Œngus king of the Picts, he successfully attacked Dumbarton (Alcluith), the chief town of the Britons of Strathclyde. Eadberht showed considerable independence in his dealings with the church, and his brother Ecgberht, to whom the well-known letter of Bede is addressed, was from 734 to 766 archbishop of York. In 758 Eadberht resigned the kingdom to his son Oswulf, and became a monk. After his abdication Northumbrian history degenerates into a record of dynastic murders. Oswulf was slain by his household at a place called Mechil Wongtun in 759. Moll Æthelwald, who may have been a brother of Eadberht, succeeded, and after a victory over a certain Oswine, who fell in the battle, abdicated and became a monk probably under compulsion in 765. His successor Alchred claimed descent from Ida, but Simeon of Durham appears to doubt the truth of his claim. He sent an embassy to Charlemagne in 768 and was deposed in 774, whereupon he fled to Bamburgh and afterwards to the Picts. His deposition has been ascribed to a formal act of the Witan, but this seems an antedating of constitutional methods and the circumstances point to a palace revolution. The successor of Alchred was Æthelred son of Moll Æthelwald. In 778 three high-reeves were slain at the instigation of the king. Æthelred was expelled during the next year, perhaps in consequence of this event, and Ælfwald son of Oswulf became king. Ælfwald was murdered by Sicga in 789, whereupon Osred his nephew the son of Alchred succeeded. In 790 the banished Æthelred returned to the throne and drove out Osred, whom he put to death in 792. Æthelred, who had married Ælflaed the daughter of Olfa, also killed Œlf and Œlfwine, the sons of Œlfwald and was murdered himself at Corbridge in 796. Oswald, who is called patricius by Simeon of Durham, succeeded, but reigned only twenty-seven days, when he was expelled and eventually became a monk. Eardwulf dux, who had apparently fled abroad to escape the wrath of Æthelred, was now recalled and held the crown until 807 or 808. Ælfwald then became king, but Eardwulf was restored in 808 or 809 after appealing to the emperor and the pope. Eanred, son of Eardwulf, probably came to the throne in 809 and reigned until 841. It was during his reign in 827 that Northumbria acknowledged the supremacy of Ecgberht, king of Wessex. Eanred was succeeded by his son Æthelred, who was slain in 850, when Osberht came to the throne and reigned until 863. On the expulsion of Osberht, Ella or Ælle, succeeded. The chroniclers emphasize the fact that this king was not of royal descent. He is said to have slain Ragnarr Loðbrok. In the year 866 Loðbrok’s sons Ingwaere (I’varr, q.v.), Healfdene, Ubba and others brought a vast army to England to avenge the death of their father. In the following year they obtained possession of York. Ella seems now to have made peace with the exiled king Osberht, and their united forces succeeded in recovering the city. In the great battle which ensued the Northumbrian army was annihilated and both kings slain (the death of Ella, according to Irish tradition, being due to the treachery of one of his followers). The southern part of Northumbria now passed entirely into the hands of the invaders, but they allowed a certain Ecgberht to reign over the portion of the kingdom north of the Tyne. Ecgberht was expelled in 872 and died in the course of the following year. His successor Ricsig died in 876 and was followed by Ecgberht II., who reigned until 878. He was the last English king who reigned in Northumbria. After him the chief power north of the Tyne came into the hands of a certain Eadulf of Bamburgh, who did not take the kingly title, but accepted the overlordship of Alfred the Great perhaps in 886. In the winter of 874–875 Healfdene returned to Northumbria, which he partitioned among his followers. He was probably killed in Ireland in 877. Simeon of Durham makes his death occur about the same time, after he had been expelled from his country and had lost his reason as a punishment for his misdeeds. After an interregnum of a few years a certain Guthred became king in 883. He is said to have been a slave and to have been appointed king at the command of St Cuthbert, who appeared to Eadred the abbot of Carlisle in a dream. There is some reason for the conjecture that he belonged to the family of Loðbrok. He died in 894, after which date