Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria
Encyclopedia
Gospatric or Cospatric (died after 1073), was Earl of Northumbria
, or of Bernicia
, and later lord of sizable estates around Dunbar
. While his ancestry is uncertain, his descendants held the Earldom of Dunbar
, later known as the Earldom of March
, in south-east Scotland
until 1435.
. If this is correct, Maldred was apparently not the son of Crínán's known wife Bethóc
, daughter of the Scots king Malcolm II
, as Gospatric's descendants made no such claim when they submitted their pleadings in the Great Cause (though according to this link his descendant, Patrick the Seventh Earl of Dunbar
, did indeed make a claim to the throne during these pleadings) to determine the succession to the kingship of the Scots after the death of Alexander III
in 1286.
Alternatively, rather than being descended from a half-brother of King Duncan I
(Donnchad mac Crínáin), Gospatric may have been the youngest son of Earl Uchtred the Bold
(died 1016). Another reconstruction would make Gospatric the grandson of Uchtred's discarded first wife, Ecgfritha, daughter of Aldhun
, Bishop of Durham, through Sigrida, her daughter with Kilvert son of Ligulf. Whatever his parentage may have been, Gospatric was clearly an important figure in Northumbria
and Cumbria
, with ties to the family of Earl Uchtred.
The Life of Edward the Confessor
, commissioned by Queen Edith
, contains an account of the pilgrimage
to Rome
of Tostig Godwinson
, Earl of Northumbria. It tells how a band of robbers attacked Tostig's party in Italy, seeking to kidnap the Earl. A certain Gospatric "was believed because of the luxury of his clothes and his physical appearance, which was indeed distinguished" to be Earl Tostig, and succeeded in deceiving the would-be kidnappers as to his identity until the real Earl was safely away from the scene. Whether this was the same Gospatric, or a kinsman of the same name, is unclear, but it is suggested that his presence in Tostig's party was as a hostage as much as a guest.
at Hastings
, William of Normandy
appointed a certain Copsi
or Copsig, a supporter of the late Earl Tostig, who had been exiled with his master in 1065, as Earl of Bernicia in the spring of 1067. Copsi was dead within five weeks, killed by Oswulf
, grandson of Uchtred, who installed himself as Earl. Oswulf was killed in the autumn by bandits after less than six months as Earl. At this point, Gospatric, who had a plausible claim to the Earldom given the likelihood that he was related to Oswulf and Uchtred, offered King William a large amount of money to be given the Earldom of Bernicia. The King, who was in the process of raising heavy taxes, accepted.
In early 1068, a series of uprisings in England, along with foreign invasion, faced King William with a dire threat. Gospatric is found among the leaders of the uprising, along with Edgar Ætheling
and Edwin, Earl of Mercia
and his brother Morcar
. This uprising soon collapsed, and William proceeded to dispossess many of the northern landowners and grant the lands to Norman
incomers. For Gospatric, this meant the loss of his earldom to Robert Comine
and exile in Scotland. King William's authority, apart from minor local troubles such as Hereward the Wake
and Eadric the Wild
, appeared to extend securely across England.
Gospatric joined the invading army of Danes, Scots
, and Englishmen under Edgar the Aetheling in the next year. Though the army was defeated, he afterwards was able, from his possession of Bamburgh
castle, to make terms with the conqueror, who left him undisturbed till 1072. The widespread destruction in Northumbria known as the Harrying of the North
relates to this period.
.
Gospatric fled into exile in Scotland and not long afterwards went to Flanders
. When he returned to Scotland he was granted the castle at "Dunbar and lands adjacent to it" and in the Merse by King Malcolm Canmore. This earldom without a name in the Scots-controlled northern part of Bernicia would later become the Earldom of Dunbar.
Gospatric did not long survive in exile according to Roger of Hoveden
's chronicle:
He was the father of three sons, and a daughter named Uchtreda, who married Donnchad II of Alba
, the son of King Malcolm Canmore.
