Ecgfrith (Northumbria)

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England at the time of Ecgfrith

Ecgfrith (also Ecgfrithus, Ecgfrid, Ecgfridus, Egfridus, Ecgferð, Ecgferþ, Æcgfrid etc .; * 645/646; † 20 May 685 ) was sub-king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Deira from 664 to 670 and king of Northumbria from 670 to 685 .

Life

Family and youth

Ecgfrith's father Oswiu was the son of King Æthelfrith of the Bernicia royal dynasty . His grandmother Acha came from the Deir royal family.

Oswiu was married three times. His first wife or concubine during his exile (616–634) was Fina, the daughter of the Irish Colman Rimid. The son Aldfrith (also Fland Fina or Flann Fina mac Ossu ) emerged from this relationship, which was illegitimate according to Beda . He probably went into a second marriage between 634 and 643 with Rhianmellt from Rheged , a daughter of Royth. His children Ealhfrith and Ealhflæd seem to have come from one of the first two marriages, as Ealhflæd was married to Peada , the king of the middle fishing rods , around the year 653 , and Ealhfrith was certainly grown up when he became sub-king in Deira in 655. Since, in contrast to Aldfrith, they were not called illegitimate, they are often seen as the children of Oswius with Rhianmellt. Finally he married his cousin Eanflæd around 643 with whom he had several children: the son Ecgfrith (* 645/646), the daughters Ælfflæd (* around 654, abbess of Whitby) and Osthryth and probably also his son Ælfwine (* around 661) .

Ecgfrith is first mentioned in 655 as a hostage at the court of the Mercian Queen Cynewise. He was released from hostage after King Penda (626-655) of Mercia was defeated on November 15, 655 in the Battle of Winwaed by Oswiu. At the age of 15 he was married in 660 to the widowed hrthelthryth , the daughter of King Anna of East Anglia , who was about 10 years his senior , with which Oswiu also expanded his influence in the southeast of the island. After separating from Æthelthryth, he married Eormenburg around 675. Centwine , the king of the Gewissæ , was married to a sister-in-law of Ecgfrith who was not known by name. At an unknown point in time, his sister Osthryth married King Æthelred of Mercia. The sister Ealhflæd had been married around the year 653 to Peada , the king of the middle fishing rods and brother Æthelreds.

Domination

Succession to the throne

Ealhfrith (655–664), Oswius 'son from a previous marriage, seems to have tried to break Deira from Oswius' supremacy. Around 664 he disappeared from the sources and Ecgfrith took his place as sub-king in Deira. Oswiu died on February 15, 670 from an illness and was in the St. Peter's Church of the Monastery Abbey Whitby buried in the Eanflæd his widow entered a nun. Ecgfrith succeeded as Upper King Northumbria, while his brother Ælfwine ruled as subregulus in Deira.

Early successes

After Oswius' death, the Picts rebelled . In 672 Ecgfrith and his subregulus (sub-king) Beornhæth defeated them and drove their king Drest out. As a result, he expropriated Irish-Scottish church property in Elmet and Rheged , which he transferred to Bishop Wilfrith of York and Prior Cuthbert of Lindisfarne . He merged the conquered territories with Northumbria. His participation in the Synod of Hertford , chaired by Archbishop Theodor, in 672 is seen as an expression of his supremacy.

Ecgfrith urged Æthelthryth, who had taken a vow of chastity, more and more to consummate marriage. She turned to Bishop Wilfrith of York, who made it possible for her to be accepted as a nun in Coludi (now Coldingham , Scotland), the priory of Ecgfrith's aunt Æbbe, around 672 . Perhaps this was the reason Ecgfrith and Bishop Wilfrith fell apart. In 673 Æthelthryth founded the double monastery of Ely Abbey in Ely with the support of her cousin, the East Anglian king Ealdwulf , of which she was the abbess herself. She stayed there until her death and led an ascetic life.

In 674 Ecgfrith defeated King Wulfhere (658–675) of Mercia, who had invaded Northumbria, and brought the kingdom of Lindsey and probably a large part of Mercias under his direct control. Around 675 he married Eormenburg. In 678, at the instigation of Queen Eormenburg, Ecgfrith and Bishop Wilfrith of York broke up. Wilfrith was deposed and his diocese of Ecgfrith was divided by agreement with Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury : Bosa was made Bishop of Deira in 678 in York from Theodore to Bishop of Deira , based in York , Eata to Bishop of Bernicia, with offices in Hagustald ( Hexham ) and Lindisfarne (monastery) and Eadhæd ordained first bishop of Lindsey. The Anglo-Saxon Trumwine became Bishop of Abercorn in West Lothian in Pict .

