in the year 779 the following narrative will declare.  A.D.779. Ethelred, expelled from his royal throne, and driven into exile, was forced to undergo sad changes, and experience much wretchedness. Elfwald [Ælfwald], the son of Oswlf [Oswulf], on the expulsion of Ethelred, obtained the kingdom of the Northumbrians, and held it ten years."  The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' entry for 778 provides extra detail, but a contradictory date: "This year Ethelbald and Herbert slew three high-sheriffs - Eldulf, the son of Bosa, at Coniscliff; Cynewulf and Eggo at Helathyrn - on the eleventh day before the calends of April [22nd March]. Then Elwald [Ælfwald], having banished Ethelred from his territory, seized on his kingdom, and reigned ten winters."
Symeon's is the generally accepted interpretation of the above events (though the September date is a debatable issue), however, Roger of Wendover supplies a different reading: "In the year of our Lord 778 ... Athelwold and Herebert, earls of the kingdom of the Northumbrians, rebelled against their king, and slew Aidulf, general of king Ethelred's army, at Cunesclive, after which they slew the king's generals, Kinewulf and Eggen, in a great battle; but king Ethelred fled from the face of them, and they made Alfwold [Ælfwald] king, who reigned ten years."  Roger of Hoveden tells the same story.
779 - 788  Ælfwald I
Son of Oswulf
A "pious and upright king" according to Symeon of Durham, but still the internecine conflicts continued. Alongside the year 780, Symeon reports: "Dukes Osbald and Athelheard, having gathered an army, burnt Bearn, a nobleman of king Elfwald [Ælfwald], in Seltune, on the ninth of the kalends of January (24th December)."  And in 788: "King Elfwald, a conspiracy being formed by his patrician, Sicga by name, was miserably slain on the ninth of the kalends of October [23rd September], at a place called Scythlescester, near the Wall."  His body was taken to Hexham for burial, but: "On the spot where the just king Elfwald was slain, light sent down from heaven is said to have been seen by many."
Symeon notes that Sicga "died by his own hand" in 793.
788 - 790  Osred II
Son of Alhred, nephew of Ælfwald
Æthelred, who had been driven out of Northumbria in 779, returned in 790, and Osred was, as Symeon of Durham puts it, "overreached by the treachery of his princes". He was deposed and became a monk in York, but soon found it necessary to go into exile. Having mounted an unsuccessful come-back, in 792, he was killed on the orders of Æthelred. Roger of Hoveden waxes philosophical: "... when the above mentioned youth Osred, dancing and elated with joy, was made king, how little did he think that in the second year from that time he should be deprived of his throne, and in the fourth, of his life! For which reason, let us ever be thoughtful in prosperity, being ignorant how near at hand adversity may be."
790 - 796  Æthelred I
Son of Æthelwald Moll
During his first reign (774-779), Æthelred had been ruthless towards possible sources of opposition; and so he continued to be. Symeon of Durham reports a singular happening. In Æthelred's "... second year [791], duke Eardulf [Eardwulf] was taken prisoner, and conveyed to Ripon, and there ordered by the aforesaid king to be put to death without the gate of the monastery. The brethren carried his body to the church with Gregorian chanting, and placed it out of doors in a tent; after midnight he was found alive in the church."  Not all of Æthelred's victims were so lucky. Also in 791: "The sons of king Elfwald [Ælfwald], having been carried from the city of York by force, and drawn from the principal church by deceitful promises, were miserably slain by king Ethelred [Æthelred] in Wonwaldremere ..."  When Æthelred came to power this second time, his deposed predecessor, Osred, "assumed the tonsure in the city of York", but since then he had escaped from Northumbria. In 792, Osred "... induced by the oaths and pledges of certain nobles, came secretly from his exile in Eufania [Isle of Man], and there his soldiers deserting him, he was captured by the aforesaid king Ethelred, and put to death by his order, at a place called Aynburg, on the eighteenth of the kalends of October [14th September]."  Also in 792, Æthelred married Ælflæd, daughter of Offa of Mercia.
