Eadwulf, Reeve of Bamburgh

History of the first Eadwulf to Eadwulf V begins as follows: Eadwulf I was king of Northumbria from death of Aldfrith in December 704 until February or March of 705, when Aldfrith's son Osred was restored to the throne. Osred was a child when his father died, and it is assumed that Eadwulf usurped the throne. Eadwulf's relationship, if any, to the ruling dynasty descendants of Ida is not known, but it is quite possible that he was indeed of royal descent as two or more other branches of the Eoppingas are found as kings of Northumbria after the extinction of the main line. Initially Eadwulf appears to have had the support of ealdorman Berhtfrith son of Berhtred, presumed to be the lord of the north-east frontier of Bernicia, in Lothian and along the Forth. However, a crisis soon arose. Bishop Wilfrid, exiled by Aldfrith, wished to return to Northumbria. Eadwulf aimed to keep the bishop an exile, but Berhtfirth appears to have supported Wilfrid's return. A short civil war, ending with a siege of Bamburgh, was won by Berhtfrith, Wilfrid and the supporters of Osred, and Osred was restored as child-king of Northumbria. Eadwulf I appears to have been exiled to either Dál Riata or Pictland as his death is reported by the Annals of Ulster in 717. His son Earnwine was killed on the orders of Eadberht of Northumbria in 740. Eadwulf's great-grandson Eardwulf II and Eardwulf's son Eardwulf III were later kings of Northumbria. [edit]Further reading

Higham, N.J., The Kingdom of Northumbria AD 350-1100. Stroud: Sutton, 1993. ISBN 0-86299-730-5 Marsden, J., Northanhymbre Saga: The History of the Anglo-Saxon Kings of Northumbria. London: Cathie, 1992. ISBN 1-85626-055-0 Yorke, Barbara, Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Seaby, 1990. ISBN 1-85264-027-8 Preceded by: Aldfrith King of Northumbria Succeeded by: Osred [hide] v t e Monarchs of Northumbria Æthelfrith (Bernicia and Deira) Edwin (Deira and Bernicia) Eanfrith (Bernicia) Osric (Deira) Oswald Oswine (Deira) Oswiu Œthelwald (Deira) Alhfrith (Deira) Ælfwine (Deira) Ecgfrith Aldfrith Eadwulf I Osred I Coenred Osric Ceolwulf Eadberht Oswulf Æthelwald Moll Alhred Æthelred I Ælfwald I Osred II Æthelred I (again) Osbald Eardwulf Ælfwald II Eardwulf (again) Eanred Æthelred II Rædwulf Æthelred II (again) Osberht Ælla Ecgberht I Ricsige Ecgberht II Guðroðr Sigfroðr Knútr Æthelwold Hálfdan and Eowils Eadwulf II Ealdred Ragnall ua Ímair Sihtric Cáech Æthelstan of Wessex Amlaíb mac Gofraid Amlaíb Cuarán Ragnall mac Gofraid Eadmund of Wessex Eric Amlaíb Cuarán (again) Eric (again) Eadred of Wessex

The history of Northumbria in the ninth and tenth centuries is poorly recorded. English sources generally date from the twelfth century although some more nearly contemporary Irish annals report some events in Northumbria. Numismatic evidence—mints at York continued to produce coins throughout the period—is of considerable importance, although not in the period of Eadulf's presumed floruit as a new style of coinage appeared in Northumbria between 905 and 927 approximately. These coins bore the name of the city of York and the legend "Saint Peter's money" but no kings are named, so that they are of no help in determining the succession of rulers.

The only thing which can be said with reasonable certainty of Eadwulf is that he died in 913 in Northumbria, an event recorded by the chronicle of Æthelweard and by the Irish Annals of Ulster and Annals of Clonmacnoise. The Irish sources call him "king of the Saxons of the north" while Æthelweard says Eadwulf (V) "ruled as reeve of the town called Bamburgh". The Historia de Sancto Cuthberto states that Eadwulf (IV) had been a favourite (dilectus) of King Alfred the Great. Historians have traditionally followed Æthelweard and portrayed Eadwulf as ruler of only the northern part of Northumbria, perhaps corresponding to the former kingdom of Bernicia, with Scandinavian or Norse-Gael kings ruling the southern part, the former kingdom of Deira, an area broadly similar to Yorkshire. Some historians now question this. For example, Benjamin Hudson writes that Eadwulf "might have ruled just the northern part of Northumbria, the old Kingdom of Bernicia, although it is not impossible that he ruled all of Northumbria" (Hudson 2005:21) and Clare Downham notes that the death of Eadwulf "is so widely reported in 913 that it seems hard to envisage that his fame derived from a three-year reign" (Downham 2007:88). Some interpretations make Eadwulf (IV) ruler in Bernicia after Ecgberht II, that is to say from the 870s approximately. David Rollason described Eadwulf (IV) as an earl who flourished between about 890 and 912, and ruled an area north of the River Tyne and extending into what is now southern Scotland from the old Northumbrian royal centre at Bamburgh.[1] According to Benjamin Hudson, in 913 Eadred son of Rixinc invaded Eadwulf's (V) territory and killed him, then seized his wife and went to the sanctuary of the lands of St Cuthbert south of the River Tyne.[2]

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle refers to sons of Eadwulf (IV) and two sons are recorded, Ealdred (died after 927) and Uhtred (died c. 949); both ruled some part of Northumbria.

Citations[edit]

1.Jump up ^ Rollason, David (2003). Northumbria, 500-1100: Creation and Destruction of a Kingdom. Cambridge University Press. p. 213. ISBN 0 521 81335 2.

2.Jump up ^ Hudson, Benjamin T. (2004). "Ealdred (d. 933?), leader of the Northumbrians". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/39225. Retrieved 25 August 2013.(subscription or UK public library membership required)

Sources[edit]

Downham, Clare (2007), Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: The Dynasty of Ívarr to A.D. 1014, Edinburgh: Dunedin, ISBN 978-1-903765-89-0

Hall, Richard (2001), "A kingdom too far: York in the early tenth century", in Higham, N. J.; Hill, D. H., Edward the Elder 899–924, London: Routledge, pp. 188–199, ISBN 0-415-21497-1

Hudson, Benjamin (2005), Viking Pirates and Christian Princes: Dynasty, Religion and Empire in the North Atlantic, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-516237-4

Stenton, Sir Frank M. Anglo-Saxon England Third Edition. Oxford University Press, 1971.

Woolf, Alex (2007), From Pictland to Alba, 789–1070, The New Edinburgh History of Scotland, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 978-0-7486-1234-5

Notes Bernicia (Old English: Bernice, Beornice; Latin: Bernicia) was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England. The Anglian territory of Bernicia was approximately equivalent to the modern English counties of Northumberland and Durham, and the former Scottish counties of Berwickshire and East Lothian, stretching from the Forth to the Tees. In the early 7th century, it merged with its southern neighbour, Deira, to form the kingdom of Northumbria and its borders subsequently expanded considerably. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernicia]