Editing Eadred (section)

=== Battle for control of Northumbria ===
[[File:British Isles 10th century.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|Map of kingdoms and sub-kingdoms in the tenth century|alt=Map of the British Isles in the tenth century]]

Like Edmund, Eadred inherited the whole English kingdom, but soon lost Northumbria and had to fight to get it back. The situation was complicated due to the number of rival factions in Northumbria. The Viking [[Amlaíb Cuarán|Anlaf Sihtricson]] (also called Olaf Sihtricson and Amlaib Cuaran) ruled [[Dublin]] and the southern Northumbrian kingdom of York at different periods. When king of York in the early 940s, he had accepted baptism with Edmund as his godfather, indicating submission to his rule, and his coins followed English designs, but Edmund had expelled him in 944. Both Anlaf and the Norse (Norwegian) prince [[Erik Bloodaxe]]{{efn|Most historians identify the Erik who ruled York with Erik Bloodaxe, the son of King [[Harald Fairhair]] of [[Norway]], but [[Clare Downham]] argues that the two Eriks were different people.{{sfnm|1a1=Stenton|1y=1971|1p=360|2a1=Costambeys|2y=2004b|3a1=Downham|3y=2007|3pp=115–120}} See also the discussion by [[Alex Woolf]].{{sfn|Woolf|2007|pp=187–188}} }} ruled York for periods during Eadred's reign. Erik issued coins with a Viking sword design and represented a more serious threat to West Saxon power than Anlaf.{{sfnm|1a1=Williams|1y=2004a|2a1=Williams|2y=2004b}} The York magnates were key players, led by the powerful [[Wulfstan (died 956)|Wulfstan]], [[Archbishop of York]], who periodically made bids for independence by accepting Viking kings, but submitted to southern rule at other times. In the view of the historian Marios Costambeys, Wulfstan's influence in Northumbria appears to have been greater than Erik's.{{sfnm|1a1=Hart|1y=2004|2a1=Costambeys|2y=2004b}} [[Osulf I of Bamburgh|Osulf]], the Anglo-Saxon ruler of the north Northumbrian territory of [[Bernicia|Bamburgh]], supported Eadred when it was in his own interest. The sequence of events is very unclear because different manuscripts of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' contradict each other, and they also conflict with the evidence of charters, which are the only contemporary sources.{{sfn|Williams|2004b}} Charters of 946, 949–50 and 955 call Eadred ruler of the Northumbrians, and these provide evidence of periods when York submitted to southern rule.{{sfn|Miller|2014|p=154}}

Following Edmund's death, Charter S 521 states that "it happened that Eadred, his uterine brother, [was] chosen in his stead by the nobles".{{sfn|Whitelock|1979|p=551|ps=; {{cite web |url=https://esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk/charter/520.html |title=S 521}} }} According to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', he immediately "reduced all Northumbria under his rule" and obtained promises of obedience from the Scots. He may have invaded Northumbria in response to a rebellion supported by the Scots.{{sfnm|1a1=Downham|1y=2007|1p=112|2a1=Whitelock|2y=1979|2p=222}} He was crowned by Archbishop [[Oda of Canterbury]] on 16 August 946 at [[Kingston upon Thames]], attended by [[Hywel Dda]], king of [[Deheubarth]] in south Wales, Wulfstan and Osulf. The following year at [[Pontefract#Tanshelf_and_Kirkby|Tanshelf]], near the border between Northumbria and Mercia, Wulfstan and the other York magnates pledged allegiance to him.{{sfnm|1a1=Williams|1y=2004b|2a1=Whitelock|2y=1979|2pp=222, 551–552|3a1=Downham|3y=2007|3p=113}} 

The York magnates soon reneged on their promises and accepted Erik as king. Eadred responded by leading an army to [[Ripon]], where he burnt down the Minster, no doubt to punish Wulfstan, as it was at the centre of his richest estate.{{sfn|Woolf|2007|p=186}}  The Northumbrians sought revenge: according to version D of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', "when the king was on his way home, the army (which) was in York overtook the king's army at [[Castleford]], and they made a great slaughter there. Then the king became so angry that he wished to march back into the land and destroy it utterly. When the councillors of the Northumbrians understood that, they deserted Erik and paid to King Eadred compensation for their act."{{sfnm|1a1=Whitelock|1y=1979|1p=223|2a1=Williams|2y=2004b}} Within a year or two they again changed sides and installed Anlaf Sihtricson as king. In 952, Eadred arrested Wulfstan and in the same year Erik displaced Anlaf, but in 954, the York magnates again threw out Erik and returned to English rule, this time not due to an invasion but by the choice of the northerners, and the change proved to be permanent.{{sfnm|1a1=Stenton|1y=1971|1p=361 and n. 1|2a1=Woolf|2y=2007|2pp=189–190}} Erik was assassinated shortly afterwards, possibly at the instigation of Osulf, and the historian [[Frank Stenton]] comments that the time was past when an individual adventurer could establish a dynasty in England.{{sfn|Stenton|1971|pp=362–363}}{{efn|The chronology is very confused,{{sfn|Williams|1999|p=87}} but most historians accept the sequence of events given here,{{sfn|Sawyer|1995|p=39}} although they give varying dates. For example, Alex Woolf dates the start of Anlaf's kingship to late 949, whereas Sean Miller thinks that it started in late 950 or 951.{{sfnm|1a1=Woolf|1y=2007|1p=186|2a1=Miller|2y=2014|2p=155}} Peter Sawyer and Ann Williams argue that Erik only had one period of rule.{{sfnm|1a1=Sawyer|1y=1995|1pp=39–44|2a1=Williams|2y=2004b}} See also the discussion by Downham.{{sfn|Downham|2003|pp=25–51}} }} Wulfstan was later released, probably in early 955, but he was apparently not allowed to resume his archbishopric and instead given the bishopric of [[Bishop of Lincoln|Dorchester-on-Thames]].{{sfn|Hart|2004}} Eadred then appointed Osulf as the first ealdorman of the whole of Northumbria. Osulf's position was probably so strong that the king had no choice but to appoint him, and it was not until the next century that southern kings were able to make their own choice of ealdormen in Bamburgh itself.{{sfnm|1a1=Huscroft|1y=2019|1p=149|2a1=Molyneaux|2y=2015|2pp=67 n. 91, 178–179}} In his will, Eadred left 1600 pounds{{efn|In this period a pound was not a coin but a unit of account equivalent to 240 pence.{{sfn|Naismith|2014a|p=330}} }} to be used for protection of his people from famine or to buy peace from a heathen army, showing that he did not regard England as safe from attack.{{sfnm|1a1=Yorke|1y=1995|1p=132|2a1=Whitelock|2y=1979|2p=555}}