Setbacks

In the cemetery of Aberlemno (near Dunnichen ) stands this sculptural stone , which probably represents the battle of Dunnichen Mere.

At the beginning of his rule, Wulfheres successor Æthelred (674 / 675-704) approached Northumbria. He married Osthryth , Ecgfrith's sister - but soon afterwards there were again disagreements between the two kingdoms, presumably over the possession of the Kingdom of Lindsey, which again led to war. In 679 there was a battle on the River Trent , which Æthelred was victorious. Ecgfrith had to cede Lindsey to Mercia, but received on the intervention of Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury wergeld for the death of his brother Ælfwine , who had died in the battle. As a result, Æthelred expanded his dominance over the south of England. Eadhæd had to leave Lindsey and in 680 became the only bishop of Ripon. Presumably the Ripon diocese was created especially for Eadhæd. After the death of his brother Ælfwine (670? –679) Ecgfrith did not install a new sub-king in Deira, but established the final unit of Northumbria, whose southern border was again the Humber.

Thanks to the donation of land from King Ecgfrith, Benedict Biscop was able to found the Benedictine Abbey of Monkwearmouth (674) and the associated Jarrow Priory (681) with Ceolfrid as prior. In 680 Archbishop Theodore convened the Synod of Hatfield , in which the kings Hlothhere (Kent), Æthelred (Mercia) , Ealdwulf (East Anglia) and Ecgfrith (Northumbria) took part alongside bishops and priests per universam Britanniam ("from all over Britain") . However, the document issued there with the signatures of the kings is a forgery. Wilfrith had presented his "case" to Pope Agatho and returned to Northumbria in 680. But neither Archbishop Theodor nor King Ecgfrith recognized the papal letter. Queen Eormenburg robbed him of the relics he had brought with him and Wilfrith was imprisoned for nine months. Around 681 he went into exile in Sussex and proselytized the pagans there with great success.

Northumbria was threatened to the north and west by the Irish and Picts, who may have been allied with Ecgfrith's half-brother Aldfrith . In 684 he sent the Ealdorman Beorht on a successful looting expedition to Ireland , which had no lasting consequences, but at least demonstrated the range of Ecgfrith's power.

The Council of Twyford, chaired by King Ecgfrith and Archbishop Theodore, elected Cuthbert Bishop of Hexham in 684 to succeed the deposed Trumberht . However, Cuthbert preferred Lindisfarne. So Cuthbert and Eata exchanged dioceses in 685 and Eata became bishop of Hexham for the second time, while Cuthbert was ordained bishop of Lindisfarne in York on March 26, 685 in the presence of Ecgfrith .

Death and succession

In 685 war broke out with the Picts , led by Brude mac Bili. At Nechtansmere , today's Dunnichen , the battle of Dunnichen Mere took place on May 20, 685 . Ecgfrith's forces were ambushed and wiped out; he himself fell in battle. This ended the Northumbrian hegemony in the north as well. The Pictish diocese of Abercorn, founded by Ecgfrith, was abandoned and the river Forth formed the northumbrian northern border. Ecgfrith's body was buried in Iona monastery and his half-brother Aldfrith , not least due to the influence of his sister Ælfflæd, was proclaimed king as the successor to Ecgfrith, who had died childless.

