List of monarchs of Northumbria

Northumbria, a kingdom of Angles, in what is now northern England and south-east Scotland, was initially divided into two kingdoms: Bernicia and Deira. The two were first united by Aethelfrith around the year 604, and except for occasional periods of division over the subsequent century, they remained so. The exceptions are during the brief period from 633 to 634, when Northumbria was plunged into chaos by the death of King Edwin in battle and the ruinous invasion of Cadwallon ap Cadfan of Gwynedd. The unity of the Northumbrian kingdoms was restored after Cadwallon's death in battle in 634.
Another exception is a period from about the year 644 to 664, when kings ruled individually over Deira. In 651, King Oswiu had Oswine of Deira killed and replaced by Aethelwald, but Aethelwald did not prove to be a loyal sub-king, allying with the Mercian king Penda; according to Bede, Aethelwald acted as Penda's guide during the latter's invasion of Northumbria but withdrew his forces when the Mercians met the Northumbrians at the Battle of Winwaed. After the Mercian defeat at Winwaed, Aethelwald lost power and Oswiu's own son, Alchfrith, became king in his place. In 670, Aelfwine, the brother of the childless King Ecgfrith, was made king of Deira; by this point the title may have been used primarily to designate an heir. Aelfwine was killed in battle against Mercia in 679, and there was not another separate king of Deira until the time of Norse rule.
==Kings of Bernicia==
Reign 	Incumbent 	Notes 	
c. 500 	Esa (Oesa) 	Doubtful historicity as a king. 	
c. 520 	Eoppa 	Doubtful historicity as a king. Son of Esa. 	
547 to 559 	Ida 	The Historia Brittonum calls Ida the first king of Bernicia. Son of Eoppa. 	
 	Glappa (Clappa) 	 	
 	Adda 	Order and dates uncertain. 	
568? to 572? 	Æthelric 	Order and dates uncertain. Son of Ida. 	
 	Theodric (Deoric) 	Order and dates uncertain. Son of Ida 	
 	Frithuwald (Frithewlf) 	Order and dates uncertain. 	
585[?] to 592[?] 	Hussa 	Order and dates uncertain. 	
593(?) to 616 	Æthelfrith 	Son of Æthelric, also ruled Deira, killed in battle 	
Deira Dynasty 	Deira Dynasty 	Deira Dynasty 	Deira Dynasty
616 to 12/14 Oct 632	Edwin 	Son of Ælla of Deira, which he also ruled, killed in battle by Penda, King of Mercia	
Bernicia Dynasty 	Bernicia Dynasty 	Bernicia Dynasty 	Bernicia Dynasty
Late 632 to 633 	Eanfrith 	Son of Æthelfrith 	
634 to 5 Aug 642 	Oswald (Osuualde, Osƿald)	Son of Æthelfrith, also ruled Deira, killed by Penda, King of Mercia; Saint Oswald 	
late 642 to 654 	Oswiu 	Son of Æthelfrith, became king of united Northumbria 	
==Kings of Deira==
Reign 	Incumbent 	Notes
559/560 to 589 	Ælla (Aelli) 	Son of Yffa
589/599 to 604 	Æthelric (Aedilric)	
Bernician Dynasty 	Bernician Dynasty 	Bernician Dynasty
593/604? to 616 	Æthelfrith 	Also king of Bernicia; killed in battle
Deira Dynasty 	Deira Dynasty 	Deira Dynasty
616 to 12/14 Oct 632 	Edwin 	Son of Ælla, also ruled Bernicia; killed in battle by Cadwallon of Gwynedd and Penda of Mercia; Saint Edwin
late 633 to summer 634 	Osric 	
633 to 5 Aug 642 	Oswald 	Son of Æthelfrith, also ruled Bernicia, killed by Penda, King of Mercia; Saint Oswald
642 to 644 	Oswiu 	Son of Æthelfrith, also ruled Bernicia
644 to 651 	Oswine 	Son of Osric, murdered
Summer 651 to late 654 or 655	Æthelwold 	Son of Oswald
654 to 15 Aug 670 	Oswiu 	Restored
656 to 664 	Alchfrith 	Sub-king under his father Oswiu
664 to 670 	Ecgfrith 	Sub-king under his father Oswiu, upon whose death he became king of all Northumbria
670 to 679 	Ælfwine 	Sub-king under his brother Ecgfrith, King of Northumbria. Killed in the Battle of the Trent against King Æthelred of Mercia
