Editing Edwin of Northumbria (section)

== Early life and exile ==
The ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' reported that on Ælle's death a certain "[[Æthelric of Deira|Æthelric]]" assumed power. The exact identity of Æthelric is unclear. 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.<ref>Higham, "Edwin", p. 44.</ref> An otherwise unknown sibling fathered Hereric, who in turn fathered Abbess [[Hilda of Whitby]] and Hereswith, wife to Æthelric, the brother of king [[Anna of East Anglia]].<ref>Higham, ''Kingdom of Northumbria'', p. 80; Kirby, p. 72. Yorke, ''Kings and Kingdoms'', p. 76, makes Hereric a brother of Edwin.</ref> 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 ap Cadfan|Cadwallon]]. By the 610s, he was certainly in Mercia under the protection of king [[Cearl of Mercia|Cearl]], whose daughter, Cwenburg, he married.<ref>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".</ref>

By around 616, Edwin was in East Anglia under the protection of king [[Rædwald of East Anglia|Rædwald]]. [[Bede]] reports that Æthelfrith tried to have Rædwald murder his unwanted rival, and that Rædwald intended to do so until his wife persuaded him otherwise with Divine prompting.<ref>Bede, ''HE'', II, xii.</ref>  Æthelfrith faced Rædwald in the [[Battle of the River Idle]] in 616, and Æthelfrith was defeated; Rædwald installed Edwin as king of Northumbria. Rædwald's son Rægenhere may have been killed at this battle, but the exact date or manner of Rædwald's death are not known. He likely died between the years 616–627, and the efficacy of Edwin's kingship ostensibly depended greatly on his fealty to Rædwald.<ref>Rowley, Sharon M. The Old English Version of Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica. Boydell and Brewer: Suffolk, 2011.</ref>

Edwin was installed as king of Northumbria, effectively confirming Rædwald as ''[[bretwalda]]'': Æthelfrith's sons went into exile in [[Gaels|Gaelic]] kingdom of [[Dál Riata]] and [[Picts|Pictland]]. That Edwin was able to take power not only in his native Deira but also in Bernicia may have been due to his support from Rædwald, 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".{{sfn|Kirby|2000|pp=61–62}}