Editing Northumbria (section)

===Communities and divisions===
====Possible Celtic British origins====
The [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] kingdom of Northumbria was originally two kingdoms divided approximately around the [[River Tees]]: [[Bernicia]] was to the north of the river and [[Deira]] to the south.<ref>{{harvnb|Rollason|2003|p=44}}</ref> It is possible that both regions originated as native [[Celtic British]] kingdoms, which the [[Anglo-Saxon Settlement of Britain|Germanic settlers]] later conquered, although there is very little information about the infrastructure and culture of the British kingdoms themselves.<ref name="Rollason2003p81">{{harvnb|Rollason|2003|p=81}}</ref> Much of the evidence for them comes from regional names that are British rather than Anglo-Saxon in origin. The names Deira and Bernicia are likely British in origin, for example, indicating that some British place names retained currency after the Anglo-Saxon migrations to Northumbria.{{efn|In addition to Bernicia and Deira, some other British place names are recorded for important Northumbrian locations. Northumbrian scholar [[Bede]] ({{circa|731}}) and Welsh ninth-century chronicler [[Nennius]] both provide British place names for centres of power. Nennius, for example, refers to the royal city of [[Bamburgh]] as Din Guaire.<ref>{{harvnb|Bede|1969}} Book IV Chapter 19</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Nennius|2005}} para 62</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Higham|1993|p=81}}</ref><ref name="Rollason2003p81"/>}} There is also some archeological evidence to support British origins for the polities of Bernicia and Deira. In what would have been southern Bernicia, in the [[Cheviot Hills]], a hill fort at [[Yeavering]] Bell contains evidence that it was an important centre for first the British and later the Anglo-Saxons. The fort is originally pre-[[Ancient Rome|Roman]], dating back to the [[Iron Age]] at around the first century. In addition to signs of Roman occupation, the site contains evidence of timber buildings that pre-date Germanic settlement in the area that are probably signs of British settlement. Moreover, Brian Hope-Taylor has traced the origins of the name Yeavering, which looks deceptively English, back to the British gafr from Bede's mention of a township called Gefrin in the same area.<ref>{{harvnb|Hope-Taylor|1983|pp=15–16}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Rollason|2003|pp=83–84}}</ref> Yeavering continued to be an important political centre after the Anglo-Saxons began settling in the north, as King [[Edwin of Northumbria|Edwin]] had a royal palace at Yeavering.<ref>{{harvnb|Bede|2008}} Book II, Chapter 14</ref>

Overall, English place-names dominate the Northumbrian landscape, suggesting the prevalence of an Anglo-Saxon elite culture by the time that Bede – Anglo-Saxon England's most prominent historian – was writing in the eighth century.<ref>{{harvnb|Bede|2008|p=93}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Rollason|2003|pp=57–64}}</ref> According to Bede, the [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]] were the predominant Germanic immigrants, who settled north of the Humber and gained political prominence during this period.<ref>{{harvnb|Bede|2008}} Book I, Chapter 15</ref> While the British natives may have partially assimilated into the Northumbrian political structure, relatively contemporary textual sources such as Bede's ''[[Ecclesiastical History of the English People]]'' depict relations between Northumbrians and the [[Celtic Britons|British]] as fraught.<ref>{{harvnb|Rollason|2003|p=100}}</ref>

====Unification of Bernicia and Deira====
The Anglo-Saxon states of Bernicia and Deira were often in conflict before their eventual semi-permanent unification in 651. Political power in Deira was concentrated in the East Riding of [[Yorkshire]], which included [[York]], the North York Moors, and the Vale of York.<ref>{{harvnb|Rollason|2003|pp=45–48}}</ref> The political heartlands of Bernicia were the areas around Bamburgh and [[Lindisfarne]], [[Monkwearmouth]] and [[Jarrow]], and in [[Cumbria]], west of the [[Pennines]] in the area around [[Carlisle, Cumbria|Carlisle]].<ref>{{harvnb|Rollason|2003|pp=48–52}}</ref> The name that these two states eventually united under, Northumbria, might have been coined by Bede and made popular through his ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People''.<ref>{{harvnb|Yorke|1990|p=74}}</ref>

