Saint Edwin, King of Northumbria

Edwin, King of Northumbria (1)

M, #150288, b. 584, d. 12 October 633

Last Edited=20 Nov 2005

    Edwin, King of Northumbria was born in 584. (2) He was the son of Ælle, King of Deira. (1) He married, firstly, Cwenburh (?). (2) He married, secondly, Æthelberg (?), daughter of Æðelbeorht I, King of Kent, in 625. (2) 

He died on 12 October 633. (2)

    Edwin, King of Northumbria succeeded to the title of King Edwin of Northumbria in 616. (1)

Children of Edwin, King of Northumbria and Cwenburh (?)

-1. Osfrith (?) d. 633 (2)

-2. Eadfrith (?) d. bt 634 - 642 (2)

Children of Edwin, King of Northumbria and Æthelberg (?)

-1. Æthelhun (?) d. b 633 (2)

-2. Æthelthryth (?) d. b 633 (2)

-3. Wuscfrea (?) 2 (

-4. Eanflæd (?)+ b. 626 (3)

Forrás / Source:

http://www.thepeerage.com/p15029.htm#i150288

Edwin of Northumbria

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Saint Edwin (Old English: Ēadwine; c. 586 – 12 October 632/633), also known as Eadwine or Aduini, was the King of Deira and Bernicia – which would later become known as Northumbria – from about 616 until his death. He converted to Christianity and was baptised in 627; after he fell at the Battle of Hatfield Chase, he was venerated as a saint.

Edwin was the son of Ælle king of Deira and seems to have had (at least) two siblings. His sister Acha was married to Æthelfrith, king of neighbouring Bernicia. An otherwise unknown sibling fathered Hereric, who in turn fathered Abbess Hilda of Whitby and Hereswith, wife to king Anna of East Anglia's brother Æthelric.[1]

Early life and exile

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that on Ælle's death a certain "Æthelric" assumed power. The exact identity of Æthelric is uncertain. He may have been a brother of Ælle, an elder brother of Edwin, an otherwise unknown Deiran noble, or the father of Æthelfrith. Æthelfrith himself appears to have been king of "Northumbria"—both Deira and Bernicia—by no later than 604.[2] During the reign of Æthelfrith, Edwin was an exile. The location of his early exile as a child is not known, but late traditions, reported by Reginald of Durham and Geoffrey of Monmouth, place Edwin in the kingdom of Gwynedd, fostered by king Cadfan ap Iago, so allowing biblical parallels to be drawn from the struggle between Edwin and his supposed foster-brother Cadwallon. By the 610s he was certainly in Mercia, under the protection of king Cearl, whose daughter Cwenburg he married.[3]

By around 616, Edwin was in East Anglia, under the protection of king Raedwald. Bede reports that Æthelfrith tried to have Raedwald murder his unwanted rival, and that Raedwald was minded to do so, only being persuaded otherwise by his wife with Divine prompting.[4] Regardless of the exact course of events, Raedwald faced Æthelfrith in battle by the river Idle in 616, and Æthelfrith was killed, along with Raedwald's son Raegenhere.[5] Edwin was installed as king of Northumbria, effectively confirming Raedwald as Bretwalda; Æthelfrith's sons went into exile in Irish Dál Riata and Pictland. That Edwin was able to take power not only in his native Deira, but also Bernicia, may have been due to his support from Raedwald, to whom he may have remained subject during the early part of his reign. Edwin's reign marks an interruption of the otherwise consistent domination of Northumbria by the Bernicians, and has been seen as "contrary to the prevailing tendency".[6]

[edit]Edwin as king

With the death of Æthelfrith, and of the powerful Æthelberht of Kent the same year, Raedwald and his client Edwin were well placed to dominate England, and indeed Raedwald did so until his death a decade later. Edwin annexed the minor British kingdom of Elmet following a campaign in either 616 or 626. Elmet had probably been subject to Mercia and then to Edwin.[7] The much larger kingdom of Lindsey appears to have been taken over c. 625, after the death of king Raedwald.

