Kingdom of Northumbria

The Kingdom of Northumbria (/nɔːrˈθʌmbriə/; Old English: Norþanhymbra Rīċe; Latin: Regnum Northanhymbrorum)[1] was a medieval Anglian kingdom in what is now Northern England and south-east Scotland. The name derives from the Old English Norþan-hymbre meaning "the people or province north of the Humber",[2] which reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary. Northumbria started to consolidate into one kingdom in the early seventh century, when the two earlier core territories of Deira and Bernicia entered into a dynastic union. At its height, the kingdom extended from the Humber, Peak District and the River Mersey on the south to the Firth of Forth (now in Scotland) on the north. Northumbria ceased to be an independent kingdom in the mid-tenth century, though a rump Earldom of Bamburgh survived around Bernicia in the north, later to be absorbed into the medieval kingdoms of Scotland and England.

"Northumbria" redirects here. For other meanings of Northumbria or Northumbrian, see Northumbria (disambiguation).

Kingdom of Northumbria

Norþanhymbra Rīċe
654–954
Northumbria around 700 AD
StatusUnified Anglian kingdom (before 876)
North: Anglian kingdom (after 876)
South: Danish kingdom (876–914)
South: Norwegian kingdom (after 914)
CapitalNorthern: Bamburgh
Southern: York
Common languagesOld Northumbrian, Cumbric, Latin;
Norse (c. 876– c. 914)
GovernmentMonarchy
King 
• 654–670
Oswiu
• died 954
Eric Bloodaxe
History 
• Established
653
• South is annexed by the Danelaw
876
• South is conquered by Norse warriors
914
• Annexed by Kingdom of England
954
CurrencySceat (peninga)
Preceded by		Succeeded by
Bernicia
Deira
Rheged
Gododdin
Kingdom of Scotland
Kingdom of England
Today part ofUnited Kingdom

Northumbria is still used as a geographic and cultural designation, and the name is used by a wide range of organisations particularly in North East England.

Kingdom (654–954)

Communities and divisions

Possible British origins

The Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria was originally two kingdoms divided approximately around the River Tees: Bernicia was to the north of the river and Deira to the south.[3] It is possible that both regions originated as native British Kingdoms which the Germanic settlers later conquered, although there is very little information about the infrastructure and culture of the British kingdoms themselves.[4] Much of the evidence for them comes from regional names that are British rather than Anglo-Saxon in origin. The names Deira and Bernicia are likely British in origin, for example, indicating that some British place names retained currency after the Anglo-Saxon migrations to Northumbria.[lower-alpha 1] There is also some archeological evidence to support British origins for the polities of Bernicia and Deira. In what would have been southern Bernicia, in the Cheviot Hills, a hill fort at Yeavering called Yeavering Bell contains evidence that it was an important centre for first the British and later the Anglo-Saxons. The fort is originally pre-Roman, dating back to the Iron Age at around the first century. In addition to signs of Roman occupation, the site contains evidence of timber buildings that pre-date Germanic settlement in the area that are probably signs of British settlement. Moreover, Brian Hope-Taylor has traced the origins of the name Yeavering, which looks deceptively English, back to the British gafr from Bede's mention of a township called Gefrin in the same area.[8][9] Yeavering continued to be an important political centre after the Anglo-Saxons began settling in the north, as King Edwin had a royal palace at Yeavering.[10]

Overall, English place-names dominate the Northumbrian landscape, suggesting the prevalence of an Anglo-Saxon elite culture by the time that Bede—one of Anglo-Saxon England's most prominent historians—was writing in the eighth century.[11][12] According to Bede, the Angles predominated the Germanic immigrants that settled north of the Humber and gained political prominence during this time period.[13] While the British natives may have partially assimilated into the Northumbrian political structure, relatively contemporary textual sources such as Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People depict relations between Northumbrians and the British as fraught.[14]

Unification of Bernicia and Deira

The Anglo-Saxon countries of Bernicia and Deira were often in conflict before their eventual semi-permanent unification in 654. Political power in Deira was concentrated in the East Riding of Yorkshire, which included York, the North York Moors, and the Vale of York.[15] The political heartlands of Bernicia were the areas around Bamburgh and Lindisfarne, Monkwearmouth and Jarrow, and in Cumbria, west of the Pennines in the area around Carlisle.[16] The name that these two countries eventually united under, Northumbria, may have been coined by Bede and made popular through his Ecclesiastical History of the English People.[17]

Information on the early royal genealogies for Bernicia and Deira comes from Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People and Welsh chronicler Nennius’ Historia Brittonum. According to Nennius, the Bernician royal line begins with Ida, son of Eoppa.[18] Ida reigned for twelve years (beginning in 547) and was able to annex Bamburgh to Bernicia.[19] In Nennius’ genealogy of Deira, a king named Soemil was the first to separate Bernicia and Deira, which could mean that he wrested the kingdom of Deira from the native British.[20] The date of this supposed separation is unknown. The first Deiran king to make an appearance in Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum is Ælle, the father of the first Roman Catholic Northumbrian king Edwin.[21]

