Osberht

Osberht had this styca minted by mint master Monne in York

Osberht (also Osbriht, Osbryht, Osbyrht, Osbeorht, Osbert ; † March 21, 867 ) was king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria from 848/849 to 862/863 and again briefly in 867 . Alternatively, his reign is dated from 862 to 867.

Life

The sources on Osberht are very short and contradictory. Nothing is known about his ancestry, but it is possible that he was a relative of Rædwulf (844 or 858) and Ælle (862 / 863–867), who were also kings of Northumbria. Although most sources list Æll as an illegitimate ruler, the Historia de sancto Cuthberto identifies him as Osberht's brother.

Exactly dating his coronation is just as problematic as determining his reign. Symeon of Durham, a 12th century chronicler, narrated a reign from 849 to 862, in accordance with other documents of his time. According to Roger von Wendover , a 13th century chronicler, he ascended the throne in 848 and was deposed in 866. Osberht coins, which stylistically correspond to those of Archbishop Wulfhere von York (854–900), indicate a significantly later and shorter reign from around 862 to 867. It is certain that he ascended the throne after the assassination of thelred II .

Geffrei Gaimar mentions in his legendary Estorie des Engles (written around 1140) that Osberht raped the wife of Buern and that he was deposed in revenge and called the Vikings into the country to kill Osberht. Chroniclers give 862/863 as the year of his deposition, while coin finds strongly indicate that he remained in office until 866. All sources agree that the “rightful king” Osberht was deposed and Ælle , a “ tyrant who could not assert a claim to the throne”, was appointed as his successor. During the ensuing civil war, Osberht was guilty of the sacrilege of robbing the church of lands at Wercewurde ( Warkworth ) and Tillemuthe ( Tillmouth ) in northern Bernicia . Ælle confiscated church properties near Billingham , Ileclif (Cliffe), Wigeclif (Wycliffe) and Crece ( Crayke ) in southern Deira to finance his army.

Faced with the danger posed by the " Great Pagan Army " (Vikings) under Ubba Ragnarsson and Ivar Ragnarsson , who were marching on York from East Anglia , Osberht and Ælle were reconciled. They united their armies and pursued the Vikings who conquered York on November 1, 866 and entrenched themselves. When the Northumbrians breached the fortifications on March 21, 867 and stormed the city, the Vikings made a successful breakout. Osberht, Ælle, and a large part of the Northumbrian army were slaughtered; the survivors made peace.

The Vikings used Ecgberht I (867–872) as a puppet king and turned to Mercia the following summer . In the mid-870s, Northumbria was divided. The northern Bernicia remained under the rule of Anglo-Saxon vassal kings, while the southern Deira became the Danish kingdom of Jórvík and thus part of the Danelag .

swell

• anonymous: Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Online in Project Gutenberg (English)
• Asser : Vita Alfredi ; The Life of King Alfred Online (English) at Online Medieval and Classical Library
• Symeon of Durham : Historia ecclesiae Dunelmensis (History of the Church of Durham)
• Symeon of Durham: De Gestis Regum Anglorum (Deeds of the English Kings)
• Æthelweard : Chronica
• anonymous: Historia de Sancto Cuthberto
• Geffrei Gaimar: Estorie des Engles

literature

• Barbara Yorke : Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England . Routledge, London-New York 2002, ISBN 978-0-415-16639-3 . PDF (6.2 MB)
• Alex Woolf : From Pictland to Alba: 789-1070 Volume 2. Edinburgh University Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-7486-1234-5 .
• Barrie Cook, Gareth Williams (Eds.): Coinage and History in the North Sea World, c. AD 500-1200 . Brill, 2006, ISBN 978-900414777-5 .
• DP Kirby: The Earliest English Kings . Routledge, London-New York 2000, ISBN 978-0-415-24211-0 .

Web links

• David W. Rollason: Osberht (paid registration required). In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved February 4, 2012
• Osberht 6 ( Memento from September 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) in Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England (PASE)
• Osberht in Foundation for Medieval Genealogy

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{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.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} David W. Rollason: Osberht ( Memento from May 22, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) . In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved February 4, 2012
3. ↑ DP Kirby: The Earliest English Kings . Routledge, London-New York 2000, ISBN 978-0-415-24211-0 , p. 163.
4. ↑ ^{a b} David W. Rollason: Ælle ( Memento from September 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved February 4, 2012
5. ↑ Geffrei Gaimar: Estorie des Engles . In: Joseph Stevenson (transl.): The Church historians of England . Oxford University, 1854, pp. 760-761.
6. ^ William M. Aird: St Cuthbert and the Normans: the Church of Durham, 1071-1153 (Studies in the History of Medieval Religion Vol. 14). Boydell & Brewer, 1998, ISBN 978-0-85115-615-6 , pp. 28-29.
7. ↑ Asser : Vita Alfredi
8. ^ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 867
9. ↑ Angelo Forte, Richard D. Oram, Frederik Pedersen: Viking empires . Cambridge University Press, 2005 ISBN 978-0-521-82992-2 , p. 6970.
10. ^ Philip Holdsworth: Northumbria . 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. 334-335.

predecessor	Office	successor
Æthelred II.	King of Northumbria 848–862 or 862–867 866–867 together with Ælle	Ecgberht I.