At this time Edwin and Eadbald of Kent were allies, and Edwin arranged to marry Eadbald's sister Æthelburg. It is said by Bede that Eadbald would only agree to marry his sister to Edwin if he converted to Christianity. The marriage of Eadbald's Merovingian mother Bertha had resulted in the conversion of Kent, and Æthelburg's would do the same in Northumbria.[8]

Edwin's expansion to the west may have begun early in his reign. In the early 620s, there is firm evidence of a war being waged between Edwin and Fiachnae mac Báetáin of the Dál nAraidi, king of the Ulaid in Ireland. A lost poem is known to have existed recounting Fiachnae's campaigns against the Saxons, and the Irish annals report the siege, or the storming, of Bamburgh in Bernicia in 623–624. This should presumably be placed in the context of Edwin's designs on the Isle of Man, a target of Ulaid ambitions. Fiachnae's death in 626, at the hands of his namesake, Fiachnae mac Demmáin of the Dál Fiatach, and the second Fiachnae's death a year later in battle against the Dál Riata probably eased the way for Edwin's conquests in the Irish sea province.[9]

The routine of kingship in Edwin's time involved regular, probably annual, wars with neighbours, to obtain tribute, submission and slaves. By Edwin's death, it is likely that these annual wars, unreported in the main, had extended the Northumbrian kingdoms from the Humber and the Mersey north to the Southern Uplands and the Cheviots.[10]

The royal household moved regularly from one "royal villa" to the next, consuming the food renders given in tribute and the produce of the royal estates, dispensing justice, and ensuring that royal authority remained visible throughout the land. The royal sites in Edwin's time included Yeavering in Bernicia, where traces of a timber amphitheatre have been found. This "Roman" feature makes Bede's claim that Edwin was preceded by a standard-bearer carrying a "tufa" (OE thuuf, this may have been a winged globe) appear to be more than antiquarian curiosity, although whether the model for this practice was Roman or Frankish is unknown. Other royal sites included Campodunum in Elmet (perhaps Barwick), Sancton in Deira and Goodmanham, the site where the pagan high priest Coifi destroyed the idols according to Bede.[11] Edwin's realm included the former Roman cities of York and Carlisle, and both appear to have been of some importance in the 7th century, although it is not clear whether urban life continued at this period.[12]

[edit]Edwin's conversion to Christianity

The account of Edwin's conversion offered by Bede turns on two events. The first, during Edwin's exile, tells how Edwin's life was saved by Paulinus of York. The second, following his marriage to Æthelburg, was the attempted assassination at York, at Easter 626, by an agent of Cwichelm of Wessex, Edwin's decision to allow the baptism of his daughter Eanfled and his subsequent promise to adopt Christianity if his campaign against Cwichelm proved successful. Apart from these events, the general character of Bede's account is one of an indecisive king, unwilling to take risks, unable to decide whether to convert or not.[13]

As well as these events, the influence of Edwin's half-Merovingian Queen cannot be ignored, and the letters which Bede reproduces, sent by Pope Boniface V to Edwin and Athelburg are unlikely to have been unique. Given that Kent was under Frankish influence, while Bede sees the mission as being "Roman" in origin, the Franks were equally interested in converting their fellow Germans, and in extending their power and influence.[14] Bede recounts Edwin's baptism, and that of his chief men, on 12 April 627.[15] Edwin's zeal, so Bede says, led to Raedwald's son Eorpwald also converting.[16]

There has been recently raised the possibility that the so called "Staffordshire Hoard" (found in July 2009 on farmland near Burntwood, less than 15 miles away from Tamworth-Hatfield Chase, known in September[17]), with around 1.500 gold and silver jewels and important Christian elements, belonged to the king Edwin. At least an important part of the gold and silver pieces would constitute the gifts or helps sent to him from Rome by the Pope Boniface V. That not only would locate historically very well the hoard, but it would confirm the content of the letters of the Pope reproduced by Bede and the real extent of Rome's interest to. The place of the find is closely near to the place of the battle in which Edwin lost his life. The Vatican has already shown his interest to buy the hoard.[18]

