Ecgfrith of Northumbria
Encyclopedia
King Ecgfrith was the King of Northumbria
from 670 until his death. He ruled over Northumbria when it was at the height of its power, but his reign ended with a disastrous defeat in which he lost his life.
. Bede
tells us, in his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
, that Ecgfrith was held as a hostage "at the court of Queen Cynwise in the province of the Mercia
ns" at the time of Penda of Mercia
's invasion of Northumbria in 654 or 655. Penda was, however, defeated and killed by the Northumbrians under Oswiu in the Battle of Winwaed, a victory which greatly enhanced Northumbrian power.
, the daughter of Anna of East Anglia
, in 660; however, she took the veil shortly after Ecgfrith's accession, a step which possibly led to his long quarrel with Wilfrid, the Archbishop of York
. Ecgfrith married a second wife, Eormenburg, before 678, the year in which he expelled Wilfrid from his kingdom.
he put down an opportunistic rebellion by the Picts
, stabilising Northumbrian control of the North of Britain for the next 14 years, and also created a new sub-kingdom in the north called Lothian
. Ecgfrith went on, in 674, to defeat Wulfhere of Mercia
, seizing the Kingdom of Lindsey
. In 679, he fought a battle against the Mercians under Æthelred (who had married Ecgfrith's sister, Osthryth
) on the river Trent
. Ecgfrith's brother Ælfwine
was killed in the battle, and the province of Lindsey was given up when peace was restored at the intervention of Theodore of Canterbury
.
under his general Berht, which seems to have been unsuccessful in the sense that no Irish land was conquered by the Northumbrians. But the expedition was successful in that Ecgfrith's men did manage to seize a large number of slaves and made off with a significant amount of plunder.
, he led a force against the Verturian
Picts, who were led by his cousin Bridei mac Bili
, but was lured by a feigned flight into their mountain fastnesses and slain at the Battle of Dun Nechtain (either at Dunnichen
in Angus
or Dunachton
in Badenoch
). This disastrous defeat severely weakened Northumbrian power in the north, and Bede
dates the beginning of the decline of Northumbria from Ecgfrith's death. He was succeeded by his illegitimate half-brother, Aldfrith
.
king, to have issued the silver penny
, which became the mainstay of English coinage for centuries afterwards. Earlier Anglo-Saxon coins had been made, but these were rare, the most common being gold shillings or thrymsas, copied from Roman models. The pennies, or sceat
tas, were thick, cast in moulds, perhaps copied from Merovingian coins, and issued on a large scale.
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
from 670 until his death. He ruled over Northumbria when it was at the height of its power, but his reign ended with a disastrous defeat in which he lost his life.
Early life
Ecgfrith was the son of his predecessor as king, Oswiu of NorthumbriaOswiu of Northumbria
Oswiu , also known as Oswy or Oswig , was a King of Bernicia. His father, Æthelfrith of Bernicia, was killed in battle, fighting against Rædwald, King of the East Angles and Edwin of Deira at the River Idle in 616...
. Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
tells us, in his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
The Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum is a work in Latin by Bede on the history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict between Roman and Celtic Christianity.It is considered to be one of the most important original references on...
, that Ecgfrith was held as a hostage "at the court of Queen Cynwise in the province of the Mercia
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
ns" at the time of Penda of Mercia
Penda of Mercia
Penda was a 7th-century King of Mercia, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom in what is today the English Midlands. A pagan at a time when Christianity was taking hold in many of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Penda took over the Severn Valley in 628 following the Battle of Cirencester before participating in the...
's invasion of Northumbria in 654 or 655. Penda was, however, defeated and killed by the Northumbrians under Oswiu in the Battle of Winwaed, a victory which greatly enhanced Northumbrian power.
King
Ecgfrith was made king of Deira, a sub-kingdom of Northumbria, in 664, and he became king of Northumbria following his father's death on 15 February 670. He had married ÆthelthrythÆthelthryth
Æthelthryth is the proper name for the popular Anglo-Saxon saint often known, particularly in a religious context, as Etheldreda or by the pet form of Audrey...
, the daughter of Anna of East Anglia
Anna of East Anglia
Anna was King of East Anglia from the early 640s until his death. Anna was a member of the Wuffingas family, the ruling dynasty of the East Angles. He was one of the three sons of Eni who ruled East Anglia, succeeding some time after Ecgric was killed in battle by Penda of Mercia...
, in 660; however, she took the veil shortly after Ecgfrith's accession, a step which possibly led to his long quarrel with Wilfrid, the Archbishop of York
Archbishop of York
The Archbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and metropolitan of the Province of York, which covers the northern portion of England as well as the Isle of Man...
. Ecgfrith married a second wife, Eormenburg, before 678, the year in which he expelled Wilfrid from his kingdom.
Against the Picts
In 671 at the Battle of Two RiversBattle of Two Rivers
The Battle of Two Rivers was fought between the Picts and Northumbrians in the year 671. The exact battle site is unknown. It marked the end of the Pictish rebellion early in the reign of Ecgfrith, with a decisive victory to the Northumbrians...
he put down an opportunistic rebellion by the Picts
Picts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...
