Ecgfrith of Northumbria

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.

Early life

Ecgfrith was the son of his predecessor as king, Oswiu of Northumbria. Bede tells us, in his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, that Ecgfrith was held as a hostage "at the court of Queen Cynwise in the province of the Mercians" at the time of Penda of Mercia's invasion of Northumbria in 654 or 655. Penda was, however, defeated and killed by the Northumbrians under Oswiu in the Battle of Winwaed, a victory which greatly enhanced Northumbrian power.

King

Ecgfrith was made king of Deira, a sub-kingdom of Northumbria, in 664, and he became king of Northumbria following his father's death on 15 February 670. He had married Æthelthryth, the 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, the Archbishop of York. Ecgfrith married a second wife, Eormenburg, before 678, the year in which he expelled Wilfrid from his kingdom.

Against the Picts

In 671 at the Battle of Two Rivers he put down an opportunistic rebellion by the Picts, stabilising Northumbrian control of the North of Britain for the next 14 years, and also created a new sub-kingdom in the north called Lothian. Ecgfrith went on, in 674, to defeat Wulfhere of Mercia, seizing the Kingdom of Lindsey. In 679, he fought a battle against the Mercians under Æthelred (who had married Ecgfrith's sister, Osthryth) on the river Trent. Ecgfrith's brother Ælfwine was killed in the battle, and the province of Lindsey was given up when peace was restored at the intervention of Theodore of Canterbury.

Detail from the sculpted stone at Aberlemno generally supposed to portray the Battle of Dunnichen

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 the expedition was successful in that Ecgfrith's men did manage to seize a large number of slaves and made off with a significant amount of plunder.

Death

In 685, against the advice of Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, he led a force against the Verturian Picts, who were led by his cousin Bridei mac Bili, but was lured by a feigned flight into their mountain fastnesses and slain at the Battle of Dun Nechtain (either at Dunnichen in Angus or Dunachton in Badenoch). This disastrous defeat severely weakened Northumbrian power in the north, and Bede dates the beginning of the decline of Northumbria from Ecgfrith's death. He was succeeded by his illegitimate half-brother, Aldfrith.

Money

As well as his military activities, Ecgfrith appears to have been the earliest Northumbrian king, and perhaps the earliest Anglo-Saxon king, to have issued the silver penny, which became the mainstay of English coinage for centuries afterwards. Earlier Anglo-Saxon coins had been made, but these were rare, the most common being gold shillings or thrymsas, copied from Roman models. The pennies, or sceattas, were thick, cast in moulds, perhaps copied from Merovingian coins, and issued on a large scale.

Death

A popular legend concerning Ecgfrith's death at Nechtansmere has his queen 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 host 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