Edwin's conversion and Eorpwald's were reversed by their successors, and in the case of Northumbria the Roman Paulinus appears to have had very little impact. Indeed, by expelling British clergy from Elmet and elsewhere in Edwin's realm, Paulinus may have weakened the Church rather than strengthening it. Very few Roman clergy were present in Paulinus's time, only James the Deacon being known, so that the "conversion" can have been only superficial, extending little beyond the royal court. Paulinus's decision to flee Northumbria at Edwin's death, unlike his acolyte James who remained in Northumbria for many years afterwards until his death, suggests that the conversion was not popular, and the senior Italian cleric unloved.[19]

[edit]Edwin as overlord

The first challenge to Edwin came soon after his marriage-alliance with Kent, concluded at Canterbury in the summer of 625. By offering his protection to lesser kings, such as the king of Wight, Edwin thwarted the ambitions of Cwichelm of Wessex. Cwichelm's response was to send an assassin, as noted already. Edwin did not immediately respond to this insult, suggesting either that he felt unable to do so, or that Bede's portrayal of him as a rather indecisive ruler is accurate. Following the failed assassination, as noted, Edwin committed himself to Christianity provided only that he was victorious against Cwichelm.

From about 627 onwards, Edwin was the most powerful king among the Anglo-Saxons, ruling Bernicia, Deira and much of eastern Mercia, the Isle of Man and Anglesey. His alliance with Kent, the subjection of Wessex, and his recent successes added to his power and authority. The imperium, as Bede calls it, that Edwin possessed was later equated with the idea of a Bretwalda, a later concept invented by West Saxon kings in the 9th century. Put simply, success confirmed Edwin's overlordship, and failure would diminish it.[20]

Edwin's supposed foster-brother Cadwallon ap Cadfan enters the record circa 629, but Cadwallon was defeated and either submitted to Edwin's authority or went into exile.[21] With the defeat of Cadwallon, Edwin's authority appears to have been unchallenged for a number of years, until Penda of Mercia and Cadwallon rose against him in 632–633.

Edwin faced Penda and Cadwallon at the Battle of Hatfield Chase in the autumn of 632 or 633, and was defeated and killed. For a time his body was (allegedly) hidden in Sherwood Forest at a location that became the village of Edwinstowe (trans. Edwin's resting place). Of his two grown sons by Cwenburh of Mercia, Osfrith died at Hatfield, and Eadfrith was captured by Penda and killed some time afterwards.[22]

After his death, Edwin's Queen Æthelburg, along with Paulinus, returned to Kent, taking her son Uscfrea, daughter Eanfled, and Osfrith's son Yffi into exile with her. Uscfrea and Yffi were sent to the court of Æthelburg's kinsman Dagobert I, king of the Franks, but died soon afterwards. Eanfled, however, lived to marry her first cousin king Oswiu, son of Acha and Æthelfrith.

[edit]Death and legacy

Edwin's realm was divided at his death. He was succeeded by Osric, son of Edwin's paternal uncle Ælfric, in Deira, and by Eanfrith, son of Æthelfrith and Edwin's sister Acha, in Bernicia. Both reverted to paganism, and both were killed by Cadwallon; eventually Eanfrith's brother Oswald defeated and killed Cadwallon and united Northumbria once more. Thereafter, with the exception of Oswine son of Osric, power in Northumbria was in the hands of the Idings, the descendants of Ida of Bernicia, until the middle of the 8th century.

After his death, Edwin came to be venerated as a saint by some, although his cult was eventually overshadowed by the ultimately more successful cult of Oswald, who was killed in 642. They met their deaths in battle against similar foes, the pagan Mercians and the British in both cases, thus allowing both of them to be perceived as martyrs; however, Bede's treatment of Oswald clearly demonstrates that he regarded Oswald as an unambiguously saintly figure, a status that he did not accord to Edwin.[24]