, stabilising Northumbrian control of the North of Britain for the next 14 years, and also created a new sub-kingdom in the north called Lothian
Lothian
Lothian forms a traditional region of Scotland, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills....
. Ecgfrith went on, in 674, to defeat Wulfhere of Mercia
Wulfhere of Mercia
Wulfhere was King of Mercia from the end of the 650s until 675. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of Northumbria's overlordship of southern England, and Wulfhere...
, seizing the Kingdom of Lindsey
Kingdom of Lindsey
Lindsey or Linnuis is the name of a petty Anglo-Saxon kingdom, absorbed into Northumbria in the 7th century.It lay between the Humber and the Wash, forming its inland boundaries from the course of the Witham and Trent rivers , and the Foss Dyke between...
. In 679, he fought a battle against the Mercians under Æthelred (who had married Ecgfrith's sister, Osthryth
Osthryth
Osthryth was the daughter of Oswiu of Northumbria and the wife of King Æthelred of Mercia. She was murdered by the nobles of Mercia. She is referred to by Bede as Queen Ostritha....
) on the river Trent
River Trent
The River Trent is one of the major rivers of England. Its source is in Staffordshire on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through the Midlands until it joins the River Ouse at Trent Falls to form the Humber Estuary, which empties into the North Sea below Hull and Immingham.The Trent...
. Ecgfrith's brother Ælfwine
Aelfwine of Deira
Ælfwine was the King of Deira from 670 to 679. He was a son of Oswiu of Northumbria and a brother of Ecgfrith of Northumbria.After the succession of Ecgfrith as king of Northumbria in 670, he made Aelfwine king of the sub-kingdom of Deira. Aelfwine was still a boy at the time, and the title may...
was killed in the battle, and the province of Lindsey was given up when peace was restored at the intervention of Theodore of Canterbury
Theodore of Tarsus
Theodore was the eighth Archbishop of Canterbury, best known for his reform of the English Church and establishment of a school in Canterbury....
.
Ireland
In 684 Ecgfrith sent an expedition to IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
under his general Berht, which seems to have been unsuccessful in the sense that no Irish land was conquered by the Northumbrians. But the expedition was successful in that Ecgfrith's men did manage to seize a large number of slaves and made off with a significant amount of plunder.
Death
In 685, against the advice of Cuthbert of LindisfarneCuthbert of Lindisfarne
Saint Cuthbert was an Anglo-Saxon monk, bishop and hermit associated with the monasteries of Melrose and Lindisfarne in the Kingdom of Northumbria, at that time including, in modern terms, northern England as well as south-eastern Scotland as far as the Firth of Forth...
, he led a force against the Verturian
Fortriu
Fortriu or the Kingdom of Fortriu is the name given by historians for an ancient Pictish kingdom, and often used synonymously with Pictland in general...
Picts, who were led by his cousin Bridei mac Bili
Bridei III of the Picts
King Bridei III was king of Fortriu and overking of the Picts between 671 and his death in 693....
, but was lured by a feigned flight into their mountain fastnesses and slain at the Battle of Dun Nechtain (either at Dunnichen
Dunnichen
Dunnichen is a small village in Angus, Scotland, situated between Letham and Forfar. It is close to Dunnichen Hill, at which the Battle of Dun Nechtain is popularly believed to have been fought.-History:...
in Angus
Angus
Angus is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross and Dundee City...
or Dunachton
Dunachton
Dunachton is an estate on the north-west shore of Loch Insh in Badenoch and Strathspey, in the Highlands of Scotland. It occupies land immediately to the north of the A9 road and General Wade's Military Road....
in Badenoch
Badenoch
Badenoch is a traditional district which today forms part of Badenoch and Strathspey, an area of Highland Council, in Scotland, bounded on the north by the Monadhliath Mountains, on the east by the Cairngorms and Braemar, on the south by Atholl and the Grampians, and on the west by Lochaber...
). This disastrous defeat severely weakened Northumbrian power in the north, and Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
dates the beginning of the decline of Northumbria from Ecgfrith's death. He was succeeded by his illegitimate half-brother, Aldfrith
Aldfrith of Northumbria
Aldfrith sometimes Aldfrid, Aldfridus , or Flann Fína mac Ossu , was king of Northumbria from 685 until his death. He is described by early writers such as Bede, Alcuin and Stephen of Ripon as a man of great learning, and some of his works, as well as letters written to him, survive...
.
Money
As well as his military activities, Ecgfrith appears to have been the earliest Northumbrian king, and perhaps the earliest Anglo-SaxonAnglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
king, to have issued the silver penny
Penny
A penny is a coin or a type of currency used in several English-speaking countries. It is often the smallest denomination within a currency system.-Etymology:...
, which became the mainstay of English coinage for centuries afterwards. Earlier Anglo-Saxon coins had been made, but these were rare, the most common being gold shillings or thrymsas, copied from Roman models. The pennies, or sceat
Sceat
Sceattas were small, thick silver coins minted in England, Frisia and Jutland during the Anglo-Saxon period.-History:Their name derives from an Old English word meaning 'wealth', which has been applied to these coins since the seventeenth century, based on interpretations of the law-code of King...
tas, were thick, cast in moulds, perhaps copied from Merovingian coins, and issued on a large scale.