swell

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l J. R. Maddicott: Ecgfrith (645 / 6–685) ( Memento of the original dated December 9, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.oxforddnb.com archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked . Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (paid registration required). In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
  2. ^ A b Simon Keynes: Kings of the Northumbrians . In: Lapidge et al. (Ed.): The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England . Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford et al. a. 2001, ISBN 978-0-631-22492-1 , pp. 502-505.
  3. ^ A b c Philip Holdsworth: Oswiu . In: Lapidge et al. (Ed.): The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England . Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford et al. a. 2001, ISBN 978-0-631-22492-1 , p. 349.
  4. ↑ a b c Martin Grimmer: The Exogamous Marriages of Oswiu of Northumbria . In: The Heroic Age, issue 9 . October 2006. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
  5. ^ David W. Rollason: Northumbria, 500-1100: Creation and Destruction of a Kingdom . Cambridge University Press, 2003, ISBN 978-0-521-81335-8 , pp. 6-7.
  6. ↑ JMP Calise: Pictish Sourcebook: Documents of Medieval Legend and Dark Age History . ABC-CLIO / Greenwood, 2002, ISBN 978-0-313-32295-2 , p. 177.
  7. ^ Michelle Ziegler: The Politics of Exile in Early Northumbria. ( January 10, 2011 memento on the Internet Archive ) Memorial University of Newfoundland
  8. ^ Barbara Yorke: Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England . Routledge, London-New York 2002, ISBN 978-0-415-16639-3 , p. 76.
  9. ^ A b Nicholas J. Higham: The convert kings: power and religious affiliation in early Anglo-Saxon England . Manchester University Press, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7190-4828-9 , p. 234.
  10. ↑ a b Beda: HE 3.24
  11. ↑ Bertram Colgrave: The Earliest Life of Gregory the Great . Cambridge University Press, 1985, ISBN 978-0-521-31384-1 , p. 42.
  12. ↑ Beda: HE 4,21
  13. ↑ a b R. C. Love: Æthelthryth . In: Michael Lapidge et al. (Ed.): The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England . Wiley-Blackwell, 2001, ISBN 978-0-631-22492-1 , p. 18.
  14. ↑ Barbara Yorke: Centwine  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.oxforddnb.com   (paid registration required). In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved November 13, 2011
  15. ↑ Rosemary Cramp: Alchfrith (fl. C.655 – c.665)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.oxforddnb.com   (paid registration required). In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Oxford University Press, 2004; Retrieved November 11, 2011
  16. ↑ Beda: HE 4,5
  17. ^ Barbara Yorke: Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England . Routledge, London-New York 2002, ISBN 978-0-415-16639-3 , p. 92.
  18. ^ John Thomas Koch: Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia . ABC-CLIO, 2006, ISBN 978-1-85109-440-0 , p. 611.
  19. ^ A b John Thomas Koch: Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia . ABC-CLIO, 2006, ISBN 978-1-85109-440-0 , pp. 644-646.
  20. ^ Barbara Yorke: Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England . Routledge, London-New York 2002, ISBN 978-0-415-16639-3 , pp. 83-85.
  21. ↑ Beda: HE 5.24
  22. ↑ Beda: HE 4:19
  23. ↑ Beda: HE 4.12
  24. ↑ Beda: HE 4-21 ; Vita Wilfredi , c. 24
  25. ^ NJ Higham: The Kingdom of Northumbria . P. 139
  26. ^ Powicke: Handbook of British Chronology . P. 238; see: Beda: HE 3.28
  27. ^ Farmer: Saint Wilfrid. In: DP Kirby: Saint Wilfrid at Hexham. ISBN 0-85362-155-1 , p. 59, footnote 55
  28. ↑ S1428a
  29. ^ Nicholas J. Higham: An English Empire: Bede, the Britons, and the Early Anglo-Saxon Kings . Manchester University Press, 1995, ISBN 978-0-7190-4423-6 , pp. 119-120.
  30. ↑ Beda: HE 4:13
  31. ↑ a b Beda: HE 4.26
  32. ↑ Beda: Vita Sancti Cudbercti , Chapter XXIV
  33. ↑ Beda: HE 4,28
  34. ^ Symeon of Durham , translator: J. Stevenson: The Historical Works of Simeon of Durham . In: Church Historians of England, volume III, part II . Seeley's. 1855. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
  35. ^ Barbara Yorke: Kings and Kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England . Routledge, London-New York 2002, ISBN 978-0-415-16639-3 , p. 80.
  36. ^ Richard Sharpe: Iona . In: Lapidge et al. (Ed.): The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England . Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford et al. a. 2001, ISBN 978-0-631-22492-1 , pp. 254-255.
predecessor Office successor
Ealhfrith King of Deira
664–670 		Ælfwine
predecessor Office successor
Oswiu King of Northumbria
670–685 		Aldfrith
personal data
SURNAME Ecgfrith
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ecgfrithus; Ecgfrid; Ecgfridus; Egfridus; Ecgferð; Ecgferþ; Æcgfrid
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of Northumbria
DATE OF BIRTH 645 or 646
DATE OF DEATH May 20, 685