Edwin's renown comes largely from his treatment at some length by Bede, writing from an uncompromisingly English and Christian perspective, and rests on his belated conversion to Christianity. His united kingdom in the north did not outlast him, and his conversion to Christianity was renounced by his successors. When his kingship is compared with his pagan brother-in-law Æthelfrith, or to Æthelfrith's sons Oswald and Oswiu, or to the resolutely pagan Penda of Mercia, Edwin appears to be something less than a key figure in Britain during the first half of the 7th century. Perhaps the most significant legacies of Edwin's reign lay in his failures, the rise of Penda and of Mercia, and the return from Irish exile of the sons of Æthelfrith which tied the kingdom of Northumbria into the Irish sea world for generations.[25]

[edit]Notes

^ Higham, Kingdom of Northumbria, p. 80; Kirby, p. 72. Yorke, Kings and Kingdoms, p. 76, makes Hereric a brother of Edwin.

^ Higham, "Edwin", p. 44.

^ Cadfan: Marsden, Northamhymbre Saga, pp. 82–83; Geoffrey of Monmouth, pp. 268–269. Mercia: Bede, HE, II, xiv; Higham, Kingdom of Northumbria, pp. 112–113; Holdsworth, "Edwin".

^ Bede, HE, II, xii.

^ Bede, HE, II, xii; ASC(E), s.a. 617.

^ D. P. Kirby, The Earliest English Kings (1991, 2000), pp. 61–62.

^ Death of Ceretic in Annales Cambriae, s.a. 616; Bede, HE, IV, xxiii; Higham, Kingdom of Northumbria, pp. 84–87 & 116.

^ Bede, HE, II, ix–xi; Holdsworth, "Edwin"; Higham, Kingdom of Northumbria, pp. 113–115.

^ For Fiachnae see Ó Cróinín, Early Medieval Ireland, pp. 51–52; Byrne, Irish Kings and High Kings, p. 111. Siege or capture of Bamburgh see Annals of Ulster, s.a. 623; Annals of Tigernach, s.a. 624.

^ Higham, Kingdom of Northumbria, p. 123

^ Tufa: Bede, HE, II, xvi. Royal villas: Gittos, "Yeavering"; Holdsworth, "Edwin"; Higham, Kingdom of Northumbria, p.81; Bede, HE, II, xiii.

^ Blair, "Carlisle"; Hall, "York".

^ Bede, HE, II, ix–xiv.

^ James, The Franks, p. 103; Bede, HE, II, ix–xi; Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 60–61.

^ Bede, HE, II, xiv.

^ Bede, HE, II, xv.

^ BBC News: "Huge Anglo-Saxon gold hoard found", see spec. the official website [The Staffordshire Hoard http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/]

^ "Staffordshire hoard is wanted by The Pope and Vatican" (Sunday Mercury, 20 December 2008), "Midlands museums face Vatican battle for Staffordshire Hoard" (Birmingham Mail, 21 December 2009).

^ Higham, Kingdom of Northumbria, pp. 119–124; Lapidge, "James the Deacon"; Lapidge, "Paulinus".

^ Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 80–82; Keynes, "Bretwalda"; Holdsworth, "Edwin"; Bede, HE, II, v; Higham, Kingdom of Northumbria, p. 115.

^ AC, s.a. 629; Higham, Kingdom of Northumbria, p. 116; Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 80–82.

^ Higham, Kingdom of Northumbria, p. 124; Bede, HE,, II, xx.

^ Edwin is sometimes listed as a martyr as he died in battle with the pagan King Penda of Mercia

^ See Stancliffe, "Oswald", p. 41, for Bede's higher regard for Oswald; Thacker, "Membra Disjecta", p. 107, for the greater success of Oswald's cult.

^ Edwin's legacy: Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, pp. 81–82; Higham, Kingdom of Northumbria, p. 125ff.;Campbell, "St Cuthbert", pp. 86–87.

[edit]References

see also External links for primary sources

Blair, John, "Carlisle" in M. Lapidge et al. (eds), The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Blackwell, London, 1999. ISBN 0-631-22492-0

Campbell, James, "Elements in the Background to the Life of St Cuthbert and his Early Cult" in The Anglo-Saxon State. Hambledon & London, London, 2000. ISBN 1-85285-176-7

Geoffrey of Monmouth, The History of the Kings of Britain, translated by Lewis Thorpe. Penguin, London, 1966. ISBN 0-14-044170-0

Gittos, Helen, "Yeavering" in M. Lapidge et al. (1999).

