Timeline of Northumbria and Northumberland
This timeline summarises significant events in the history of Northumbria and Northumberland.
600
- 604 Aethelfrith unites Bernicia and Deira to form Northumbria.
- 625 Paulinus is consecrated as Bishop of York.
- 638 Gododdin hillfort at Edinburgh is captured by Oswald of Northumbria (see Northumbrian Edinburgh).
- 664 Synod of Whitby
- 664 Plague in British Isles travels at least as far north as Lastingham.
- 685 Loss to Picts at Battle of Dun Nechtain (Nechtansmere) limits northern expansion.
- 687 Cuthbert, patron saint of Northumbria, dies at his Inner Farne Island hermitage.
700
- 709 Acca is appointed as Bishop of Hexham.
- 715 Eadfrith creates the Lindisfarne Gospels.
- 731 Bede writes the Ecclesiastical History of the English People at Jarrow.
- 735 Alcuin of York is born, later a major figure in the Carolingian Renaissance under Charlemagne.
- 793 Vikings raid Lindisfarne.
- 794 Vikings raid Jarrow.
800
- 829 Northumbria accepts Egbert of Wessex as overlord.
- 865 Northumbrians led by Aelle II defeat Ragnar Lodbrok's raiding Vikings.
- 866 York and southern Northumbria are conquered and settled by the "Great Heathen Army."
- 867 Aelle II and Osberht join forces only to be defeated at the Battle of York.
900
- 915 Ealdred I of Bernicia and Constantine II of Scotland are defeated by Vikings in the first Battle of Corbridge.
- 927 Earldom of Northumbria is created by Athelstan.
- 937 Athelstan defeats Norse-Celtic force in the battle of Brunanburh.
- 954 Edinburgh is lost to Scottish king Indulf.
- 995 Monks from Lindisfarne establish Durham
1000
- 1018 Lothian is lost to the King of Scots Malcolm II.
- 1065 The term Northumberland is first recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
- 1069 William I ruthlessly suppresses Northumbrian opposition in the Harrying of the North.
- 1072 William I crosses Northumbria into Scotland, supported by a large fleet, to challenge Malcolm III.
- 1080 Normans fortify a town on the Tyne, thereafter known as Newcastle.
- 1089 Northumberland county is created.
1100
- 1137 Newminster Abbey is founded near Morpeth.
- 1139 Matilda grants Northumberland north of the Tees to David I of Scotland.
- 1143 Castle is built at Northallerton.
- 1157 Henry II reclaims Northumberland from Scotland.
- 1160 Castle is built at Norham.
- 1174 While besieging Alnwick, William I of Scotland is captured and imprisoned in Newcastle.
1200
- 1216 King John orders destruction of Berwick-upon-Tweed.
- 1237 The Treaty of York defines the northern border of England and Northumberland county.
- 1296 English force sacks Berwick-upon-Tweed prior to defeating Scots in the Battle of Dunbar
- 1297 Scots led by William Wallace burn Hexham, Corbridge and Ryton.
1300
- 1333 Edward III, besieging Berwick-upon-Tweed, defeats Scots in the Battle of Halidon Hill.
- 1346 Scottish force sacks Hexham prior to defeat at the Battle of Neville's Cross.
- 1349 Black Plague
- 1377 Henry Percy becomes first Earl of Northumberland.
- 1388 Battle of Otterburn
1400
- 1402 Battle of Humbleton Hill
- 1403 Henry "Hotspur" Percy is killed at Shrewsbury in battle against Henry IV.
- 1464 Battle of Hedgeley Moor
- 1482 Berwick-upon-Tweed last re-captured by England.
1500
- 1513 English defeat invading Scots at Battle of Flodden Field.
- 1549 John Knox appointed parish minister in Berwick-upon-Tweed.
- 1551 John Dudley becomes first Duke of Northumberland.
- 1569 Earl of Northumberland rebels against Elizabeth I in the Rising of the North.
- 1597 Plague kills 340 in Newcastle.
1600
- 1603 Union of crowns under James I
- 1606 James I transports Border Reivers to Ireland in the Plantation of Ulster.
- 1640 Scottish Covenanters defeat English force in the Battle of Newburn
- 1649 14 women are convicted and executed in Newcastle witch trials.
1700
- 1707 Act of Union joins the Scottish government with that of England and Wales.
- 1745 Scant Northumberland support for Bonnie Prince Charlie in the second Jacobite rising.
- 1761 Troops in Hexham shoot 40 miners protesting against conscription.
- 1782 5th Regiment of Foot named the 5th (The Northumberland) Regiment of Foot.
1800
- 1800 Bewick publishes British Birds.
- 1829 Stephenson's Rocket wins the Rainhill Trials.
- 1838 Grace Darling rescues survivors from a shipwreck off the Farne Islands.
- 1853 Cholera epidemic kills 1,500 in Newcastle.
1900
- 1903 Smallpox epidemic hits Newcastle.
- 1936 Two hundred men march from Jarrow to London to protest about unemployment in the region.
- 1940 Spitfires from RAF Acklington intercept Luftwaffe bombers off the Farne Islands.
- 1963 University of Newcastle upon Tyne is established as separate institution.
- 1966 Epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease strikes Northumberland farms.
- 1974 The county of Tyne and Wear is created.
See also
Sources
- Stenton, F. M. (1971). Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
- Waters, I. (1999). Northumberland: England's Border Country. Contemporary Review, 275(1605), 203–210.