Ecgberht II of Northumbria
Encyclopedia
Ecgberht was a king in Northumbria
in the later Ninth century. Very little is known of his reign.
Unlike his predecessor King Ricsige
, who may have ruled most of the kingdom of Northumbria following the expulsion of the first King Ecgberht
in 872, this Ecgberht ruled only the northern part of Northumbria, the lands beyond the Tyne
in northern England
and southern Scotland
. The northern frontier of Ecgberht's kingdom is uncertain.
Ricsige's death and Ecgberht's coming to power is recorded by Symeon of Durham
, who writes, that in 876:
In 883, recording the election of a king of the Vikings in York
and southern Northumbria on the death of their leader Halfdene, Symeon states:
However, elsewhere it said that the second Ecgberht reigned two years, but this may refer to his claims to all Northumbria. Nick Higham sees Symeon's account of Guthred's election as an unhistorical record of a settlement between the York Vikings in southern Northumbria, and Ecgberht in northern, English Northumbria.
Ecgberht was succeeded by Eadulf I of Bernicia
.
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...
in the later Ninth century. Very little is known of his reign.
Unlike his predecessor King Ricsige
Ricsige of Northumbria
Ricsige was king of Northumbria from 872 or 873 to 876. He became king after Ecgberht I was overthrown and fled, with Wulfhere, Archbishop of York, to Mercia....
, who may have ruled most of the kingdom of Northumbria following the expulsion of the first King Ecgberht
Ecgberht I of Northumbria
Ecgberht was king of Northumbria in the middle of the 9th century. This period of Northumbrian history is poorly recorded, and very little is known of Ecgberht....
in 872, this Ecgberht ruled only the northern part of Northumbria, the lands beyond the Tyne
River Tyne
The River Tyne is a river in North East England in Great Britain. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers: the North Tyne and the South Tyne. These two rivers converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Waters'.The North Tyne rises on the...
in northern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and southern Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The northern frontier of Ecgberht's kingdom is uncertain.
Ricsige's death and Ecgberht's coming to power is recorded by Symeon of Durham
Symeon of Durham
Symeon of Durham was an English chronicler and a monk of Durham Priory. When William of Saint-Calais returned from his Norman exile in 1091, Symeon was probably in his company...
, who writes, that in 876:
The pagan king Halfdene divided between himself and his followers the country of the Northumbrians. Ricsig, king of the Northumbrians, died, and Egbert the second reigned over the Northumbrians beyond the river Tyne.
In 883, recording the election of a king of the Vikings in York
Jórvík
Scandinavian York is a term, like the terms Kingdom of Jórvík or Kingdom of York, used by historians for the kingdom of Northumbria in the late 9th century and first half of the 10th century, when it was dominated by Norse warrior-kings; in particular, it is used to refer to the city controlled by...
and southern Northumbria on the death of their leader Halfdene, Symeon states:
Then St. CuthbertCuthbert of LindisfarneSaint 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...
, aiding by a vision, ordered abbot EadredEadred LuliscEadred Lulisc or Eadred of Carlisle is the abbot of Carlisle recorded by the Historia de Sancto Cuthberto. The Historia gives the abbot central place in the election of Guthred as king of Northumbria by the Viking army based in Yorkshire, and that subsequently Eadred purchased land from him, using...
(who because he lived in Luel was surnamed Lulisc) to tell the bishop and the whole army of Angles and Danes, that by paying a ransom, they should redeem Guthred, the son of HardicnutGuthfrith, King of YorkGuthfrith was the king of Northumbria from circa 883 until his death.The first known king of Viking York, Halfdan, was expelled in 877. In c. 883, Symeon of Durham's History of the Kings simply states, "Guthred, from a slave, was made king", but his History of the Church of Durham gives a longer...
, whom the Danes had sold as a slave to a certain widow at Whittingham, and should raise him, then redeemed, to be king; and he reigned over York, but Egbert over the Northumbrians.
However, elsewhere it said that the second Ecgberht reigned two years, but this may refer to his claims to all Northumbria. Nick Higham sees Symeon's account of Guthred's election as an unhistorical record of a settlement between the York Vikings in southern Northumbria, and Ecgberht in northern, English Northumbria.
Ecgberht was succeeded by Eadulf I of Bernicia
Eadulf I of Bernicia
Eadulf was a ruler in Northumbria in the early tenth century.The history of Northumbria in the ninth and tenth centuries is poorly recorded. English sources generally date from the twelfth century although some more nearly contemporary Irish annals report some events in Northumbria...
.