Hall, J.A., "York" in M. Lapidge et al. (1999).

Higham, N.J., An English empire: Bede and the early Anglo-Saxon kings. Manchester U.P., Manchester, 1995. ISBN 0-7190-4424-3

Higham, N.J., "King Edwin of the Deiri: rhetoric and the reality of power in early England," in Helen Geake and Jonathan Kenny (eds), Early Deira: Archaeological studies of the East Riding in the fourth to ninth centuries AD. Oxbow, Oxford, 2000. ISBN 1-900188-90-2

Higham, N.J., The Kingdom of Northumbria AD 350–1100. Sutton, Stroud, 1993. ISBN 0-86299-730-5

Holdsworth, Philip, "Edwin, King of Northumbria" in Lapidge et al. (eds) (1999)

James, Edward, The Franks. Blackwell, Oxford, 1988. ISBN 0-631-17936-4

Keyes, Simon, "Bretwalda" in M. Lapidge et al. (1999).

Kirby, D.P., The Earliest English Kings. Unwin, London, 1991. ISBN 0-04-445692-1

Lapidge, Michael, "James the Deacon" in M. Lapidge et al. (1999).

Lapidge, Michael, "Paulinus" in M. Lapidge et al. (1999).

Marsden, J., Northanhymbre Saga: The History of the Anglo-Saxon Kings of Northumbria. London: Cathie, 1992. ISBN 1-85626-055-0

Ó Cróinín, Dáibhí, Early Medieval Ireland: 400–1200. Longman, London, 1995. ISBN 0-582-01565-0

Stancliffe, Clare, "Oswald: Most Holy and Most Victorious King of the Northumbrians" in Clare Stancliffe & Eric Cambridge (eds) Oswald: Northumbrian King to European Saint. Paul Watkins, Stamford, 1995. ISBN 1-871615-51-8

Stenton, Sir Frank, Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1971 (3rd edn) ISBN 0-19-280139-2

Thacker, Alan, "Membra Disjecta: the Division of the Body and the Diffusion of the Cult" in Stancliffe & Cambridge (1995).

Wood, Ian, "Conversion" in M. Lapidge et al. (1999).

Yorke, Barbara, Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. Seaby, London, 1990. ISBN 0-415-16639-X

Edwin was a prince of the Deiran Royal family from Yorkshire, the eldest son of King Aelle. After his father's death in AD 588, the kingdom was annexed by the armies of King Aethelfrith from adjoining Bernicia, Edwin was forced to flee and he "wandered secretly as a fugitive through many places and kingdoms". He was still a boy when tradition has him initially seeking sanctuary at the court of King Iago of Gwynedd. Here he must have grown up alongside the King's sons (an impossible legend says grandsons) and became a particular rival of his foster-nephew, Prince Cadwallon. He may also have spent some time at the Mercian Court. These people were the natural allies of the Northern Welsh and it seems to have been around this time that Edwin married Princess Cwenburga, daughter of King Ceorl of Mercia. They soon had two children, Osfrith and Edfrith. With Aethelfirth now secure in the North, in AD 613, he decided to try and root out Edwin from Wales. The two forces clashed at the Battles of Chester and Bangor-on-Dee. King Iago of Gwynedd and a number of other British monarchs were killed in the fighting and Edwin felt it best to move his family to the court of the Saxon Bretwalda, King Redwald of East Anglia, in order to protect Cadfan, the new King of Gwynedd, from further attacks. Aethelfrith sent envoys to Redwald with bribes and threats and the mighty monarch was sorely tempted to give Edwin up to his enemies. However, the Queen persuaded Redwald that this would be shameful in the extreme. So, instead, in AD 616, the two raised an army and marched North to engage the Bernicians on the banks of the River Idle. The Northern army was thoroughly defeated and its King killed.