The sons were:,
Earl of Northumbria
Earl of Northumbria was a title in the Anglo-Danish, late Anglo-Saxon, and early Anglo-Norman period in England. The earldom of Northumbria was the successor of the ealdormanry of Bamburgh, itself the successor of an independent Bernicia. Under the Norse kingdom of York, there were earls of...
, or of Bernicia
Bernicia
Bernicia was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England....
, and later lord of sizable estates around Dunbar
Dunbar
Dunbar is a town in East Lothian on the southeast coast of Scotland, approximately 28 miles east of Edinburgh and 28 miles from the English Border at Berwick-upon-Tweed....
. While his ancestry is uncertain, his descendants held the Earldom of Dunbar
Earl of Dunbar
The title Earl of Dunbar, also called Earl of Lothian or Earl of March, was the head of a comital lordship in south-eastern Scotland between the early 12th century and the early 15th century. The first man to use the title of Earl in this earldom was Gospatric II, Earl of Lothian, son of Gospatric,...
, later known as the Earldom of March
Earl of March
The title The Earl of March has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of England. The title derived from the "marches" or boundaries between England and either Wales or Scotland , and was held by several great feudal families which owned lands in those border...
, in south-east 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...
until 1435.
Background
Gospatric is often said to have been a son of Maldred son of Crínán of DunkeldCrínán of Dunkeld
Crínán of Dunkeld was the lay abbot of the diocese of Dunkeld, and perhaps the Mormaer of Atholl. Crínán was progenitor of the House of Dunkeld, the dynasty which would rule Scotland until the later 13th century....
. If this is correct, Maldred was apparently not the son of Crínán's known wife Bethóc
Bethóc
Bethóc ingen Maíl Coluim meic Cináeda was the eldest daughter of King Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, King of Scots, who had no known sons.The strongest hereditary claim of succession to the Scottish throne therefore passed through Bethóc. Princess Bethóc married Crínán, Abbot of Dunkeld. The first son of...
, daughter of the Scots king Malcolm II
Malcolm II of Scotland
Máel Coluim mac Cináeda , was King of the Scots from 1005 until his death...
, as Gospatric's descendants made no such claim when they submitted their pleadings in the Great Cause (though according to this link his descendant, Patrick the Seventh Earl of Dunbar
Patrick Dunbar, 7th Earl of Dunbar
Patrick III, 7th Earl of Dunbar was lord of the feudal barony of Dunbar and its castle, which dominated East Lothian, and the most important military personage in the Scottish Borders.-Background:...
, did indeed make a claim to the throne during these pleadings) to determine the succession to the kingship of the Scots after the death of Alexander III
Alexander III of Scotland
Alexander III was King of Scots from 1249 to his death.-Life:...
in 1286.
Alternatively, rather than being descended from a half-brother of King Duncan I
Duncan I of Scotland
Donnchad mac Crínáin was king of Scotland from 1034 to 1040...
(Donnchad mac Crínáin), Gospatric may have been the youngest son of Earl Uchtred the Bold
Uchtred the Bold
Uchtred , called the Bold, was the ealdorman of all Northumbria from 1006 to 1016, when he was assassinated. He was the son of Waltheof I, ealdorman of Bamburgh, whose ancient family had ruled from the castle of Bamburgh on the Northumbrian coast.In 995, according to Symeon of Durham, when the...
(died 1016). Another reconstruction would make Gospatric the grandson of Uchtred's discarded first wife, Ecgfritha, daughter of Aldhun
Aldhun of Durham
Aldhun of Durham , also known as Ealdhun, was the last Bishop of Lindisfarne and the first Bishop of Durham. He was of "noble descent."...
, Bishop of Durham, through Sigrida, her daughter with Kilvert son of Ligulf. Whatever his parentage may have been, Gospatric was clearly an important figure in Northumbria
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...
and Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
, with ties to the family of Earl Uchtred.
The Life of Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
, commissioned by Queen Edith
Edith of Wessex
Edith of Wessex married King Edward the Confessor of England on 23 January 1045. Unlike most wives of kings of England in the tenth and eleventh centuries, she was crowned queen, but the marriage produced no children...
