The largest kingdom of the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy. It was originally composed of two independent kingdoms, Bernicia and Deira, divided by the R Tees, both settled by invading Angles c.500. Aethelfrith of Bernicia (593616) united the kingdoms to form Northumbria, and added Scottish and Welsh territory. Edwin of Deira (61232) accepted Roman Christianity in 627. After a period of anarchy Edwin was killed, and succeeded by Oswald of Bernicia (63341), who introduced Celtic Christianity under St Aidan. Oswald's successor, Oswin (64170), established the Roman Church over the Celtic Church at the Synod of Whitby (663). In the 7th-c it established a broad dominance in Britain both N and S of the Humber, while in the 8th-c the Northumbrian monasteries gained a European-wide reputation for sanctity and learning. The kingdom came to an end in 876 after the sacking of York by the Danes, and by the 12th-c Northumbria was equivalent to the earldom or county of Northumberland.
Northumbria is primarily the name of a petty kingdom of Angles which was formed in Great Britain at the beginning of the 7th century, from two smaller kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira, and of the much smaller earldom which succeeded the kingdom. The rest of Northumbria regained the name prior to the invasion, and at first was a proper kingdom but later did become subordinate to the Danish kingdom and had its powers curtailed to that of an earldom. The name reflects that of the southern limit to the kingdom's territory, which was the River Humber, and in the 12th century writings of Henry of Huntingdon the kingdom was defined as one of the Heptarchy of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
At its greatest the kingdom extended from the Humber to the Forth. The land once covered at Northumbria's peak is administered now in divided parts as North East England (Anglian Bernicia), Yorkshire and the Humber (Danish Deira), North West England (Celtic Cumbria), the Scottish Borders, West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian and East Lothian.
In a modern sense, Northumbria is the popular name for the North East of England. The name appears also in the titles of the Northumbria Police (which covers Northumberland and Tyne and Wear), Northumbria University (which is based in Newcastle) and the name has been adopted by the English Tourist Board as a name for North East England.
History
Northumbria was originally composed of the union of two independent kingdoms, Bernicia and Deira.
Edwin, who accepted Christianity in 627, soon grew to become the most powerful king in England: he was recognized as Bretwalda and conquered the Isle of Man and Gwynedd in northern Wales.
King Oswald
After Edwin's death, Northumbria was split between Bernicia, where Eanfrith, a son of Aethelfrith, took power, and Deira, where a cousin of Edwin, Osric, became king. Both of these rulers were killed during the year that followed, as Cadwallon continued his devastating invasion of Northumbria.
Oswald expanded his kingdom considerably. Thus, Northumbria became not only part of modern England's far north, but also covered much of what is now the south-east of Scotland.
King Oswald re-introduced Christianity to the Kingdom by appointing St Aidan, an Irish monk from the Scottish island of Iona to convert his people. In 655, Penda launched a massive invasion of Northumbria, aided by the sub-king of Deira, Aethelwald, but suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of an inferior force under Oswiu, Oswald's successor, at the Battle of Winwaed.
Religious union and the loss of Mercia
In the year 664 a great synod was held at Whitby to discuss the controversy regarding the timing of the Easter festival. Much dispute had arisen between the practices of the Celtic church in Northumbria and the beliefs of the Roman church. Eventually, Northumbria was persuaded to move to the Roman practice, the Celtic Bishop Colman of Lindisfarne returned to Iona.
Northumbria lost control of Mercia in the late 650s, after a successful revolt under Penda's son Wulfhere, but it retained its dominant position until it suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of the Picts at the Battle of Nechtansmere in 685; Northumbria's king, Ecgfrith (son of Oswiu), was killed, and its power in the north was gravely weakened.
The kingdom's fall
In 867 Northumbria became the northern kingdom of the Danelaw, after its conquest by the brothers Halfdan Ragnarsson and Ivar the Boneless who installed an Englishman, Ecgberht, as a puppet king. Despite the pillaging of the kingdom, Viking rule brought lucrative trade to Northumbria, especially at their capital Jórvík, (York).
After the English regained the territory of the former kingdom, Scots invasions reduced Northumbria to an earldom stretching from the Humber to the Tweed. Northumbria was disputed between the emerging kingdoms of England and Scotland.
Norman invasion and partition of the earldom
William the Conqueror became king of England in 1066. He realised he needed to control Northumbria, which had remained virtually independent of the Kings of England, to protect his kingdom from Scottish invasion. To acknowledge the remote independence of Northumbria and ensure England was properly defended from the Scots William gained the allegiance of both the Bishop of Durham and the Earl and confirmed their powers and privileges. William therefore attempted to install Robert Comine, a Norman noble, as the Earl of Northumbria, but before Comine could take up office, he and his 700 men were massacred in the City of Durham. In revenge, the Conqueror led his army in a bloody raid into Northumbria, an event that became known as the Harrying of the North. Ethelwin, the Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Durham, tried to flee Northumbria at the time of the raid, with Northumbrian treasures.
Rebellions continued, and William's son William Rufus decided to partition Northumbria.
Subsequent History
The region continued to have history of revolt and rebellion against the government, as seen in the Rising of the North in Tudor times.
Flag
The flag of the kingdom was a banner of gold and red (or purple) vertical stripes, as can be seen in the coat of arms used by Northumberland County Council.
Culture
Northumbria was famed as a centre of religious learning and arts.
Language
Apart from standard English, Northumbria has a series of closely related but distinctive dialects, descended from the early Germanic languages of the Angles and Vikings, and of the Romano-British peoples.
Due to the roots of Northumbrian dialects, it is often said that visitors from Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands often find it much easier to understand the English of Northumbria than the rest of the country.
User Comments Add a comment…