During 793, the Vikings made their first appearance in Northumbria. The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' has the following entry: "This year came dreadful fore-warnings over the land of the Northumbrians, terrifying the people most woefully: these were immense sheets of light rushing through the air, and whirlwinds, and fiery, dragons flying across the firmament. These tremendous tokens were soon followed by a great famine: and not long after, on the sixth day before the ides of January [8th January] in the same year, the harrowing inroads of heathen men made lamentable havoc in the church of God in Holy-island [Lindisfarne], by rapine and slaughter."  Symeon of Durham adds: "... the pagans from the Northern region came with a naval armament to Britain, like stinging hornets, and overran the country in all directions, like fierce wolves, plundering, tearing, and killing not only sheep and oxen, but priests and Levites, and choirs of monks and nuns. They came ... to the church of Lindisfarne, and laid all waste with dreadful havoc, trod with unhallowed feet the holy places, dug up the altars, and carried off all the treasures of the holy church. Some of the brethren they killed; some they carried off in chains; many they cast out, naked and loaded with insults; some they drowned in the sea."  The eminent Northumbrian educator, scholar and theologian, Alcuin (d.804, Abbot of St.Martin's at Tours), who was an associate of Charlemagne (at this time he was king of the Franks, but in 800 he was crowned emperor of the former western Roman empire - d.814) wrote, in a letter to Æthelred of Northumbria and his nobles: "Lo, it is nearly 350 years that we and our fathers have inhabited this most lovely land, and never before has such terror appeared in Britain as we have now suffered from a pagan race, nor was it thought that such an inroad from the sea could be made. Behold, the church of St.Cuthbert [on Lindisfarne] spattered with the blood of the priests of God, despoiled of all its ornaments; a place more venerable than all in Britain is given as a prey to pagan peoples."  Alcuin suggests that the Viking raids were "... merited by some unheard-of evil practice... Consider the dress, the way of wearing the hair, the luxurious habits of the princes and people."  In a letter to Higbald, Bishop of Lindisfarne, Alcuin writes: "'What security is there for the churches of Britain if St.Cuthbert with so great a throng of saints will not defend his own? Either this is the beginning of greater grief or the sins of those who live there have brought it upon themselves."  The raids continued and the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' records the events following an attack on Jarrow monastery, which it places in 794: "There, however, some of their leaders were slain; and some of their ships also were shattered to pieces by the violence of the weather; many of the crew were drowned; and some, who escaped alive to the shore, were soon dispatched at the mouth of the river." V
Despite the Viking threat, however, the Northumbrian nobility continued to fight amongst themselves. Symeon of Durham for the year 796: "... king Ethelred was slain at Cobre [identified with Corbridge], on the fourteenth of the kalends of May [18th April], in the seventh year of his reign ..."
At the beginning of Æthelred's second reign, Alcuin was in England for a time. In a letter to an Irish pupil, he writes: "Ethelred [Æthelred], son of Ethelwald [Æthelwald], has just come from misery to majesty, from prison to the throne! The new reign keeps me here against my inclination, so I cannot come to you."  He later wrote to a colleague: "I must tell you, my dear brother, that I found things in my own country [i.e. Northumbria] somewhat disturbed and the new king's attitude not as I hoped or wished."  As a consequence, Alcuin, who was himself of noble birth, proffered advice to Æthelred, saying: "Personal affection prompts me to send you a personal letter... You who sit upon the throne should live in a civilised manner."  It is clear that Alcuin's advice went unheeded. In a letter to Æthelred and his nobles, following the Viking raids on Lindisfarne, Alcuin states that "... since the days of King Ælfwald, fornication, adultery and incest have flooded the land to such an extent that these sins are committed without any shame even among nuns. Why should I mention greed, robbery and judicial violence when it is clear as day how these crimes have increased everywhere. A plundered people is proof of it."  In another letter: "You have seen how the kings and princes who preceded you perished because of their injustice, expropriations and foul ways... Brothers, beware of such wickedness in yourselves ..."  In a letter to Offa, king of Mercia, Alcuin writes that, when Charlemagne heard of Æthelred's overthrow and death "... he was so angry with the people, "that treacherous, perverse people," as he called them, "who murder their own lords," for he thought them worse than pagans. If I had not interceded for them, he would have deprived them of every advantage and done them every harm he could."
(Translation by Stephen Allott)
796  Osbald
Symeon of Durham: "... Osbald the patrician was appointed to the kingdom by some chiefs of that nation, and twenty-seven days after, forsaken by the whole company of the royal family and princes, having been put to flight and expelled from the kingdom, he, with a few followers, retired to the island of Lindisfarne, and thence went by ship, with some of his brethren, to the king of the Picts."