, contains an account of the pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
of Tostig Godwinson
Tostig Godwinson
Tostig Godwinson was an Anglo-Saxon Earl of Northumbria and brother of King Harold Godwinson, the last crowned english King of England.-Early life:...
, Earl of Northumbria. It tells how a band of robbers attacked Tostig's party in Italy, seeking to kidnap the Earl. A certain Gospatric "was believed because of the luxury of his clothes and his physical appearance, which was indeed distinguished" to be Earl Tostig, and succeeded in deceiving the would-be kidnappers as to his identity until the real Earl was safely away from the scene. Whether this was the same Gospatric, or a kinsman of the same name, is unclear, but it is suggested that his presence in Tostig's party was as a hostage as much as a guest.
Harrying of the North
After his victory over Harold GodwinsonHarold Godwinson
Harold Godwinson was the last Anglo-Saxon King of England.It could be argued that Edgar the Atheling, who was proclaimed as king by the witan but never crowned, was really the last Anglo-Saxon king...
at Hastings
Battle of Hastings
The Battle of Hastings occurred on 14 October 1066 during the Norman conquest of England, between the Norman-French army of Duke William II of Normandy and the English army under King Harold II...
, William of Normandy
William I of England
William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...
appointed a certain Copsi
Copsi of Northumbria
Copsi [d.1067] was a Northumbrian magnate in late Anglo-Saxon England. He was a supporter of Tostig, and was exiled along with him in 1065. Copsi soon fled to Orkney . The next year , he joined Tostig at Sandwich, in Kent, with 17 ships...
or Copsig, a supporter of the late Earl Tostig, who had been exiled with his master in 1065, as Earl of Bernicia in the spring of 1067. Copsi was dead within five weeks, killed by Oswulf
Osulf II of Northumbria
Osulf was the son of Eadulf III, Earl of Bamburgh , and grandson of Uchtred the Bold, Earl of Northumbria...
, grandson of Uchtred, who installed himself as Earl. Oswulf was killed in the autumn by bandits after less than six months as Earl. At this point, Gospatric, who had a plausible claim to the Earldom given the likelihood that he was related to Oswulf and Uchtred, offered King William a large amount of money to be given the Earldom of Bernicia. The King, who was in the process of raising heavy taxes, accepted.
In early 1068, a series of uprisings in England, along with foreign invasion, faced King William with a dire threat. Gospatric is found among the leaders of the uprising, along with Edgar Ætheling
Edgar Ætheling
Edgar Ætheling , or Edgar II, was the last male member of the royal house of Cerdic of Wessex...
and Edwin, Earl of Mercia
Edwin, Earl of Mercia
Edwin was the elder brother of Morcar, Earl of Northumbria, son of Ælfgār, Earl of Mercia and grandson of Leofric, Earl of Mercia. He succeeded to his father's title and responsibilities on Ælfgār's death in 1062...
and his brother Morcar
Morcar of Northumbria
Morcar was the son of Ælfgār and brother of Ēadwine. He was himself the earl of Northumbria from 1065 to 1066, when he was replaced by William the Conqueror with Copsi....
. This uprising soon collapsed, and William proceeded to dispossess many of the northern landowners and grant the lands to Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
incomers. For Gospatric, this meant the loss of his earldom to Robert Comine
Robert Comine
Robert Comine was very briefly earl of Northumbria. His name suggests that he originally came from Comines, then in the County of Flanders, and entered the following of William the Conqueror. He was sent to the north as earl from 1068 to 1069 after the deposition of Gospatric...
and exile in Scotland. King William's authority, apart from minor local troubles such as Hereward the Wake
Hereward the Wake
Hereward the Wake , known in his own times as Hereward the Outlaw or Hereward the Exile, was an 11th-century leader of local resistance to the Norman conquest of England....
and Eadric the Wild
Eadric the Wild
Eadric the Wild , also known as Eadric Cild, was an Anglo-Saxon magnate of the West Midlands who led English resistance to the Norman Conquest, active in 1068-70.-Background:...
, appeared to extend securely across England.