A king of Bernicia, Ida's grandson Æthelfrith, was the first ruler to unite the two polities under his rule. He exiled the Deiran Edwin to the court of King Rædwald of the East Angles in order to claim both kingdoms, but Edwin returned in approximately 616 to conquer Northumbria with Rædwald's aid.[22][23] Edwin, who ruled from approximately 616 to 633, was one of the last kings of the Deiran line to reign over all of Northumbria; it was Oswald of Bernicia (c. 634–642) who finally succeeded in making the merger more permanent.[24] Oswald's brother Oswiu eventually succeeded him to the Northumbrian throne despite initial attempts on Deira's part to pull away again.[23] Although the Bernician line ultimately became the royal line of Northumbria, a series of Derian sub-kings continued after Oswald, including Oswine (a relation of Edwin murdered by Oswiu in 651), Œthelwald (killed in battle 655), and Aldfrith (son of Oswiu, who disappeared after 664).[23] Although both Œthelwald and Aldfrith were Oswiu's relations who may have received their sub-king status from him, both used Deira separatist sentiments to try to snatch independent rule of Deira.[20] Ultimately, neither were successful and Oswiu's son Ecgfrith succeeded him to maintain the integrated Northumbrian line.[23]

While violent conflicts between Bernicia and Deira played a significant part in determining which line ultimately gained supremacy in Northumbria, marriage alliances also helped bind these two territories together. Æthelfrith married Edwin's sister Acha, although this marriage did little to prevent future squabbles between the brothers-in-law and their descendants. The second intermarriage was more successful, with Oswiu marrying Edwin’s daughter and his own cousin Eanflæd to produce Ecgfrith, the beginning of the Northumbrian line. However, Oswiu had another relationship with an Irish woman named Fina which produced the problematic Aldfrith.[23] In his Life and Miracles of St. Cuthbert, Bede declares that Aldfrith, known as Fland among the Irish, was illegitimate and therefore unfit to rule.[25]

Northumbria and Norse settlement
England in 878. The independent rump of the former Kingdom of Northumbria (yellow) was to the north of the Danelaw (pink).

The Viking invasions of the ninth century and the establishment of the Danelaw once again divided Northumbria. Although primarily recorded in the southern provinces of England, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles (particularly the D and E recensions) provide some information on Northumbria's conflicts with Vikings in the late eighth and early ninth centuries. According to these chronicles, Viking raids began to affect Northumbria when a band attacked Lindisfarne in 793.[26] After this initial catastrophic blow, Viking raids in Northumbria were either sporadic for much of the early ninth century or evidence of them was lost.[27] However, in 865 the so-called Great Heathen Army landed in East Anglia and began a sustained campaign of conquest.[28][29] The Great Army fought in Northumbria in 866–867, striking York twice in less than one year. After the initial attack the Norse left to go north, leaving Kings Ælle and Osberht to recapture the city. The E recension of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle suggests that Northumbria was particularly vulnerable at this time because the Northumbrians were once again fighting among themselves, deposing Osberht in favor of Ælle.[30] In the second raid the Vikings killed the Northumbrian kings Ælle and Osberht while recapturing the city.[28]

After King Alfred reestablished his control of southern England the Norse invaders settled into what came to be known as the Danelaw in the Midlands, East Anglia, and the southern part of Northumbria.[28] In Northumbria, the Norse established the Kingdom of York whose boundaries were roughly the River Tees and the Humber, giving it approximately the same dimensions as Deira.[31] Although this kingdom fell to Hiberno-Norse colonizers in the 920s and was in constant conflict with the West-Saxon expansionists from the south, it survived until 954 when the last Scandinavian king Eric, who is usually identified as Eric Bloodaxe, was driven out and eventually killed.[32][33][34]

In contrast, the Great Army was not as successful in conquering territory north of the River Tees. There were raids that extended into that area, but no sources mention lasting Norse occupation and there are very few Scandinavian place names to indicate significant Norse settlement in northern regions of Northumbria.[35] The political landscape of the area north of the Tees during the Viking conquest of Northumbria consisted of the Community of St. Cuthbert and the remnants of the English Northumbrian elites.[36] While the religious Community of St. Cuthbert "wandered" for a hundred years after Halfdan Ragnarsson attacked their original home Lindisfarne in 875, The History of St. Cuthbert indicates that they settled temporarily at Chester-le-Street between the years 875–883 on land granted to them by the Viking King of York, Guthred.[37][38] According to the twelfth-century account Historia Regum, Guthred granted them this land in exchange for their raising him up as king. The land extended from the Tees to the Tyne and anyone who fled there from either the north or the south would receive sanctuary for thirty-seven days, indicating that the Community of St. Cuthbert had some juridical autonomy. Based on their positioning and this right of sanctuary, this community may have acted as a buffer between the Norse in southern Northumbria and the Anglo-Saxons who continued to hold the north.[39][40]