"To his dear friend Osbald, Alcuin, the deacon, sends greeting.  I am disappointed in you for not taking the advice I gave you in my letter more than two years ago, that you should give up the secular life and serve God according to your vow. And now dishonour and disaster have laid your life in ruins. So go back, go back, and fulfil your vow... Do not add sin to sin by ruining your country and shedding blood. Think how much blood of kings, princes and people has been shed through you and your family. It is an unhappy breed, which has brought so much evil upon our country. Set yourself free, I beg you in God's name, lest your soul be lost for ever."
(Translation by Stephen Allott)
Alongside the year 799, Symeon of Durham reports that "... Osbald, once duke and patrician, and for a time king, after that abbot, breathed his last; his body was buried in the church of the city of York."
796 - 810  Eardwulf
In 791, Eardwulf had, almost miraculously, survived an attempt on his life by his predecessor, Æthelred, but, in 796, as Symeon of Durham tells, he was "... recalled from exile, was raised to the crown, and was consecrated on the seventh of the kalends of June [26th May], in York ..."
"To his eminence King Eardwulf, Alcuin, the deacon, sends greetings... You know well the dangers from which God in his mercy has delivered you and the ease with which he brought you to the throne, when he willed it... The vengeance of God clearly hangs over the land, for otherwise so much blood of nobles and rulers would not have been spilt, nor would the pagans have so destroyed the holy places, nor would injustice and pride be so strong among the people. I believe you have been saved for better times to set your country right ..."  In 797, Alcuin wrote to a Mercian nobleman: "I fear our king Eardwulf must soon lose his throne for the affront to God involved in putting away his wife and openly living with his mistress, as is reported."
(Translation by Stephen Allott)
In 798, the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' reports that "... a severe battle was fought in the Northumbrian territory, during Lent, on the fourth day before the nones of April [2nd April], at Whalley [Lancs.]; wherein Alric, the son of Herbert, was slain, and many others with him."  Whereas Symeon of Durham says that: "Duke Wada, entering into a conspiracy formed by the murderers of king Etheldred [Æthelred], fought a battle against king Eardwlf [Eardwulf], in a place called by the Angles Billingahoth, near Walalege [Whalley]; and many on both sides being slain, duke Wada, with his men, was put to flight, and king Eardwlf royally gained the victory over his enemies."  The following year (799), Symeon notes that: "Duke Moll ... was ... slain by the urgent command of king Eadwlf... Duke Aldred, the murderer of king Etheldred, was slain by duke Thortmund, in revenge of his lord, the same king."  And, in 800: "... Alchmund [Alhmund], son of king Alcred [Alhred], as some say, was seized by the guardians of king Eardwlf, and by his order put to death with the companions of his flight."  The Northumbrian nobility were occupied with their own internal power struggle, but the external threat, the Viking's, had not disappeared. Roger of Wendover: "In the year 800, a band of impious pagans cruelly wasted the churches of Harkness and Tynemouth, and retired with the spoils to their ships."  Nevertheless, in 801, Symeon writes that Eardwulf "... led an army against Kenwlf [Cenwulf], king of the Mercians, because he had given an asylum to his enemies. He also collecting an army, obtained very many auxiliaries from other provinces, having made a long expedition among them. At length, with the advice of the bishops and chiefs of the Angles on either side, they made peace ... An agreement of sure peace was made between them, which both kings confirmed by an oath on the gospel of Christ, calling God as a witness and surety, that as long as they retained this life, and bore the crown of government, a firm peace and true friendship should exist between them, unshaken and inviolate."  At this point the narrative thread of Northumbrian history becomes very thin indeed (Symeon of Durham's chronicle has only one entry of any kind between 803 and 846). It seems that Eardwulf was deposed in 808 (the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' places the event in 806, but it is often in error by two years during this period), and Roger of Wendover says that he "... was succeeded by Alfwold [Ælfwald], who reigned two years..."
808  Ælfwald II
Roger of Wendover: "In the year of our Lord 810 died Alfwold [Ælfwald], king of the Northumbrians, and Eanred reigned after him thirty-two years."  This seems reasonable, except for an entry in the 'Annales Regni Francorum' (Royal Frankish Annals, composed during the 8th and 9th centuries) which says that, in 808 "... the king of the Northumbrians, from the island of Britain, Eardwulf by name, came to the emperor [Charlemagne] while he was still at Nijmegen; he had been driven from his kingdom and native land. After explaining the matter which had brought him, he set out for Rome; and on his return from there he was conducted back into his kingdom by legates of the Roman pontiff and the lord emperor."  Since the legates are recorded returning to the Continent in 809 (not without incident - one of them was captured by pirates and had to be ransomed), it appears that Eardwulf was restored to the throne no longer than a year after he was deposed.