Edwin immediately pressed forward his advantage and overran Bernicia as well as his own homeland of Deira. Aethelfrith's sons (including Princes Enfrith, Oswald and Oswiu) fled to exile in Gododdin and Scottish Dalriada. The following year, the new monarch of a united Northumbria decided to enlarge his kingdom still further by conquering the British Kingdom of Elmet, and slaying King Ceretic in the process. His armies also moved into Strathclyde and Gododdin looking for Aethlefrith's eldest son, Enfrith, who was obliged to move northwards into Pictland. It was almost certainly also Edwin's armies which overran South Rheged and forced King Llywarch Hen and his family to flee to Powys. It was supposedly during this conquest period that he came into contact with the Royal House of North Rheged and was baptized into the Christian faith by Prince Rhun. However, he must have lapsed back into paganism soon afterward for, in AD 625, Edwin married - traditionally on the site of St. Gregory's Church, Kirknewton - the Princess Ethelburga sister of King Edbald of Kent and, though he welcomed her personal chaplain, St. Paulinus, as Archbishop of York, Edwin himself was a still pagan.

It seems that Edwin's Mercian wife had been put aside for no other reason than political expediency. This, no doubt, led to much bad-feeling in Mercia and the lady's cousin, King Penda, seems to have allied himself with the kingdom of Wessex around this time. In AD 626, Prince Cwichelm of Wessex sent an assassin north to murder Edwin. He was, however, saved from being stabbed by the timely intervention of one of his thanes. By co-incidence, Edwin's daughter, Enflaed, was born that same night and it is said that the King promised to give her to St. Paulinus for baptism, if he was victorious over the assassin's paymaster. Discovering Cwichelm's treachery, Edwin marched on Wessex. Prince Cwichelm and his father, King Cynegils of Wessex, marched north to meet the Northumbrians at the Battle of Win Hill & Lose Hill (Derbys), probably with the aid of King Penda. Despite their army's superior numbers, the Wessex duo were defeated and fled south once more. Edwin, of course, kept his promise to St. Paulinus.

Following his victory over Wessex, Edwin may have even been acknowledged as overlord of all the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms (save for Kent). Bede certainly records that Edwin held imperium south of the Humber. Soon afterward, he decided to extend his overlordship still further into more British kingdoms. With a substantial fleet at his disposal, Edwin conquered the Isle of Man, forcing King Anllech to flee, before moving on to Gwynedd. His old foster-brother, King Cadfan, had recently died and Edwin seems to have been determined to put his old rivalry with Cadwallon to bed once and for all. The Northumbrian King conquered Anglesey and besieged his foster-nephew on Puffin Island before finally forcing him to flee to Brittany.

Edwin then began to consolidate his position. At the Royal Court in Yeavering, he allowed Paulinus to convert him to Christianity once more. The King then travelled to York for baptism in Paulinus' proto-Cathedral and persuaded all his nobles, as well as sub-Kings (such as King Eorpwald of East Anglia) to follow suit: thus ensuring unity within the country. It was a prestigious move which brought letters and gifts from the Pope in Rome. Edwin also set about re-fortifying York and the famous 'Anglian Tower' may date from this time. Though this city might be considered Edwin's capital, he held a number of important administrative centres and resided in them on a circuit basis similar to that used by later Saxon and Norman Kings. The most important were Yeavering in Bernicia, York and Catterick in Deira and Campoduno (near Doncaster) in Elmet. Bede describes how Edwin would travel around, preceded by a standard bearer "as he rode among his cities, estates and kingdoms with his thegns. Further, when he walked anywhere along the roads, there used to be carried before him the type of standard which the Romans call a tufa and the English call a thuf."

Such peaceful times were not to last however. Trouble was brewing. King Cadwallon of Gwynedd soon returned from the Continent looking for revenge. In AD 633, he marched a great British army into the North and clashed with the Northumbrians at Hatfield Chase. King Edwin was killed in the fighting at Edwinstowe (Notts) and the victorious Cadwallon went on to decimate his country. Edwin's supporters managed to take his body for burial in the Royal Abbey of Whitby. He was later revered as a saint, and his head was translated to York Minster. The King's family, however, fled to Kent and the kingdom was nominally divided between Enfrith of Bernicia and Osric of Deira.