North of the Tyne, Northumbrians maintained partial political control in Bamburgh. The rule of kings continued in that area with Ecgberht I acting as regent around 867 and the kings Ricsige and Ecgberht II immediately following him.[41] According to twelfth-century historian Symeon of Durham, Ecgberht I was a client-king for the Norse. The Northumbrians revolted against him in 872, deposing him in favor of Ricsige.[42] Although the A and E recensions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle report that Halfdan was able to take control of Deira and take a raiding party north of the River Tyne to impose his rule on Bernicia in 874, after Halfdan's death (c. 877) the Norse had difficulty holding on to territory in northern Bernicia.[43][44] Ricsige and his successor Ecgberht were able to maintain an English presence in Northumbria. After the reign of Ecgberht II, Eadwulf "King of the North Saxons" (r. 890–912) succeeded him for control of Bamburgh, but after Eadwulf rulership of this area switched over to earls who may have also been related to the last of the royal Northumbrian house.[45]

Kings
Main article: List of monarchs of Northumbria

Æthelfrith (r. 593–616)
Main article: Æthelfrith

Æthelfrith was the first Anglo-Saxon leader to hold the thrones of both Deira and Bernicia,[46] and so he ruled over all the people north of the Humber. His rule was notable for his numerous victories over the Britons and the Gaels.[47]

Edwin (r. 616–633)
Main article: Edwin of Northumbria

Edwin, like Æthelfrith, was king of both Deira and Bernicia and ruled them from 616 to 633. Under his reign the Isle of Man and the lands of Gwynedd in Northern Wales were incorporated into Northumbria. Edwin married Æthelburh, a Catholic Princess from Kent in 625. He converted to Roman Catholicism two years later after a period of heavy consideration and after consulting numerous advisors.[48] Edwin fell in battle in 633 against Cadwallon of Gwynedd and the pagan Penda of Mercia.[49] He was venerated as a Catholic saint and martyr after his death.[50]

Oswald (r. 634–642)
Main article: Oswald of Northumbria

Oswald was a King of Bernicia, who would regain the kingdom of Deira after defeating Cadwallon in 634. Oswald would then rule Northumbria until his death in 642. A devout Catholic, Oswald worked tirelessly to spread the religion in his traditionally pagan lands. It was during his reign that the monastery at Lindisfarne was created. Oswald fell in the Battle of Maserfield against Penda of Mercia in 642 but his influence endured because, like Edwin, Oswald was venerated as a saint after his death.[51]

Oswiu (r. 642–670)
Main article: Oswiu

Oswiu was the brother of Oswald and succeeded him after the latter's defeat in Maserfield. Oswiu succeeded where Edwin and Oswald failed as, in 655, he slew Penda during the Battle of the Winwaed, making him the first Northumbrian King to also control the kingdom of Mercia.[52] During his reign, he presided over the Synod of Whitby, an attempt to reconcile religious differences between Roman and Celtic Catholicism, in which he eventually backed the Roman beliefs.[53] Oswiu died from illness in 670 and divided Deira and Bernicia between two of his sons.[54]

Halfdan Ragnarsson (r. 876–877)
Main article: Halfdan Ragnarsson

Halfdan Ragnarsson was a Viking leader of the Great Heathen Army which invaded England in 865.[55] He allegedly wanted revenge against Northumbria for the death of his father, who was supposedly killed by Ælla of Northumbria.[56] While he himself only ruled Northumbria directly for about a year in 876, he placed Ecgberht on the throne as a client-king, who ruled from 867 to 872.[57] Halfdan was killed in Ireland in 877 whilst trying to regain control over Dublin, a land he had ruled since 875. There were no further Viking kings in Northumbria until Guthfrith took over in 883.[58]

Æthelstan of Wessex (r. 927–939)
Main article: Æthelstan

Æthelstan ruled as King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to 939. The shift in his title reflects that in 927, Æthelstan conquered the Viking Kingdom of York, previously part of the Northumbrian Kingdom.[59] His reign was quite prosperous and saw great strides in many fields such as law and economics, but was also characterized by frequent clashes with the Scots and the Vikings.[59] Æthelstan died in 939, which led to the Vikings’ retaking of York. Æthelstan is widely considered one of the greatest Anglo-Saxon kings for his efforts to consolidate the English kingdom and the prosperity his reign brought.[60]

Eric of York (r. 947–948, 952–954)
Main article: Eric Bloodaxe

In the early twentieth century, historians identified Eric of York with the Norwegian king Eric Bloodaxe, but more recent scholarship has challenged this association. He held two short terms as King of Northumbria, from 947 to 948 and 952 to 954.[lower-alpha 2] Historical documentation on his reign is scarce, but it seems Eric pushed out the joint English-Viking rulers of Northumbria in 947,[61] who then regained the land in 948 or 949. Eric took back the throne in 952, only to be deposed again in 954.[62] Eric of York was the last Danish king of Northumbria; after his death in 954, Eadred of Wessex stripped the kingdom of its independent status and made the land part of England.