Information on the early royal genealogies for Bernicia and Deira comes from Bede's ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' and Nennius' ''[[Historia Brittonum]]''. According to Nennius, the Bernician royal line begins with [[Ida of Bernicia|Ida]], son of [[Eoppa of Bernicia|Eoppa]].<ref>{{harvnb|Nennius|2005}} para 57, 59</ref> Ida reigned for twelve years (beginning in 547) and was able to annex Bamburgh to Bernicia.<ref>{{harvnb|Nennius|2005}} para 59</ref> In Nennius' genealogy of Deira, a king named Soemil was the first to separate Bernicia and Deira, which could mean that he wrested the kingdom of Deira from the native British.<ref name="Yorke1990p79">{{harvnb|Yorke|1990|p=79}}</ref> The date of this supposed separation is unknown. The first Deiran king to make an appearance in Bede's {{Lang|la|Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum}} is [[Ælla of Deira|Ælla]], the father of the first Christian Northumbrian king [[Edwin of Northumbria|Edwin]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bede|2008}} Book II, Chapter 1</ref>

A king of Bernicia, Ida's grandson [[Æthelfrith]], was the first ruler to unite the two polities under his rule. He exiled the Deiran Edwin to the court of King [[Rædwald of East Anglia]] in order to claim both kingdoms, but Edwin returned in approximately 616 to conquer Northumbria with Rædwald's aid.<ref>{{harvnb|Bede|2008}} Book II, Chapter 12</ref><ref name="Rollason2003p7">{{harvnb|Rollason|2003|p=7}}</ref> Edwin, who ruled from approximately 616 to 633, was one of the last kings of the Deiran line to reign over all of Northumbria. Oswald's brother [[Oswiu]] eventually succeeded him to the Northumbrian throne despite initial attempts on Deira's part to pull away again.<ref name="Rollason2003p7"/> The last independent king of Deira was [[Oswine of Deira|Oswine]]. He was murdered by Oswiu in 651, and Northumbria was thereafter united under Bernician rule.{{sfn|Holdsworth|2014|p=340}}

While violent conflicts between Bernicia and Deira played a significant part in determining which line ultimately gained supremacy in Northumbria, marriage alliances also helped bind these two territories together. [[Æthelfrith]] married Edwin's sister [[Acha of Deira|Acha]], although this marriage did little to prevent future squabbles between the brothers-in-law and their descendants. The second intermarriage was more successful, with [[Oswiu]] marrying [[Edwin of Northumbria|Edwin]]'s daughter and his own cousin [[Eanflæd]] to produce [[Ecgfrith of Northumbria|Ecgfrith]], the beginning of the Northumbrian line. However, Oswiu had another relationship with an Irish woman named Fina which produced the problematic Aldfrith.<ref name="Rollason2003p7"/> In his ''Life and Miracles of St. [[Cuthbert]],'' Bede declares that Aldfrith, known as Fland among the Irish, was illegitimate and therefore unfit to rule.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bede |title=The Life and Miracles of St. Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne |url=http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/bede-cuthbert.asp |accessdate=23 March 2023 |website=Internet History Sourcebook |publisher=Fordham University: The Jesuit University of New York|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625103657/https://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/bede-cuthbert.asp|archivedate=25 June 2016|url-status=dead|at=Chapter XXIV}}</ref>

====Northumbria and Norse settlement====
[[File:England 878.svg|thumb|150px|England in 878. The independent rump of the former Kingdom of Northumbria (yellow) was to the north of the Danelaw (pink).]]
The [[Viking activity in the British Isles|Viking invasions]] of the ninth century and the establishment of the [[Danelaw]] once again divided Northumbria. Although primarily recorded in the southern provinces of [[England]], the [[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]s (particularly the D and E recensions) provide some information on Northumbria's conflicts with [[Vikings]] in the late eighth and early ninth centuries. According to these chronicles, Viking raids began to affect Northumbria when a band attacked Lindisfarne in 793.<ref>{{harvnb|Swanton|1996}} 793</ref> After this initial catastrophic blow, Viking raids in Northumbria were either sporadic for much of the early ninth century or evidence of them was lost.<ref>{{harvnb|Rollason|2003|p=211}}</ref> However, in 865 the so-called [[Great Heathen Army]] landed in [[East Anglia]] and began a sustained campaign of conquest.<ref name="Rollason2003p212">{{harvnb|Rollason|2003|p=212}}</ref><ref name="asc865">{{harvnb|Swanton|1996}} 865</ref> The Great Army fought in Northumbria in 866–867, striking [[York]] twice in less than one year. After the initial attack the Norse left to go north, leaving Kings Ælle and Osberht to recapture the city. The E recension of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle suggests that Northumbria was particularly vulnerable at this time because the Northumbrians were once again fighting amongst themselves, deposing Osberht in favour of Ælle.<ref>{{harvnb|Swanton|1996}} 866–867</ref> In the second raid, the Vikings killed Kings Ælle and Osberht whilst recapturing the city.<ref name="Rollason2003p212"/>