==Kings of Northumbria==
Reign 	Incumbent 	Notes
654 to 15 February 670 	Oswiu 	Previously king of Bernicia and Deira
February 670 to 20 May 685	Ecgfrith 	Son of Oswiu, killed in battle against the Picts
May 685 to 14 December 704	Aldfrith (Ealdfrith, Aldfrid)	Son of Oswiu
Late 704 to early 705 	Eadwulf 	Usurper
705 to 716 	Osred I 	Son of Aldfrith, killed in battle or murdered
716 to 718 	Coenred 	Distant descendant of Ida of Bernecia
718 to 29 May 729 	Osric 	Son of Aldfrith, adopted Ceolwulf as his heir
729 to 731 	Ceolwulf 	Brother of Coenred, deposed; Saint Ceolwulf
731 to 737/8 	Ceolwulf 	Restored; abdicated to become a monk
737 to 758 	Eadberht 	Son of Eata, a descendant of Ida of Bernicia, abdicated to become a monk
758 to 759 	Oswulf (Osulf) 	Son of Eadberht, murdered by his servants
759 to 765 	Æthelwald Moll 	Deposed
765 to 774 	Alhred 	Distant descendant of Ida of Bernicia, deposed and exiled
774 to 779 	Æthelred I 	Son of Æthelwald Moll, deposed
779 to 23 September 788 	Ælfwald I 	Son of Oswulf, murdered
788 to 790 	Osred II 	Son of Alhred, deposed and exiled
790 to 18 April 796 	Æthelred I 	Restored
796 	Osbald 	Exiled after a reign of 27 days
14 May 796 to 806/8 	Eardwulf 	Deposed
806/8 to 808/10 	Ælfwald II (Elfwald II) 	
808 to 810 	Eardwulf 	Restored
810 to 841 	Eanred 	Son of Eardwulf
840/1 to 844 	Æthelred II 	Son of Eanred, deposed
844 	Rædwulf (Redwulf) 	Usurper
844 to c. 848/9 	Æthelred II 	Restored
c. 848/9 to 862/3 	Osberht (Osbert) 	Deposed
862/3/7 to 23 March 867 	Ælle II 	Usurper, killed by the Danes with Osbeorht
867 to 21 March 867 	Osberht (Osbert) 	Killed by the Danes with the usurper Ælle
==Kings of Northumbria in the Norse era==
The kings of Northumbria in the Norse era variously controlled Jórvík, the former Deira, from its capital York or the northern part of the kingdom, the former Bernicia, from Bamburgh. The southern kings were usually vikings while the northern rulers were Anglo-Saxons. Some of the rulers controlled all or most of Northumbria although there is some doubt over the details as the history of Northumbria in the ninth and tenth centuries is poorly recorded. 
Years 	Ruler of southern Northumbria 	Ruler of northern Northumbria 	Notes
867 to 872 	Military conquest by the Great Heathen Army 	Ecgberht I 	Ecgberht I ruled north of the Tyne as a puppet king of the Danes.
872 to c. 875 	Ricsige 	Ricsige 	Probably ruled most of Northumbria as an sovereign Anglo-Saxon king.
c. 875 to 877 	Halfdan Ragnarsson 	Ecgberht II 	The year in which Ecgberht II ceased to be king is unclear.
877 to 883 	Interregnum in York 	Ecgberht II 	The year in which Ecgberht II ceased to be king is unclear.
c. 883 to 895 	Guthred 	Uncertain. Possibly Ecgberht II. 	The year in which Ecgberht II ceased to be king is unclear.
c. 895–900 	Siefried 	Eadwulf II 	1. Eadwulf II is variously titled as either a king or a reeve and the year in which he came to power is unknown. Conventionally he is thought to have ruled only the northern part of the kingdom but he may have ruled the entirely of Northumbria.Hudson, Benjamin (2005), Viking Pirates and Christian Princes: Dynasty, Religion and Empire in the North Atlantic, Oxford: Oxford University Press, , p. 212. Siefried and Cnut may have been joint kings in York for part or all of the period between 895 and 905Downham, Clare (2007), Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: The Dynasty of Ívarr to A.D. 1014, Edinburgh: Dunedin3. Along with Hálfdan and Eowils, another king, Ingwær, their brother, may have also ruled. All three were killed at the Battle of Tettenhall in 910.