Eadred of Wessex (r. 946–954)
Main article: Eadred

Eadred of Wessex was the half-brother of Æthelstan and Eadmund of Wessex, all of whom were fathered by Edward the Elder. He was nominally the ruler of Northumbria from 946, as he succeeded Eadmund, but had to deal with the threat of independent Viking kingdoms under Amlaíb Cuarán and Eric Bloodaxe. He permanently absorbed Northumbria into the English Kingdom in 954 after the death of Eric.[63]

Politics and war
Main article: List of monarchs of Northumbria

Between the years of 737 AD and 806 AD, Northumbria had ten kings,[64] all of whom were murdered, deposed, or exiled or became monks. Between Oswiu, the first king of Northumbria in 654, and Eric Bloodaxe, the last king of Northumbria in 954, there were forty-five kings, meaning that the average length of reign during the entire history of Northumbria is only six and a half years. Of the twenty-five kings before the Danish rule of Northumbria, only four died of natural causes. Of those that did not abdicate for a holy life, the rest were either deposed, exiled, or murdered. Kings during the Danish rule of Northumbria (see Danelaw) were often either kings of a larger North Sea or Danish empire, or were installed rulers.[65]

Succession in Northumbria was hereditary,[66] which left princes whose fathers died before they could come of age particularly susceptible to assassination and usurpation. A noteworthy example of this phenomenon is Osred, whose father Aldfrith died in 705, leaving the young boy to rule. He survived one assassination attempt early in his rule, but fell victim to another assassin at the age of nineteen. During his reign he was adopted by Wilfrid, a powerful bishop.[67] Ecclesiastical influence in the royal court was not an unusual phenomenon in Northumbria, and usually was most visible during the rule of a young or inexperienced king. Similarly, ealdorman, or royal advisors, had periods of increased or decreased power in Northumbria, depending on who was ruling at the time.[68]

Warfare in Northumbria before the Danish period largely consisted of rivalries with the Picts to the north. The Northumbrians were successful against the Picts until the Battle of Dun Nechtain in 685, which halted their expansion north and established a border between the two kingdoms.[69] Warfare during the Danish period was dominated by warfare between the Northumbrians and other English Kingdoms.

Ealdormen and earldoms of Northumbria
Main article: Earl of Northumbria
See also: Ealdorman

After the English of Wessex absorbed the Danish-ruled territories in the southern part of the former kingdom, Scots invasions reduced the rump Northumbria to an earldom stretching from the Tees to the Tweed. The surviving Earldom of Northumbria was then disputed between the emerging kingdoms of England and Scotland, to be split roughly in half along the River Tweed.

Religion

Roman and post-Roman Britain

Under Roman rule, some Britons north of the Humber practiced Roman Catholicism. In fact, York had a bishop as early as the fourth century.[70] After the Romans left Britain in the early fifth century, Catholicism did not disappear,[71] but it existed alongside Celtic paganism,[72] and possibly many other cults.[73] Anglo-Saxons brought their own Germanic pagan beliefs and practices when they settled there. At Yeavering, in Bernicia, excavations have uncovered evidence of a pagan shrine, animal sacrifice, and ritual burials.[74]

Conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Roman Catholicism

The first King of Northumbria to convert to Roman Catholicism was King Edwin. He was baptized by Paulinus in 627.[75] Shortly thereafter, many of his people followed his conversion to the new religion, only to return to paganism when Edwin was killed in 633. Paulinus was Bishop of York, but only for a year.[76]

The lasting conversion of Northumbria took place under the guidance of the Irish cleric Aidan. He converted King Oswald of Northumbria in 635, and then worked to convert the people of Northumbria.[77] King Oswald moved the bishopric from York to Lindisfarne.[76]

Monasteries and figures of note

The monastery at Lindisfarne was founded by Aidan in 635, and based on the practices of the Columban monastery in Iona, Scotland.[78] The location of the bishopric shifted to Lindisfarne, and it became the centre for religion in Northumbria. The bishopric would not leave Lindisfarne and shift back to its original location at York until 664.[76] Throughout the eighth century, Lindisfarne was associated with important figures. Aidan, the founder, Wilfrid, a student, and Cuthbert, a member of the order and a hermit, all became bishops and later Saints. Aidan assisted Heiu to found her double monastery at Hartlepool.[79] She too came to be venerated as a saint.[80]

The Catholic culture of Northumbria was influenced by the continent as well as Ireland. In particular, Wilfrid travelled to Rome and abandoned the traditions of the Celtic church in favor of Roman practices. When he returned to England, he became abbot of a new monastery at Ripon in 660. Wilfrid advocated for Roman Catholicism at the Synod of Whitby. The two-halves of the double monastery Monkwearmouth–Jarrow were founded by the nobleman Benedict Biscop in 673 and 681. Biscop became the first abbot of the monastery, and travelled to Rome six times to buy books for the library.[81] His successor, Abbot Ceolfrith, continued to add to the library until by one estimate the library at Monkwearmouth–Jarrow had over two hundred volumes.[81] One who benefited from this library was Bede.[82]