After King [[Alfred the Great|Alfred]] re-established his control of southern England, the Norse invaders settled into what came to be known as the Danelaw in the [[The Midlands|Midlands]], [[East Anglia]], and the southern part of Northumbria.<ref name="Rollason2003p212"/> In Northumbria, the Norse established the [[Kingdom of York]] whose boundaries were roughly the River Tees and the Humber, giving it approximately the same dimensions as Deira.<ref>{{harvnb|Rollason|2003|pp=212–213}}</ref> Although this kingdom fell to [[Hiberno-Norse]] colonisers in the 920s and was in constant conflict with the West-Saxon expansionists from the south, it survived until 954 when the last Scandinavian king Eric, who is usually identified as [[Eric Bloodaxe]], was driven out and eventually killed.<ref>{{harvnb|Fleming|2010|p=270}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Rollason|2003|p=213}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Downham|2004}} reconsiders the Northumbrian Viking king known as Eric and his perhaps tenuous relationship to the Eric Bloodaxe of the sagas.</ref>

In contrast, the Great Army was not as successful in conquering territory north of the River Tees. There were raids that extended into that area, but no sources mention lasting Norse occupation and there are very few [[Old norse language|Scandinavian]] place names to indicate significant Norse settlement in northern regions of Northumbria.<ref>{{harvnb|Rollason|2003|pp=213,244}}</ref> The political landscape of the area north of the Tees during the Viking conquest of Northumbria consisted of the Community of [[St. Cuthbert]] and the remnants of the English Northumbrian elites.<ref>{{harvnb|Rollason|2003|p=244}}</ref> While the religious Community of St. Cuthbert "wandered" for a hundred years after [[Halfdan Ragnarsson]] attacked their original home of Lindisfarne in 875, The [[Historia de Sancto Cuthberto|History of St. Cuthbert]] indicates that they settled temporarily at [[Chester-le-Street]] between the years 875–883 on land granted to them by the Viking King of York, [[Guthred]].<ref>{{harvnb|Rollason|2003|pp=246–257}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Fleming|2010|p=319}}</ref> According to the twelfth-century account ''Historia Regum'', Guthred granted them this land in exchange for establishing him as king. The land extended from the Tees to the Tyne and anyone who fled there from either the north or the south would receive sanctuary for thirty-seven days, indicating that the Community of St. Cuthbert had some juridical autonomy. Based on their positioning and this right of sanctuary, this community probably acted as a buffer between the Norse in southern Northumbria and the Anglo-Saxons who continued to hold the north.<ref>{{harvnb|Arnold|1885}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Higham|1993|p=183}}</ref>

North of the [[River Tyne|Tyne]], Northumbrians maintained partial political control in Bamburgh. The rule of kings continued in that area with [[Ecgberht I of Northumbria|Ecgberht I]] acting as regent around 867 and the kings [[Ricsige of Northumbria|Ricsige]] and [[Ecgberht II of Northumbria|Ecgberht II]] immediately following him.<ref>{{harvnb|Rollason|2003|p=249}}</ref> According to twelfth-century historian [[Symeon of Durham]], Ecgberht I was a client-king for the Norse. The Northumbrians revolted against him in 872, deposing him in favour of Ricsige.<ref>{{harvnb|Arnold|1885}} 867, 872</ref> Although the A and E recensions of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' report that Halfdan was able to take control of Deira and take a raiding party north of the River Tyne to impose his rule on Bernicia in 874, after Halfdan's death ({{circa|877}}) the Norse had difficulty holding on to territory in northern Bernicia.<ref>{{harvnb|Swanton|1996}} 874</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Higham|1993|p=181}}</ref> Ricsige and his successor Ecgberht were able to maintain an English presence in Northumbria. After the reign of Ecgberht II, [[Eadwulf II of Northumbria|Eadwulf]] "King of the North Saxons" (r. 890–912) succeeded him for control of Bamburgh, but after Eadwulf's death rulership of this area switched over to earls who were possible kinsmen or direct descendants of the royal Northumbrian house.<ref>{{harvnb|Rollason|2003|p=249}} For the epithet, see also the [[Annals of Ulster]].</ref>