Gospatric joined the invading army of Danes, Scots
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
, and Englishmen under Edgar the Aetheling in the next year. Though the army was defeated, he afterwards was able, from his possession of Bamburgh
Bamburgh
Bamburgh is a large village and civil parish on the coast of Northumberland, England. It has a population of 454.It is notable for two reasons: the imposing Bamburgh Castle, overlooking the beach, seat of the former Kings of Northumbria, and at present owned by the Armstrong family ; and its...
castle, to make terms with the conqueror, who left him undisturbed till 1072. The widespread destruction in Northumbria known as the Harrying of the North
Harrying of the North
The Harrying of the North was a series of campaigns waged by William the Conqueror in the winter of 1069–1070 to subjugate Northern England, and is part of the Norman conquest of England...
relates to this period.
Exile
In 1072 William the Conqueror stripped Gospatric of his Earldom of Northumbria, and he replaced him with Siward's son Waltheof, 1st Earl of NorthamptonWaltheof, 1st Earl of Northampton
Waltheof , 1st Earl of the Honour of Huntingdon and Northampton and last of the Anglo-Saxon earls was the only English aristocrat to be executed during the reign of William I.-Early life:...
.
Gospatric fled into exile in Scotland and not long afterwards went to Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
. When he returned to Scotland he was granted the castle at "Dunbar and lands adjacent to it" and in the Merse by King Malcolm Canmore. This earldom without a name in the Scots-controlled northern part of Bernicia would later become the Earldom of Dunbar.
Gospatric did not long survive in exile according to Roger of Hoveden
Roger of Hoveden
Roger of Hoveden, or Howden , was a 12th-century English chronicler.From Hoveden's name and the internal evidence of his work, he is believed to have been a native of Howden in East Yorkshire. Nothing is known of him before the year 1174. He was then in attendance upon Henry II, by whom he was sent...
's chronicle:
[N]ot long after this, being reduced to extreme infirmity, he sent for Aldwin and Turgot, the monks, who at this time were living at MeilrosMelrose, ScotlandMelrose is a small town and civil parish in the Scottish Borders, historically in Roxburghshire. It is in the Eildon committee area.-Etymology:...
, in poverty and contrite in spirit for the sake of Christ, and ended his life with a full confession of his sins, and great lamentations and penitence, at Ubbanford, which is also called NorthamNorhamNorham is a village in Northumberland, England, just south of the River Tweed and the border with Scotland.It is the site of the 12th century Norham Castle, and was for many years the centre for the Norhamshire exclave of County Durham...
, and was buried in the porch of the church there.
He was the father of three sons, and a daughter named Uchtreda, who married Donnchad II of Alba
Duncan II of Scotland
Donnchad mac Maíl Coluim was king of Scots...
, the son of King Malcolm Canmore.
The sons were:,
- GospatricGospatric II, Earl of LothianGospatric II was Earl of Lothian or Earl of Dunbar in the early 12th century.He was the son of Gospatric I, sometime Earl of Northumbria...
who was killed at the battle of the StandardBattle of the StandardThe Battle of the Standard, sometimes called the Battle of Northallerton, in which English forces repelled a Scottish army, took place on 22 August 1138 on Cowton Moor near Northallerton in Yorkshire. The Scottish forces were led by King David I of Scotland...
in 1138 was his heir. - DolfinDolfin of CarlisleDolfin was an 11th-century Anglo-Saxon magnate in Northumbria. His father was probably Gospatric, one of the most powerful regional figures in the mid-11th century having been earl of Northumbria in the early years of William the Conqueror's reign...
, who seems to have received from Malcolm the government of Carlisle. Dolfin has also been identified with Dolfin de Bradeley and is believed to be the progenitor of the Bradley, Staveley, De Hebden, and Thoresby families. - Waltheof of AllerdaleWaltheof of AllerdaleWaltheof of Allerdale was an 11th- and 12th-century Anglo-Saxon noble, lord of Allerdale in modern Cumbria. Brother of Dolfin of Carlisle and Gospatric of Dunbar, Waltheof son of Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria. Both Waltheof and his brother Gospatric witness Earl David's Glasgow Inquest 1113 x...