little is known of Northumbrian history for a number of years. About the year 919 the country was invaded by Raegenald (Rögnvaldr grandson of I’varr), a Norwegian king from Ireland, who seized York and occupied the lands of St Cuthbert. Aldred, the son of Eadulf, who now ruled north of the Tyne, appealed to Constantine II., king of the Scots, for help, but the Scottish and Northumbrian armies were defeated at Corbridge. Shortly after this, however, all the northern princes submitted to Edward the Elder. Raegenald was succeeded by Sihtric (Sigtryggr, another grandson of I’varr), who married Æthelstan’s sister. He died in 926, and his brother and successor Guthfrith was soon afterwards expelled by Æthelstan and fled to Eugenius, king of Strathclyde. The Welsh and Scottish kings, however, both submitted to Ethelstan, and Guthfrith was again driven into exile. He died in 934, leaving a son Anlaf (Olafr), Godfredsson or Godfreyson. In 934 Æthelstan invaded Scotland as far as the Tay. In 937 a great fleet and army were brought together by Constantine and Anlaf, the son of Sihtric, another Norwegian Chieftain who had allied himself with the Scots, helped by Anlaf Godfreyson from Ireland. Æthelstan, however, won a complete victory over them at a place called Brunanburh, probably Burnswark in Dumfriesshire. Anlaf Godfreyson returned to Ireland and died in 941–942 in a raiding expedition in the south of Scotland. Anlaf the son of Sihtric again came to England in 940 just after the death of Æthelstan. He became king of Northumbria and extended his territories as far as Watling Street. Peace was made with King Edmund by the capture of King Anlaf, and a good deal later by the confirmation of King Raegenald, brother to Anlaf Godfreyson and cousin to Anlaf Sihtricson. About two years later, however, both these kings were expelled by Edmund, and the whole of Northumbria was brought under his power. About the second year of Eadred’s reign there was another revolt and Eric Bloodaxe, the exiled king of Norway, obtained the throne. During the next few years the kingdom alternated between Eric and Anlaf until 954, when Eadred finally succeeded in establishing his power. Eric was killed by Maccus, the son of Anlaf, while Anlaf himself withdrew to Ireland, where he died in 980. Eadred placed Northumbria in the hands of a certain Osulf, who is called high-reeve at Bamburgh. In the reign of Edgar, Oslac was appointed earl of southern Northumbria, but he was banished at the beginning of the following reign. The next earl was Waltheof and after him Uhtred, who defeated Malcolm II., king of the Scots, in 1006. Twelve years later, however, the Northumbrians were completely defeated at Carhan, and Lothian was annexed by the Scots (see Lothian). Uhtred was slain by the orders of Canute, who gave the province to Eric (Eirikr) earl of Lade. Shortly afterwards, however, part of it at least came into the hands first of Eadulf and then Aldred and another Eadulf, the brother and sons respectively of Uhtred. The younger Eadulf was slain by Siward, probably in the reign of Hardacanute. Siward held the earldom till his death in 1055, when it was given to Tostig, son of earl Godwine, and after his banishment to Morkere, son of Ælfgar, earl of Mercia. Tostig’s banishment led to the invasion of Harold Hardrada, king of Norway, and the battle of Stamford Bridge, in which both perished.
Authorities.—Bede, Historia ecclesiastica, ed. C. Plummer (Oxford, 1896); Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, ed. Earle and Plummer Oxford, 1899); “Annales Lindesfarnenses,” in the Monumenta historica Germanica, Band xix. (Hanover, 1866); Simeon of Durham (“Rolls” series), ed. T. Arnold (1882); J. C. H R. Steenstrup, Normannerne (Copenhagen, 1876–1882). (F. G. M. B.)
NORTH WALSHAM, a market town in the eastern parliamentary division of Norfolk, England; 131 m. N.E. by N. from London by the Great Eastern railway. Pop. of urban district (1901) 3981. It lies in a pastoral district near the river Ant, a tributary of the Bure. The church of St Nicholas is a fine Perpendicular structure exhibiting the flint-work common to the district, and possessing a beautiful south porch and the ruin of a massive western tower which partly collapsed early in the 18th century. A grammar school was founded in 1606, and reorganized and moved to new buildings in modern times. There
