Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria

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Gospatric ( Cumbrian "servant of (Saint) Patrick" † after 1073 at Norham Castle ) was Earl of Northumbria or Bernicia in England, and later master of considerable estates around Dunbar in Scotland. His descendants held the Earldom of Dunbar , later known as the Earldom of March , in southeast Scotland until 1435 .

background

Gospatric was through his mother Ealdgyth and her mother Ælfgifu, who was married to Uhtred , Earl of Northumbria, a great-grandson of King Æthelred of England .

He is often referred to as the son of Maldred, the son of Crínán von Dunkeld . It has been suggested that Maldred was not a son of Crínán's well-known wife Bethóc, the daughter of the Scottish King Malcolm III. , because the descendants of Gospatric did not make such a claim when they presented their plea at the Great Cause (the 1291 congregation to determine the Scottish succession), but Gospatric's direct descendant, Patrick Dunbar, 7th Earl of Dunbar made exactly this claim (see Contenders for the Scottish Throne ).

Instead of having to descend from a half-brother of King Donnchad mac Crínán , Gospatric was possibly the youngest son of Earl Uhtred († 1016). Another construction makes Gospatric the grandson of Uhtred's abandoned first wife, Ecgfritha, daughter of Bishop Aldhun of Durham , through Sigrida, her daughter, and Kilvert, son of Ligulf. Whatever his parentage, Gospatric was clearly an important figure in Northumbria and Cumbria , with ties to the Earl Uhtred family.

The Vita Ædwardi Regis , commissioned by Queen Edith , contains an account of the pilgrimage to Rome by Tostig Godwinson , Earl of Northumbria. She tells how a band of robbers attacked Tostig and the pilgrims with him in Italy in order to kidnap the earl. A certain Gospatric "was considered Earl Tostig because of the luxury of his clothes and his physical appearance, which was indeed excellent" and he succeeded in deceiving the alleged kidnappers as to his identity until the real Earl was safe. Whether it was the same Gospatric or a relative of the same name is unclear, but it is believed that he was a member of Tostig's group as both a hostage and a guest.

Harrying of the North

After his victory over Harold Godwinson in the Battle of Hastings , William the Conqueror appointed a certain Copsi or Copsig, a follower of the late Count Tostig, who had been exiled with his master in 1065, as Earl of Bernicia. Within five weeks, Copsi was dead, killed by Osulf von Bamburgh , grandson of Uhtred, who proclaimed himself earl. Osulf was murdered by bandits in the autumn, after less than six months as Earl. At this point, Gospatric, who had a plausible claim to the Earldom due to the likelihood that he was related to Oswulf and Uhtred, offered King William a large sum in order to receive the Earldom of Bernicia. The king, who was in the process of collecting high taxes, accepted.

Early in 1068, a series of revolts in England and invasion of foreign troops threatened King William seriously. Gospatric is mentioned among the leaders of the uprising along with Edgar Ætheling , Edwin, Earl of Mercia and his brother Morcar . The uprising soon collapsed and Wilhelm went on to expropriate many of the northern landowners and give the land to Normans . For Gospatric this meant the loss of his earldom to Robert de Comines and exile in Scotland. King William's authority, aside from minor local problems such as Hereward the Wake and Eadric the Wild , now seemed sure to extend over England.

Gospatric joined the invading army of Danes, Scots and English under Edgar Ætheling the next year. Although the army was defeated, he was thereafter able to come to terms with the conqueror from his possession Bamburgh Castle , who let him do so until 1072. The extensive destruction of Northumbria known as the Harrying of the North relates to this period.

exile

In 1072, William the Conqueror removed Gospatric from his Earldom of Northumbria and replaced him with Sidwards son Waltheof, 1st Earl of Northampton .

Gospatric fled into exile in Scotland and shortly afterwards went to Flanders . When he returned to Scotland, he received from King Malcolm III. the castle "Dunbar and lands next to it" in "The Merse" ( Berwickshire ) This nameless county in the Scottish-controlled north of Bernicia was later called "Earldom of Dunbar".

According to the chronicle of Roger von Hoveden , Gospatric did not live long in exile:

Shortly afterwards he summoned Aldwin and Turgot, the monks who were living in Meilros at the time , in poverty and contrite in spirit, for Christ's sake, and ended his life in Ubbanford with a full confession of his sins and great lamentation and penance also called Norham, and was buried in the doorway of the church there.

He was the father of three sons and at least one daughter named Uchtreda, who married Duncan of Scotland , the son of King Malcolm III. His sons are :,

  • Gospatric II, Earl of Lothian, who was killed in the Battle of the Standard in 1138 .
  • Dolfin of Carlisle, who presumably got the rule of Carlisle from Malcolm ; Dolfin has also been identified with Dolfin de Bradeley and is believed to be the ancestor of the Bradley, Staveley, De Hebden, and Thoresby families.
  • Waltheof of Allerdale, Abbot of Croyland

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Thomas M. Charles-Edwards, Wales and the Britons , Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013, p. 578
  2. ↑ Anderson (1990)
  3. ↑ Anderson (1991), p. 81
  4. ↑ Fletcher, p. 76, plate 3; Anderson (1991), p. 96, with reference to Symeon of Durham , "Gospatric, son of Maldred, Crinan's son", also pp. 80-81, and again with reference to Symeon and the marriage of Ealdgyth, daughter of Uhtreds , with "Maldred, son of Crinan the thane". However, it is not clear that "Crinan the thane," Maldred's father, and Crínán, father of King Donnchad, are the same person.
  5. ↑ Duncan, pp. 348-349, plate C.
  6. ↑ Forte, Oram, Perdersen, p. 204.
  7. ↑ Fletcher, pp. 152-154.
  8. ↑ Fletcher, pp. 169-171; Higham, p. 242; Stenton, pp. 601-602.
  9. ↑ Fletcher, p. 171
  10. ↑ Fletcher, pp. 171-173; Higham, pp. 241-242; Stenton, p. 601.
  11. ↑ a b c Anderson (1991), p. 96
  12. ↑ Anderson (1991), p. 96, citing Symeon of Durhams Historia Regum , Volume 2, p. 199
personal data
SURNAME Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gospatric
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Earl of Northumbria
DATE OF BIRTH 11th century
DATE OF DEATH after 1073
Place of death at Norham Castle