c. 900–905 	Cnut 	 	
c. 900 to 902 	Æthelwold 	 	
c. 902 to 910 	Hálfdan and Eowils 	 	
910 to 913 	Anglo-Saxon control, possibly under Eadwulf II 	 	
913 to c. 918 	Anglo-Saxon control, possibly under Ealdred I 	Ealdred I 	1. There is some evidence that Ealdred submitted to Edward the Elder in 924 who died in that year.2. Ealdred submitted to Æthelstan in 927, making Æthelstan the overlord of all Northumbria as King of the English from 12 July 927, following the Treaty of Eamont Bridge. It is likely that Ealdred's submission was somewhat nominal with Ealdred ruling semi-independently while acknowledging West Saxon authority.Williams, "Ealdred"; Woolf, From Pictland to Alba, p. 158
918 to 921. 	Ragnall 	 	
921 to 927 	Sigtrygg 	 	
927 	Guthfrith 	 	
927 to c. 933 	Æthelstan 	 	
c.933 to c. 934 	Æthelstan 	Adulf mcEtulfe 	1. The name Adulf mcEtulfe can be taken to be Æthelwulf son of Eadwulf.2. Alternatively, Adulf mcEtulfe indicates Ealdred son of Eadwulf, i.e. Ealdred I.Woolf, From Pictland to Alba, pp. 163-1643. Adulf mcEtulfe died in 934 and had been named 'King of the Northern Saxons' by the Annals of Clonmacnoise.
c. 934 to 939 	Æthelstan 	Overlordship of Æthelstan 	
939 to 941 	Olaf Guthfrithson 	Possibly Olaf Guthfrithson 	After Æthelstan's death in 939, the men of York immediately chose the Viking king of Dublin, Olaf Guthfrithson (or his cousin, Anlaf Cuaran), as their king and the Anglo-Saxon control of the north collapsed.
941 to 943 or 944	Olaf Sihtricson 	Possibly Olaf Sihtricson 	Olaf Sihtricson was also known as Amlaíb Cuarán
c. 942 	Sitric II 	Possibly Sitric II 	Sitric's existence is only evidenced by coins bearing his name which were minted at York.
943 to 944 	Ragnall Guthfrithson (possibly with Olaf Sihtricson) 	Possibly Ragnall Guthfrithson with Olaf Sihtricson	
c. 944 to 946 	Eadmund of Wessex 	Possibly under Eadmund's overlordship 	Edmund's authority was as King of the English.
c. 947 to 948 	Eric BloodaxeCostambeys, "Erik Bloodaxe"; Hudson, Viking Pirates, pp. 37—8	Under Eadred's overlordship 	1. From 946, Osulf I appears in the historical record as high-reeve of Bamburgh under Eadred the King of the English.2. Eric Bloodaxe had previously been King of Norway.
949 to 952 	Olaf Sihtricson 	Under Eadred's overlordship 	Olaf Sihtricson was restored to the throne. During this time, Osulf I is variously described as the high-reeve or earl of Bamburgh.
952 to 954 	Eric Bloodaxe 	Under Eadred's overlordship 	Eric Bloodaxe was restored to the throne. In 954 Osulf I was responsible for a conspiracy that led to the death of Eric Bloodaxe.
Although Eadred claimed rule from 946, the Kingdom of Northumbria was not absorbed permanently into England until after 954. Thereafter Osulf had control of all Northumbria under Eadred .Rollason, Northumbria, pp. 65—6 See Rulers of Bamburgh for subsequent lords of Bamburgh after Osulf, none of whom ruled as kings.
==Family tree==
 - Kings of Bernicia;
 - Kings of Deira;
 - Kings of Northumbria 
==See also==
*Rulers of Bamburgh
*Earl of York
*Earl of Northumbria
*Earl of Northumberland
*List of English monarchs
==Notes==
==References==
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==External links==
*The History Files - Anglo-Saxon Britain - The Kings of Northumbria
 
Northumbria
Northumbria