ETHELFRITH reigned in Bernicia from 592, then seized Deira in 604, becoming ruler of Northumbria until 617. The third of IDA's six sons, he defeated the Scots (AIDEN) and the Welsh, at least as far as taking Chester in 613. He married three times and had seven sons and three daughters.
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EDWIN reigned from 616 to 633. He was heir to Bernicia, formed an alliance with REDWALD of East Anglia and defeated ETHELFRITH in 617. He was called Bretwalda or overlord of the kings of the Saxons. He married Ethelberga, daughter of ETHELFRITH, in 625, and converted to Christianity, taking baptism at York in 627. He was defeated in 633 by an alliance of Welsh and Mercians under PENDA (then 56 years old). Edinburgh is called after him, since it was his northern outpost.
OSWALD (St. Oswald) (605 - 642) reigned from 634 to 642. He was a brother of ENFRITH and OSWY, and lived in the Hebrides during EDWIN's reign. When he returned he was called Bretwalda or overlord of the kings of the Saxons because he overthrew CADWALLON of Gwynedd. He was then killed fighting PENDA of Mercia. He gave Bishop Aidan the island of Lindisfarne, which is why they made him a saint, I suppose.
In 634, St Cuthbert was born. When he was eight, in 642, it is supposed to have been foretold that he would be a bishop.
During his childhood, the country was probably still largely pagan. Bede recalls the story of some monks being swept out to sea and jeered and left to fend for themselves by the local peasantry (the ordinary people) because their friends were praying rather than doing something practical. Presumably, Cuthbert asked them to join in the prayers, since the quote is "No-one is going to pray for them. Let not God raise a finger for them. They have done away with the old ways of worship and now nobody knows what to do!"
OSWY (602 - 670) was a brother of OSWALD and ENFRITH. He reigned from 651 to 670, and it was during his reign that much of the flowering of the Northumbrian renaissance took place. He was originally ruler only of Bernicia, but after thirteen years he took Deira by assassinating his nephew OSWIN at Gilling in 651. He then defeated and killed PENDA (now 78 years old) in battle in 655 at Winwaed. Bede loves him because he presided over the Synod of Whitby, which brought Roman Christianity to Britain. His daughter, Alchfled, married and murdered PENDA's son, PEADA, after her father forced him to convert to Christainity.
In 651, Aidan died. Cuthbert was seventeen, and is supposed to have received a vision while tending sheep on a hillside, rather like the shepherds in the New Testament. He then travels off to Lindisfarne on his horse - so he was wealthy - stealing food on the way (Bede has him taking the new bread and meat from a cache left in the thatch of a house by a peasant who probably fled at the sight of a well-armed, mounted stranger arriving unannounced. He particularly states that there was only enough for one meal, so the original owner must have been very hungry when he returned). When he finally arrives at Melrose, Cuthbert ritually gives up his horse and his spear and enters the monastery. (It may be significant that the pagan priests were not permitted to ride stallions or to bear a spear. Bede was aware of this, since he had recorded the same sort of incident with a druid priest during the conversion of Britain in his History.)
There was a plague in 660, and much of the kingdom seems to have lost its rather tenuous hold on Christianity and reverted to paganism, as least as far as trying to stop the plague. It is likely that the traditional remedies were forbidden because they were seen as saving people's lives against the will of God. The peculiar fatalism of Christianity in relation to disease has dogged the practice and practitioners of medicine right through to the present day, with some religious groups still refusing medical treatment for themselves and their children. It put back the development of medicine in many ways, including the prohibition of the use of pain-killing drugs. Morphine was widely used across the non-Christian world throughout the middle ages for pain relief, but was - and is - seen as wicked (pain is some sort of punishment, you must endure it rather than treat it) in the personal sacrifice-oriented world of penitential Christianity.
Anyway, Cuthbert rode around (back on his horse, now) and exhorted people to confess their wickedness, rather than treat the plague in whatever way they had been doing, including coming out in groups to meet him and his colleagues. He himself made a point of visiting all the really out-of-the-way places, so that they could be infected. He probably helped spread the plague further than ever around the countryside. It seems unlikely he did anything to halt, slow or relieve the disease. Even Bede doesn't suggest he did any good, so it seems probable it was just as virulent after his visits.