808 - 810  Eardwulf
Eardwulf appears to have been returned to power under the auspices of Charlemagne and Pope Leo III. It is clear from extant letters, sent by Leo to Charlemagne, that both were in communication with Northumbria, but no light is shed on the situation there.
810 - 840  Eanred
Son of Eardwulf
In 829, Ecgberht of Wessex, having conquered Mercia and become the 8th (and final) Bretwalda listed by the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle': "... led an army against the Northumbrians as far as Dore [near Sheffield], where they met him, and offered terms of obedience and subjection, on the acceptance of which they returned home."  (This event is incorrectly placed alongside the year 827 by the 'Chronicle'). Roger of Wendover claims that Ecgberht actually invaded Northumbria - his "... mighty army ... committing terrible ravages in that province, and putting king Eanred under tribute."  Roger announces that: "In the year of our Lord 840, died Andred [Eanred], king of the Northumbrians, and was succeeded by his son Athelred [Æthelred], who reigned seven years."
840 - 844  Æthelred II
Son of Eanred
Roger of Wendover asserts that, in 844, Æthelred "... was driven from his kingdom, and was succeeded by Redwulf [Rædwulf] ....
844  Rædwulf
.... who was no sooner invested with the diadem than he fought a battle with the pagans at Aluthelia, in which himself and his general Alfred fell, with the greatest part of their forces, on which Athelred [Æthelred] again obtained the kingdom." V
844 - 848  Æthelred II
Son of Eanred
Roger of Wendover: "In the year of our Lord 848, Athelred [Æthelred], king of the Northumbrians being slain, Osbert [Osberht] succeeded him and reigned eighteen years."
848 - 866  Osberht
866 - 867
Roger of Wendover: "... on All Saints' day [1st November 866], the cruel army of Danes migrated out of the country of the East-Angles to the city of York. At this time too there was the greatest dissension among the Northumbrians, for the people had expelled their lawful king Osbert [Osberht] from his kingdom, and had raised to the throne a usurper named Ella [Ælla], who was not of the royal lineage; but by divine providence, on the advance of the Danes, Osbert and Ella, for the good of the commonwealth, made peace among themselves, and then with united forces approached the city of York; on which the Danes straightway fled, and determined to defend themselves within the city walls. The Christian kings pursued, made a very fierce attack on the enemy, and cast down the city walls. At length they entered the city, and engaged in battle with the pagans to their own exceeding loss; for in that fight, which was fought on Palm Sunday [21st March 867], there fell the kings Osbert and Ella, and with them eight nobles, with an immense multitude of inferior rank....
The, so called, 'Three Fragments', claim that Ælla: "... was slain there through the deceit and treachery of a young lad of his own household."
.... The most cruel victors after this ravaged the entire country of the Northumbrians as far as the mouth of the river Tyne, and subdued it to themselves. The kings of the Northumbrians being slain, a certain man of the English nation named Egbert [Ecgberht] next governed that kingdom, for six years in subjection to the Danes."
The leader of the Danes was Ivar 'the Boneless'. His brother Ubbi is also traditionally associated with the leadership (although this identification has been questioned) and a third brother, Halfdan, would later (in 876) establish a Danish kingdom based on York. According to Scandinavian legend, Ælla had previously killed their father, Ragnar Lothbrok ('hairy breeches'), by casting him into a snake pit. As a result Ælla's death was by the infamous 'Blood Eagle' ordeal.
In the autumn of 867, the "cruel army of Danes" departed for Mercia. V
867 - 873  Ecgberht I
In the autumn of 868, having "made peace" with the Mercians, the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' simply states that "... the army went back to York, and sat there a year."  Symeon of Durham, however, asserts that they spent that year "... raging and storming, killing and destroying a multitude of men and women."