In the early seventh century in York, Paulinus founded a school and a minster, but not a monastery. The School at York Minster is one of the oldest in England.[83] By the late eighth century, the school had a noteworthy library, estimated at about one hundred volumes.[84] Alcuin was a student and teacher at York before he left for the court of Charlemagne in 782.[85]

Synod of Whitby
Main article: Synod of Whitby

In 664, King Oswiu called the Synod of Whitby to determine whether to follow Roman or Irish customs. Since Northumbria was converted to Roman Catholicism by the Celtic clergy, the Celtic tradition for determining the date of Easter and Irish tonsure were supported by many, particularly by the Abbey of Lindisfarne. Roman Catholicism was also represented in Northumbria, by Wilfrid, Abbot of Ripon. By the year 620, both sides were associating the other's Easter observance with the Pelagian Heresy.[86] The King decided at Whitby that Roman practice would be adopted throughout Northumbria, thereby bringing Northumbria in line with Southern England and Western Europe.[87] Members of the clergy who refused to conform, including the Celtic Bishop Colman of Lindisfarne, returned to Iona.[87] The episcopal seat of Northumbria transferred from Lindisfarne to York, which later became an archbishopric in 735.[88]

Impact of Scandinavian raiding, settlement and culture

The Viking attack on Lindisfarne in 793 was the first of many raids on monasteries of Northumbria. The Lindisfarne Gospels survived, but monastic culture in Northumbria went into a period of decline in the early ninth century. Repeated Viking assaults on religious centres were one reason for the decrease in production of manuscripts and communal monastic culture.[89]

After 867, Northumbria came under control of the Scandinavian forces, and there was an influx of Scandinavian immigrants.[90] Their religion was pagan and had a rich mythology. Within the Kingdom of York, once the raids and war were over, there is no evidence that the presence of Scandinavian settlers interrupted Catholic practice. It appears that they gradually adopted Roman Catholicism and blended their Scandinavian culture with their new religion. This can be seen in carved stone monuments and ring-headed crosses, such as the Gosforth Cross.[91] During the ninth and tenth centuries, there was an increase in the number of parish churches, often including stone sculptures incorporating Scandinavian designs.[88]

Culture
Page from the Lindisfarne Gospels, c. 700, featuring zoomorphic knot-work.
The colophon to the Gospel of Matthew from the Durham Gospel Fragment, featuring non-zoomorphic interlace patterns.
The Book of Kells, (folio 292r), c. 800, showing the lavishly decorated text that opens the Gospel of John

Golden Age of Northumbria
Main article: Northumbria's Golden Age

The Catholic culture of Northumbria, fuelled by influences from the continent and Ireland, promoted a broad range of literary and artistic works.

Insular art

The Irish monks who converted Northumbria to Roman Catholicism, and established monasteries such as Lindisfarne, brought a style of artistic and literary production.[92] Eadfrith of Lindisfarne produced the Lindisfarne Gospels in an Insular style.[93]

The Irish monks brought with them an ancient Celtic decorative tradition of curvilinear forms of spirals, scrolls, and doubles curves. This style was integrated with the abstract ornamentation of the native pagan Anglo-Saxon metalwork tradition, characterized by its bright colouring and zoomorphic interlace patterns.[94]

Insular art, rich in symbolism and meaning, is characterized by its concern for geometric design rather than naturalistic representation, love of flat areas of colour, and use of complicated interlace patterns.[95] All of these elements appear in the Lindisfarne Gospels (early eighth century). The Insular style was eventually imported to the European continent, exercising great influence on the art of the Carolingian empire.[96]

Sword pommel from the Bedale Hoard, inlaid with gold foil.

Usage of the Insular style was not limited to manuscript production and metalwork. It can be seen in and sculpture, such as the Ruthwell Cross and Bewcastle Cross. The devastating Viking raid on Lindisfarne in 793 marked the beginning of a century of Viking invasions that severely limited the production and survival of Anglo-Saxon material culture.[97] It heralded the end of Northumbria's position as a centre of influence, although in the years immediately following visually rich works like the Easby Cross were still being produced.

Literature

The Venerable Bede (673–735) is the most famous author of the Anglo-Saxon Period, and a native of Northumbria. His Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People, completed in 731) has become both a template for later historians and a crucial historical account in its own right,[98] and much of it focuses on Northumbria.[99][100] He's also famous for his theological works, and verse and prose accounts of holy lives.[101] After the Synod of Whitby, the role of the European continent gained importance in Northumbrian culture. During the end of the eighth century, the scriptorium at Monkwearmouth–Jarrow was producing manuscripts of his works for high demand on the Continent.[102]

Northumbria was also home to several Anglo-Saxon Catholic poets. Cædmon lived at the double monastery of Streonæshalch (Whitby Abbey) during the abbacy (657–680) of St. Hilda (614–680). According to Bede, he "was wont to make religious verses, so that whatever was interpreted to him out of scripture, he soon after put the same into poetical expressions of much sweetness and humility in English, which was his native language. By his verse the minds of many were often excited to despise the world, and to aspire to heaven."[103] His sole surviving work is Cædmon's Hymn. Cynewulf, prolific author of The Fates of the Apostles, Juliana, Elene, and Christ II, is believed to have been either Northumbrian or Mercian.[104][105]

