Everything about Eadberht Of Northumbria totally explained
Eadberht (died
20 August 768) was
king of Northumbria from 737 or 738 to 758. He was the brother of
Ecgbert, Archbishop of York. His reign is seen as a return to the imperial ambitions of seventh-century
Northumbria and may represent a period of economic prosperity. He faced internal opposition from rival dynasties and at least two actual or potential rivals were killed during his reign. In 758 he abdicated in favour of his son
Oswulf and became a monk at
York.
Origins
Eadberht became ruler of Northumbria following the second abdication of his cousin
Ceolwulf, who entered the monastery at
Lindisfarne. Unlike Ceolwulf's first abdication, which clearly involved force, his second, in favour of Eadberht, may have been voluntary.
The genealogy in the
Historia Brittonum makes Eadberht son of Eata a descendant of
Ida of Bernicia through a son of Ida named Ocg. The branch of the family to which Eadberht belonged is called the
Leodwaldings, after his and Ceolwulf's grandfather Leodwald son of Ecgwulf. The genealogy gives his father Eata the
cognomen Glin Mawr.
Northumbria
Eadberht appears to have faced opposition from rival families throughout his reign. Eardwine, probably the son of King
Eadwulf, and grandfather of the future king
Eardwulf, was killed in 740. In 750 Offa, son of King
Aldfrith was taken from the sanctuary of Lindisfarne and put to death after a siege, while Bishop
Cynewulf of Lindisfarne, who had presumably supported Offa, was dethroned and detained in
York. The importance of religious foundations in Northumbrian politic struggles and family feuds is apparent. Eardwine's family is associated with
Ripon, Offa and Ceolwulf with Lindisfarne, and
Hexham appears to have supported kings and noblemen opposed by the Lindisfarne community. Eadberht, however, as brother of the Archbishop of York, enjoyed the support of the greatest Northumbrian prelate.
Eadberht's reign saw major reforms to the Northumbrian coinage, and some coins name King Eadberht and Archbishop Ecgberht. Kirby concludes that "the indications are that Eadberht was bringing new prosperity to his kingdom." A letter sent by
Pope Paul I to Eadberht and Ecgberht, ordering them to return lands taken from Abbot Fothred, and given to his brother Moll, presumed to be the same person as the later king
Æthelwald Moll, suggests that Eadberht's reign saw attempts at reclaiming some of the vast lands which had been gifted to the church in earlier reigns.
Neighbours
Kirby suggests that "a revival of seventh-century northern imperial ambitions had evidently occurred among the Northumbrians at the court of Eadberht".
The first record of Eadberht's efforts to recreate this dominion appear in 740, the year of Earnwine's death. A war between the Picts and the Northumbrians is reported, during which
Æthelbald, King of
Mercia, took advantage of the absence of Eadberht to ravage his lands The reason for the war is unclear, but Woolf suggests that it was related to the killing of Earnwine. Earnwine's father had been an exile in the north after his defeat in the civil war of 705–706, and it may be that the Pictish king
Óengus, or Æthelbald, or both, had tried to place him on the Northumbrian throne.
In 750, Eadberht conquered the plain of
Kyle and in 756, he campaigned alongside King Óengus. The campaign is reported as follows:
In the year of the Lord's incarnation 756, king Eadberht in the eighteenth year of his reign, and Unust, king of Picts led armies to the town of Dumbarton. And hence the Britons accepted terms there, on the first day of the month of August. But on the tenth day of the same month perished almost the whole army which he led from Ouania to Niwanbirig.
That Ouania is
Govan is now reasonably certain, but the location of Newanbirig is less so. Although there are many Newburghs, it's Newburgh-on-Tyne near
Hexham that has been the preferred location. An alternative interpretation of the events of 756 has been advanced: it identifies Newanbirig with
Newborough by
Lichfield in the kingdom of Mercia. A defeat here for Eadberht and Óengus by Æthelbald's Mercians would correspond with the claim in the Saint Andrews foundation legends that a king named Óengus son of Fergus founded the church there as a thanksgiving to
Saint Andrew for saving him after a defeat in Mercia.
Abdication
Eadberht abdicated in 758, entering the monastery attached to the cathedral of York. His death there in 768 is recorded in
Symeon of Durham's chronicle. Symeon's
History of the Church of Durham records that Eadberht was buried in the porch of the cathedral, alongside his brother Ecgberht, who had died in 766.
His son
Oswulf succeeded him, but was murdered within the year. However, his daughter Osgifu's husband
Alhred became king, and Eadberht's descendants, such as Oswulf's son
Ælfwald and Osgifu's son
Osred contested for the Northumbrian throne until the end of the century. Eadberht's last known descendant is Osgifu's son Saint
Alhmund, murdered in 800 on the orders of King
Eardwulf, and reputed a
martyr.
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