In Ælfric's rendering of the martyrdom of St.Edmund it states that: "... Hingwar [Ivar] and Hubba [Ubbi] ... landed in Northumbria with their ships, and wasted the land and slew the people. Then Hingwar turned eastward with his ships, and Hubba was left in Northumbria, having won the victory by means of cruelty. Then Hingwar came rowing to East Anglia in the year when Ælfred [Alfred 'the Great'] the ætheling was one and twenty years old [Alfred was born in 849 according to Asser], he who afterward became the renowned king of the West-Saxons."  Roger of Wendover interweaves the tradition represented by Ælfric with other lore, and treats the events culminating in the death of Edmund, as a discrete episode: "In the year of our Lord 870 [i.e. autumn 869], an innumerable multitude of Danes landed in Scotland under the command of Ynguar [Ivar] and Hubba [Ubbi], men of fearful wickedness and unheard-of daring....  (Roger later says that they landed at Berwick-upon-Tweed - just in England now, but firmly in Northumbria at that time - and that the "innumerable multitude" consisted of "an armament of twenty thousand men". They were actually headed for East Anglia but were blown off course.)  .... Desiring to make an utter desolation of the entire territory of England, they cut the throats of both young and old who came in their way, and shamefully entreated holy matrons and virgins."  The Abbess of Collingham, fearful of the threat to her own and her nuns' chastity "... took a razor, and with it cut off her nose, together with her upper lip unto the teeth, presenting herself a horrible spectacle to those who stood by. Filled with admiration at this admirable deed, the whole assembly followed her maternal example, and severally did the like to themselves."  The following dawn, the rampaging Danes duly arrived. Horrified by the mutilated nuns they quickly departed, torching the monastery as they left. Thus the nuns were spared a fate worse than death, but not death itself. Ivar and Ubbi then made their destructive way (monasteries being prime targets) down the coast and along the Humber, before striking south to arrive in East Anglia.
Symeon of Durham: "An enormous multitude of Danes and, so to speak, troops of legions were assembled, so that many thousands seemed to be present, as if they had increased from one thousand to twenty myriads."  In the autumn of 869, according to the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle': "... the army rode over Mercia into East-Anglia ..." V
Roger of Wendover writes that, in 872 "... the Northumbrians expelled from the kingdom their king Egbert [Ecgberht] and archbishop Wulfer [Wulfhere], who thereupon betook themselves to Burhred [Burgred], king of the Mercians, by whom they were honourably entertained."  The overthrow of their puppet probably explains why, in the autumn of 872, as the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' says, "went the army against the Northumbrians", before establishing their winter quarters in Lindsey (a Mercian province, covering much of modern Lincolnshire). V
Symeon of Durham notes that, in 873, Ecgberht "... dying, Ricsig [Ricsige], became his successor, and reigned three years; Wlfere [Wulfhere] was restored to his archbishopric."
873 - 876  Ricsige
In the autumn of 874, when they left Repton, the Danes divided their forces. The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle': "... Healfden [Halfdan] advanced with some of the army against the Northumbrians, and fixed his winter-quarters by the river Tine. The army then subdued that land, and oft invaded the Picts and the Strathclydwallians."  Symeon of Durham adds that the Danes "... destroyed all the monasteries. Eardulf, bishop of Lindisfarne, and abbot Eadred, taking the body of St.Cuthbert from the island of Lindisfarne, wandered about for seven years."  In 876, Symeon says that: "The pagan king Halfdene [Halfdan] divided between himself and his followers the country of the Northumbrians. Ricsig [Ricsige], king of the Northumbrians, died, and Egbert the second [Ecgberht II] reigned over the Northumbrians beyond the river Tyne."  Roger of Wendover asserts that Ricsige actually "died of a broken heart", as a result of the partitioning of Northumbria.