EGFRITH reigned from 670 to 685. He was a son of OSWY and Eanfled of Deira. He drove the Mercians back across the Humber and tried to expand northwards into Pictish territories. Bede says he devastated their lands with a brutal and ferocious cruelty - a very rash move. But the ambition caused his death, as he was defeated and killed near Forfar in 685.
This was foretold by Cuthbert, who was approached by Egfrith's sister, Aelfflaed, who was an abbess.
Cuthbert had been transferred from Melrose to Lindisfarne by Abbot Eata, who was Abbot of both communities. When he arrived he found the place had become decadent - and made himself supremely unpopular by insisting the monks become much simpler in their lives and more penitential. After many years, the community finally got rid of him by allowing him to become a hermit on an even more remote island off the coast of Lindisfarne. They even helped him build his new home. Then the account of Cuthbert's life shows that he became more and more weird and that they gradually forgot about him, visiting less and less frequently until they couldn't even be bothered to bring the essential supplies he asked for. However, pilgrims began to come instead, so maybe they and their offerings were more than enough to keep him in food and essentials.
Anyway, while he was there it didn't stop his words and influence spreading. The prophecy about the death of Egfrith and the succession of his bastard half-brother Aldfrith must have been made after 680 when Aelflaed had been made Abbess of Whitby. She was the sister of both kings, having been stuck in a convent (the term nunnery seems to be later) since she was dedicated in gratitude for her father's victory at Winwaed in 655.
One of the last acts of King Egfrith was his presence at the synod where Cuthbert was made bishop of Lindisfarne in 685. He enjoyed this position for two years and died in 687.
ALDFRITH ( - 705) reigned from 685 to 705. He was a natural son of OSWY, and he was a man who valued learning and books, paying huge amounts for new manuscripts. He was educated in Ireland, according to Bede, as a willing exile for the sake of learning. He was succeeded by his eight-year-old son.
Cuthbert became bishop in about 685 and died in about 687.
OSRED I (c.697 - 716) reigned from 705 to 716. He may have only been eight when he came to power, but he earned a reputation as a tyrant and was murdered when he was only about 29 .
CENRED reigned 716 to 718.
OSRIC ( - 729) reigned from 718 to 729. Succeeded by his nephew CEOLWULF.
CEOLWULF ( - 760) reigned from 729 to 737 and then abdicated. He was CENRED's brother. In 731 his rivals seized him and tonsured him, and he was briefly deposed. Bede dedicated the Ecclesiastical History of the English People to him.
EADBERT reigned from 737 to 758 or 759. His brother was Archbishop of York, and they ruled together, linking church and state. He went off to fight the Picts, and while he was out of the way the Mercian king ETHELBERT attacked the kingdom. He recovered all the lands lost, added some parts of Scotland, then lost them again. Two years later he resigned, took up monastic life in York, and was succeeded by his son, OSWULF.
OSWULF (d. 759) was murdered by his own bodyguard within the year.
ETHELWALD (MOLL) reigned from 759 to 765. After defeating his rival OSWIN in 761 he was deposed four years later by ELHRED, who claimed to be a descendant of IDA, the founder of the Bernician line.
ALCHRED/ELHRED reigned from 765 to 774. He was deposed in turn by ETHELRED I, the son of ETHELWALD MOLL and ran off to seek exile among the Picts.
ELFWOLD reigned from 779 to 788 and was a grandson of EDBERT/EADBERT. He was murdered by a supporter of a rival dynasty. They then put OSRED on the throne.
OSRED II reigned from 788 to 790. He was nephew to ELFWOLD, and was imprisoned by ETHELRED I before he escaped and fled to the Isle of Man.
ETHELRED I ( - 796) reigned from 774 to 796, was a son of ETHELWALD MOLL and was called a tyrant, though what he seems to have done to deserve this reputation is execute treacherous nobles. He was deposed by ELFWOLD, grandson of EDBERT, but returned to the throne in 790 after imprisoning OSRED, nephew of ELFWOLD. Ethelred was murdered at Corbridge, and the conspirators took the throne.
OSBALD (d. 796) reigned only a few weeks after assassinating ETHELRED before being murdered in his turn by EARDWULF
EARDWULF reigned from 796 to 809 after deposing OSBALD. He was succeeded by his son Enred.
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