King Ecgfrith (Old English: Ecgfrið; c. 645–20 May 685) was the King of Northumbria from 670 until his death. He ruled over Northumbria when it was at the height of its power, but his reign ended with a disastrous defeat in which he lost his life.
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Early life
Ecgfrith succeded his father, Oswiu of Northumbria. Bede tells us, in the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, that Ecgfrith was held as a hostage "at the court of Queen Cynwise in the province of the Mercians" when Penda of Mercia invaded Northumbria in 654 or 655. Penda was eventually defeated and killed by the Northumbrians under Oswiu in the Battle of Winwaed, a victory which greatly enhanced Northumbrian power.
Reign
Ecgfrith was made king of the Northumbrian sub-kingdom of Deira in 664 and he became king of Northumbria itself following his father's death on 15 February 670.
Marriages
He had married Æthelthryth, a daughter of Anna of East Anglia, in 660; however, she took the veil shortly after Ecgfrith's accession, a step which possibly led to his long quarrel with Wilfrid, Archbishop of York. Ecgfrith was re-married, to Eormenburg, before 678. That year he expelled Wilfrid from his kingdom.
Military achievements
In 671, at the Battle of Two Rivers, he put down an opportunistic rebellion by the Picts, which resulted in the Northumbrian control of the northern Britain for the next fourteen years, and which created a new sub-kingdom in the north called Lothian. In 674, Ecgfrith defeated Wulfhere of Mercia, which enabled him to seize Lindsey. In 679, at an unknown location near to the River Trent, he fought a battle against the Mercians under Æthelred, the husband of Ecgfrith's sister, Osthryth. Ecgfrith's own brother Ælfwine was killed in the battle: the province of Lindsey was given up when peace was restored at the intervention of Theodore of Canterbury.
Ireland
In 684, Ecgfrith sent an expedition to Ireland under his general Berht, which seems to have been unsuccessful in the sense that no Irish land was conquered by the Northumbrians, but which resulted in Ecgfrith's men seizing a large number of slaves and making off with a significant amount of plunder.
Coinage
Ecgfrith appears to have been the earliest Northumbrian king, and perhaps the earliest of the Anglo-Saxon rulers, to have issued the silver penny, which became the mainstay of English coinage for centuries afterwards. Anglo-Saxon coins were made before his reign, but these were rare, the most common being gold shillings or thrymsas, that were copied from Roman models. Ecgfrith's pennies, (also known as sceattas), were thick, cast in moulds, perhaps copied from Merovingian coins and were issued on a large scale.
Death
In 685, against the advice of Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, Ecgfrith led a force against the Verturian Picts, who were led by his cousin Bridei mac Bili. The Northumbrians were lured by a feigned flight in the mountains and Ecgfrith was then slain at the Battle of Dun Nechtain (located at either Dunnichen in Angus or Dunachton in Badenoch). This defeat severely weakened Northumbrian power in the north and Bede dates the beginning of the decline of the kingdom of Northumbria from Ecgfrith's death. He was succeeded by his illegitimate half-brother, Aldfrith.
Cuthbert's vision
A popular legend concerning Ecgfrith's death at Nechtansmere has his queen, Eormenburg, touring the church at Carlisle with Cuthbert during the campaign, as she could not bear to stay behind at the royal quarters and sit patiently awaiting news of the battle's outcome. During the tour Cuthbert stopped, paused, and said to Eormenburg, "I have just had a vision of your husband's death. Return to your palace and escape with your children." Almost immediately, a messenger arrived from the field at Nechtansmere with the news that Ecgfrith had been slain and his army routed.
References
- Eddius, Vita Wilfridi (James Raine, Historians of Church of York, Rolls Series, London, 1879–1894), 19, 20, 24, 34, 39, 44
- Bede, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (edited by Charles Plummer, Oxford, 1896), iii. 24; iv. 5, 12, 13, 15, 19, 21, 26.
- Historiam ecclesiasticam gentis anglorum, Vol 1, Bede, ed. Charles Plummer, 1896, (Clarendon Press, Oxford): 4 mentions of "Egfrid"
- Historiam ecclesiasticam gentis anglorum, Vol. 2. Bede, ed. Charles Plummer, 1896, (Clarendon Press, Oxford): 71 mentions of "Egfrid"
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ecgfrith". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Preceded by Oswiu |
King of Northumbria 670–685 |
Succeeded by Aldfrith |
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