Gosforth Cross, view from the north west

Scandinavians and the Danelaw

From around 800, there had been waves of Danish raids on the coastlines of the British Isles.[29] These raids terrorized the populace, but exposure to Danish society brought new opportunities for wealth and trade.[106] In 865, instead of raiding, the Danes landed a large army in East Anglia, and had conquered a territory known as the Danelaw, including Northumbria, by 867.[29][107] At first, the Scandinavian minority, while politically powerful, remained culturally distinct from the English populace. For example, only a few Scandinavian words, mostly military and technical, became part of Old English. By the early 900s, however, Scandinavian-style names for both people and places became increasingly popular, as did Scandinavian ornamentation on works of art, featuring aspects of Norse mythology, and figures of animals and warriors. Nevertheless, sporadic references to "Danes" in charters, chronicles, and laws indicate that during the lifetime of the Kingdom of Northumbria, most inhabitants of northeast England did not consider themselves Danish, and were not perceived as such by other Anglo-Saxons.[108]

The synthesis of Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian and Catholic and Pagan visual motifs within the Danelaw can be illustrated by an examination of stone sculpture. However, the tradition of mixing pagan and Catholic motifs is not unique to the Danelaw, and examples of such synthesis can be seen in previous examples, such as the Franks Casket. The Franks Casket, believed to have been produced in Northumbria, includes depictions of Germanic legends and stories of the founding Roman and the Roman Church and is dated to the early eighth century.[109] The Gosforth Cross, dated to the early tenth century, stands at 4.4 meters and is richly decorated with carvings of mythical beasts, Norse gods, and Catholic symbolism.[110] Stone sculpture was not a practice of native Scandinavian culture, and the proliferation of stone monuments within the Danelaw shows the influence that the English had on Viking settlers. On one side of the Gosforth Cross is a depiction of the Crucifixion; whilst on the other are scenes from Ragnarok. The melding of these distinctive religious cultures can further be seen in the depiction of Mary Magdalene as a valkyrie, with a trailing dress and long pigtail.[111] Although one can read the iconography as the triumph of Catholicism over paganism, it is possible that in the process of the Catholicizing (as distinct from conversion) the Vikings might have initially accepted the Catholic god as an addition to the broad pantheon of Pagan gods.[112] The inclusion of pagan traditions in visual culture reflects the creation of a distinctive Anglo-Scandinavian culture. Consequently, this indicates that conversion not only required a change in belief, but also necessitated its assimilation, integration, and modification into existing cultural structures.[113]

Economy
Silver coin of Aldfrith of Northumbria (686–705). OBVERSE: +AldFRIdUS, pellet-in-annulet; REVERSE: Lion with forked tail standing left.

Northumbria's economy centred around agriculture, with livestock and land being popular units of value in local trade.[114] By the mid 800s, the Open field system was likely the pre-eminent mode of farming. Like much of eastern England, Northumbria exported grain, silver, hides, and slaves.[115] Imports from Frankia included oil, luxury goods, and clerical supplies in the 700s.[116][117][118] Especially after 793, raids, gifts, and trade with Scandinavians resulted in substantial economic ties across the North Sea.

When coinage (as opposed to bartering) regained popularity in the late 600s, Northumbrian coins featured kings' names, indicating royal control of currency. Royal currency was unique in Britain for a long time. King Aldfrith (685–705) minted Northumbria's earliest silver coins, likely in York. Later royal coinage bears the name of King Eadberht (738–758), as well as his brother, archbishop Ecgbert of York.[119] Later kings and archbishops minted coins until the Danish conquest of York in 866/7.[120] These coins were primarily small silver sceattas, more suitable to small, everyday transactions than larger gold Frankish or Roman coins.[121] They were not a fiat currency, but rather valued by the mass of the silver itself. Larger bullion values can be seen in the silver ingots found in the Bedale Hoard, along with sword fittings and necklaces in gold and silver.[122]

Language
See also: Old English § Dialects

In the time of Bede, there were five vernacular languages in Britain: English, Welsh, British, Irish, Pictish, and Latin.[lower-alpha 3][123] Northumbrian was one of four distinct dialects of Old English, along with Mercian, West Saxon, and Kentish.[124] Analysis of written texts, brooches, runes and other available sources shows that Northumbrian vowel pronunciation differed from West Saxon.[125] Although loans borrowed from the Celtic Languages, such as the Common Brittonic language of the Britons, and the Old Irish of the Irish missionaries, into Old English were few, some place-names such as Deira and Bernicia derive their names from Celtic tribal origins.[126] In addition to the five languages present in Bede's day, Old Norse was added during the ninth century. This was due to the settlements of the Norse in the north and east of England, an area that became the Danelaw.[127] This language had a strong influence on the dialect of Northumbria.[128] These settlers gave the region many place-names from their language as well as contributing to the vocabulary, syntax, and grammar of Old English. Similarities in basic vocabulary between Old English and Old Norse may have led to dropping of their different inflectional endings.[129] The number of borrowed words is conservatively estimated to be around nine-hundred in standard English but rises to the thousands in some dialects.[130]