Halfdan's Danish kingdom, centred on York (Jorvik), pretty much corresponded to the county of Yorkshire (it was not until the following century that there was significant migration beyond the Tees, in the north, and the Pennines, in the west). For the time being, the remainder of Northumbria was under English rule, though Ecgberht II is the last recorded king. Symeon of Durham, in his 'Historia Ecclesiae Dunelmensis' (History of the Church of Durham), claims that Halfdan "... was attacked at the same time by mental insanity and the severest bodily suffering; the intolerable stench exhaling from which made him an object of abomination towards the whole army. Thus despised and rejected by all persons, he fled away in three ships from the Tyne, and shortly afterwards he and all his followers perished."  It is thought that Halfdan is the "Albann, king of the dark heathens" (i.e. Danes) reported killed, by the 'Annals of Ulster', fighting "the fair heathens" (i.e. Norsemen - Norwegian Vikings) at Strangford Loch in 877. V
Following the departure of Halfdan, the first known ruler of the Danish kingdom of York is Guthfrith, who became the subject of legend. Symeon of Durham for the year 883: "Then St.Cuthbert, aiding by a vision, ordered abbot Eadred ... to tell the bishop and the whole army of Angles and Danes, that by paying a ransom, they should redeem Guthred [Guthfrith], the son of Hardicnut, whom the Danes had sold as a slave to a certain widow at Whittingham, and should raise him, then redeemed, to be king; and he reigned over York, but Egbert [Ecgberht] over the Northumbrians... Guthred, therefore, being by consent of all from a slave promoted to be king, the episcopal see, which was formerly in the island of Lindisfarne, was restored in Chester [Chester-le-Street], anciently called Cunecester, seven years after its removal from the island of Lindisfarne. There also king Guthred, as well as king Elfred [Alfred 'the Great'], established, to be for ever preserved, the right of sanctuary ... Besides this, in augmentation of the former bishopric, the two kings aforesaid, with the consent of all, added the whole land between the Tyne and the Tees, as a perpetual possession of St.Cuthbert... Long before this the bishopric of the church of Hexham had ceased to exist."
In his 'History of the Church of Durham', Symeon mentions another intervention on Guthfrith's behalf by St.Cuthbert: "... the nation of the Scots collected a numerous army, and among their other deeds of cruelty, they invaded and plundered the monastery of Lindisfarne. Whilst king Guthred, supported by St.Cuthbert, was about to engage in battle with them, immediately the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them all up alive ..."
The 'Chronicle of Æthelweard', notes that, in 895, Guthfrith: "... died on the nativity of St Bartholomew, the apostle of Christ [24th August]. And his body is entombed in the city of York in the high church."
In 1840, a large hoard of silver treasure was found at Cuerdale (near Preston). The hoard was buried around 905, in a lead-lined chest, and consists of over 8,500 objects - mostly coins. (The suggestion is that it was buried by Irish Vikings, following their expulsion from Dublin in 902). Many of the coins were struck for two, otherwise unknown, kings (presumably kings of York): Cnut and Siefred. Cnut's coins appear to have been minted at two centres. One can be identified as York whilst, the other would appear to be Quentovic (at the mouth of the River Canche, in Northern France). Those coins of Siefred which name a mint appear to have been struck at York.
In his 'Anglo-Saxon England', Sir Frank Stenton says that many historians have identified Cnut with Guthfrith - Cnut originally being a nickname meaning 'knot'. However, Sir Frank writes: "... it is extremely improbable that a king bearing a name which, like Guthfrith, had ancient, and indeed royal, associations in Scandinavia, should be represented on his coins by a mere nickname."  Sir Frank also asserts that "King Siefred is probably identical" with Æthelweard's "Sigeferth the pirate" whom, in 893, "arrived from the land of the Northumbrians with a large fleet, ravaged twice along the coast on that one expedition, and afterwards sailed back to his own land."
  Northumbrian Struggles    
Translations:
'Historia Brittonum' by J.A. Giles
Bede 'Life of St.Cuthbert' by J.A. Giles
'Annales Cambriae' by James Ingram
'Annales regni Francorum' by P.D. King
'Annals of Ulster' by MacAirt & MacNiocaill
Eddius Stephanus 'Vita Wilfridi' by J.F. Webb
Ælfric 'Passion of St.Edmund' by W.W. Skeat
Roger of Hoveden 'Chronica' by Henry T. Riley
Adomnán 'Vita Colum Cille' by William Reeves
'The Correspondence of St.Boniface' by C.H. Talbot
Roger of Wendover 'Flores Historiarum' by J.A. Giles
'Fragmentary Annals of Ireland' by Joan Newlon Radner
'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' by Rev. James Ingram/Dr. J.A. Giles
Bede 'Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum' by J.A. Giles, revised by A.M. Sellar
Symeon of Durham 'Historia Regum' and 'Historia Ecclesiae Dunelmensis' by J. Stevenson
Geoffrey of Monmouth 'Historia Regum Britanniae' by Aaron Thompson, revised by J.A. Giles
William of Malmesbury 'Gesta Regum Anglorum' by Rev. J. Sharpe, revised by Rev. J. Stevenson
Florence of Worcester 'Chronicon ex Chronicis' edited and in part translated by Joseph Stevenson
East Anglia
Essex
Kent
Mercia
Northumbria
Sussex
Wessex