Legacy

Modern uses of the name Northumbria

The name survives in that of the county of Northumberland. The term Northumbrian continued to be used as a synonym for a Northern Englishman well into the late Middle Ages. The chronicler Ralph de Coggeshall used the terms 'Northanhumbrenses' (Northumbrians) and 'Norenses' (Northerners) interchangbly to refer to northern rebels against King John. Ranulph Higden, writing in the mid-14th century, distuingished between 'Northumberland proper' and a greater 'Northumbrian region' that included all of Northern England from the Humber to the Tweed. Writing at the turn of the 15th century, Thomas Walsingham refers to "all those of the North, that is, all the Northumbrians" and uses "Northumbria" to refer to both the county of Northumberland and Northern England as a whole, the latter of which he designates the 'province of the Northumbrians' (provincia Northumborum).[131]

Today, Northumbria usually refers to a smaller region corresponding to the counties of Northumberland, County Durham and Tyne and Wear in North East England.[132] The term is used in the names of some North East regional institutions, for example Northumbria Police (which covers Northumberland and Tyne and Wear), Northumbria University (based in Newcastle upon Tyne), the Northumbria Army Cadet Force, and Northumbrian Water. The local Environment Agency office, located in Newcastle Business Park, also uses the term Northumbria to describe its area. The Northumbrian Association, a regionalist organisation which aims to maintain and advance Northumbrian culture, defines Northumbria as north-east England from valley of the Tees to the Tweed.[133] Similarly, the Northumbrian Language Society defines a Northumbrian as anyone born within the historic county boundaries of Northumberland and County Durham.[134]

Occasionally, the notion of a contemporary Northumbria has been extended to a much a wider area of Northern England based upon the full extent of the historic kingdom. The Campaign for the North, chaired by Harold Elletson, aimed to restore Northumbria as a devolved state encompassing the six historic counties of Northern England.

Flag and symbolism
Oswald's Stripes, the provincial flag of Northumbria.

The Venerable Bede writing ‘Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum’ in the eighth century described a flag in tomb of the seventh century King Oswald of Northumbria as “his banner made of gold and purple”. This description seemingly became the basis for the gold and red bars that became commonly attributed to Northumbria by heralds throughout the middle and modern ages and later registered in a staggered form as the Northumberland county flag. The purple may have become red over time owing to the lack of availability of expensive purple dyes, or the fading of dyes. The registration of the provincial flag of Northumbria opted for a shade of carmine red to balance both versions as well as differentiate the design from similar red and yellow striped flags.[135]

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See also

Footnotes
  1. In addition to Bernicia and Deira, some other British place names are recorded for important Northumbrian locations. Northumbrian scholar Bede (c. 731) and Welsh chronicler Nennius (ninth-century) both provide British place names for centres of power. Nennius, for example, refers to the royal city of Bamburgh as Din Guaire.[5][6][7][4]
  2. Although the Northumbrian king Eric was conflated with King Eric Bloodaxe of Norway in Icelandic sagas, Clare Downham and others have recently argued that the two were separate people. For a discussion of this shift in identification, see Downham, Clare 2004 "Eric Bloodaxe – Axed? The Mystery of the Last Scandinavian King of York", Medieval Scandinavia, vol. 14, pp. 51–77
  3. "At the present time, there are five languages in Britain, just as the divine law is written in five books, all devoted to seeking out and setting forth one and the same kind of wisdom, namely the knowledge of sublime truth and of true sublimity. These are the English, British, Irish, Pictish, as well as the Latin languages".

Notes
  1. Bede 1898 Book I, chapter 34
  2. Bosworth 1898, p. 725
  3. Rollason 2003, p. 44
  4. Rollason 2003, p. 81
  5. Bede 1969 Book IV Chapter 19
  6. Nennius 2005 para 62
  7. Higham 1993, p. 81
  8. Hope-Taylor 1983, pp. 15–16
  9. Rollason 2003, pp. 83–84
  10. Bede 2008 Book II, Chapter 14
  11. Bede 2008, p. 93
  12. Rollason 2003, pp. 57–64
  13. Bede 2008 Book I, Chapter 15
  14. Rollason 2003, p. 100
  15. Rollason 2003, pp. 45–48
  16. Rollason 2003, pp. 48–52
  17. Yorke 1990, p. 74
  18. Nennius 2005 para 57, 59
  19. Nennius 2005 para 59
  20. Yorke 1990, p. 79
  21. Bede 2008 Book II, Chapter 1
  22. Bede 2008 Book II, Chapter 12
  23. Rollason 2003, p. 7
  24. Bede 2008 Book III, Chapter 6
  25. Bede 1983 The Life and Miracles of St. Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne, cap. 24
  26. Swanton 1996 793
  27. Rollason 2003, p. 211
  28. Rollason 2003, p. 212
  29. Swanton 1996 865
  30. Swanton 1996 866–867
  31. Rollason 2003, pp. 212–213
  32. Fleming 2010, p. 270
  33. Rollason 2003, p. 213
  34. Downham 2004 reconsiders the Northumbrian Viking king known as Eric and his perhaps tenuous relationship to the Eric Bloodaxe of the sagas.
  35. Rollason 2003, pp. 213,244
  36. Rollason 2003, p. 244
  37. Rollason 2003, pp. 246–257
  38. Fleming 2010, p. 319
  39. Arnold 1885
  40. Higham 1993, p. 183
  41. Rollason 2003, p. 249
  42. Arnold 1885 867, 872
  43. Swanton 1996 874
  44. Higham 1993, p. 181
  45. Rollason 2003, p. 249 For the epithet, see also the Annals of Ulster.
  46. Kirby 1991, pp. 60–61
  47. Bede 2008 Book I chapter 34
  48. Bede 2008 II.9–14
  49. Higham 1993, p. 124
  50. Bede 2008 II.20, III.24
  51. Bede 2008 III.1–13
  52. Yorke 1990, pp. 78–9
  53. Yorke 1990
  54. Bede 2008 IV.5
  55. Venning 2014, p. 132
  56. Munch & Olsen 1926, pp. 245–251
  57. Stevenson 1885, p. 489
  58. Lapidge et al. 2013, p. 526
  59. Foot 2011, p. 40
  60. Sturluson 1911, pp. 42–43
  61. Swanton 1996 MS D 940
  62. Swanton 1996 MS D & E 954
  63. Arnold 1885 952
  64. Petts 2011, pp. 14–27
  65. Downham 2007, pp. 40
  66. Petts 2011, p. 27
  67. Higham 1993, pp. 81–90
  68. Fairless 1994, pp. 10–16
  69. Parsons, Julie (4 May 2002). "The First Battle for Scottish Independence: The Battle of Dunnichen, A.D. 685". Electronic Theses and Dissertations.
  70. Clutton-Brock 1899, p. 6
  71. Corning 2006, p. 65
  72. MacLean 1997, pp. 88–89
  73. Fleming 2010, pp. 132–133
  74. Fleming 2010, p. 102
  75. Bede 2008, p. 96
  76. Rollason 2003, p. 207
  77. Bede 2008III. 5
  78. Fleming 2010, p. 156
  79. Fleming 2010, p. 171
  80. Butler 1866Volume IX September 6
  81. Lapidge 2006, p. 35
  82. Bede 2008, pp. viii–ix
  83. Leach 1915, pp. 41
  84. Lapidge 2006, p. 41
  85. Lapidge 2006, p. 40
  86. Corning 2006, p. 114
  87. Bede 2008 Book III chapter 25–26
  88. Rollason 2003, pp. 239
  89. Fleming 2010, p. 318
  90. Higham 1993, p. 178
  91. Rollason 2003, pp. 237–239
  92. Neuman de Vegvar 1990
  93. Rollason 2003, pp. 140
  94. "Anglo-Saxon art". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2016.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  95. "Hiberno-Saxon style". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 13 May 2016.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  96. Otto 1986, pp. 72–73
  97. Owen-Crocker 1986, p. 28
  98. Wormald 1999, p. 29
  99. Goffart 2005, p. 238
  100. Bede 1969
  101. Goffart 1988, pp. 245–246
  102. Lapidge 2006, p. 44
  103. Bede 1969 Book 4 Chapter 24
  104. Gradon 1958, pp. 9–14
  105. Woolf 1955, pp. 2–6
  106. Fleming 2010, pp. 213–240
  107. Roger of Wendover 1842, pp. 298–299
  108. Hadley 2002
  109. Karkov 2011, pp. 149–152
  110. Berg 1958, pp. 27–30
  111. Richards 1991, pp. 121
  112. Richards 1991, pp. 123
  113. Carver 2005, pp. 36
  114. Sawyer 2013, pp. 1–4
  115. Sawyer 2013, p. 33
  116. Sawyer 2013, pp. 64–67
  117. Allot 1974
  118. Alcuinus 2006
  119. Wood 2008, p. 28
  120. Sawyer 2013, pp. 76–77
  121. Sawyer 2013, p. 34
  122. Ager 2012
  123. Bede 1990, pp. 152
  124. Baugh 2002, pp. 71
  125. Cuesta, Ledesma & Silva 2008, pp. 140
  126. Baugh 2002, pp. 68–69
  127. Baugh 2002, pp. 85
  128. Baugh 2002, pp. 93
  129. Baugh 2002, pp. 94
  130. Baugh 2002, pp. 95
  131. Colls, Robert (2007). Northumbria: History and Identity 547-2000. Phillimore & Co Ltd.
  132. "Northumbria". Oxford Dictionary.
  133. "Home". Northumbrian Association.
  134. http://www.northumbriana.org.uk/langsoc/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  135. https://www.flaginstitute.org/wp/flags/northumbria-flag/. Missing or empty |title= (help)

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