Ecgfrith King of Northumbria
According to Bede, 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 in the Battle of the Winwaed by the Northumbrians under Oswiu, a victory which greatly enhanced Northumbrian power.
In 660, Oswiu forced Ecgfrith to marry Æthelthryth, a daughter of Anna of East Anglia. Ecgfrith was then made king of Deira in 664 after his half-brother Alhfrith, who according to Bede had rebelled against Oswiu earlier that year, disappears from history. Ecgfrith became king of Northumbria following his father's death on 15 February 670. Bede writes, “In the year of our Lord 670, being the second year after Theodorearrived in England, Oswiu, king of the Northumbrians, fell sick, and died, in the fifty-eighth year of his age. He at that time bore so great affection to the Roman Apostolic usages, that he had designed, if he recovered from his sickness, to go to Rome and there to end his days at the holy places, having asked Bishop Wilfrid, with a promise of no small gift of money, to conduct him on his journey. He died on the 15th of February, leaving his son Ecgfrith his successor.” Upon becoming king of Northumbria, Ecgfrith put his brother Ælfwine on the throne of Deira.
In 671, at the Battle of Two Rivers, Ecgfrith put down an opportunistic rebellion by the Picts, which resulted in the Northumbrians taking control of the land between the Firth of Forth and the Tweed.
Around the same time, Æthelthryth wished to leave Ecgfrith to become a nun. Eventually, in about 672, Æthelthryth persuaded Ecgfrith to allow her to become a nun, and “she entered the monastery of the Abbess Æbbe, who was aunt to King Ecgfrith, at the place called the city of Coludi (Coldingham, Berwickshire), having received the veil of the religious habit from the hands of the aforesaid Bishop Wilfrid”. A year later Æthelthryth became founding abbess of Ely.
In 674, Ecgfrith defeated Wulfhere of Mercia, which enabled him to seize Lindsey. In 679, he defeated the Mercians again, now under Wulfhere's brother Æthelred(who had married Ecgfrith's sister Osthryth), at the Battle of the Trent. Ecgfrith's own brother Ælfwine was killed in the battle and, following the intervention of Theodore, the Archbishop of Canterbury, an area roughly equivalent to northern Derbyshire and northern Nottinghamshire was annexed.
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. Coins had been produced by the Anglo-Saxons since the late 6th century, but these were rare, the most common being gold scillingas (shillings) or thrymsas. Ecgfrith's pennies, also known as sceattas, were thick and cast in moulds, and were issued on a large scale.
In 685, against the advice of Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, Ecgfrith led a force against the Picts of Fortriu, who were led by his cousin Bridei mac Bili. The Northumbrians were lured by a feigned flight in the mountains however Ecgfrith was victorious at the Battle of Nechtansmere, located at either Dunnichen in Angus or Dunachton in Badenoch. This defeat strengthened Northumbrian power in the north and the Picts did not seriously threaten Northumbria for over 100 years.
On his return Ecgfrith’s second wife gave birth to a son Edwui in 686 and Ecgfrith settled down to consolidating his conquests into the kingdom. However Aethelred invaded Northumbra again in 690 and was defeated at the Battle of the Don (assumed to be somewhere near the present day site of Doncaster) and was forced to acknowledge Ecgfrith as his liegelord. As a penalty Ecgfrith took the rest of Lincolnshire thus depriving Mercia of an east coast. The rest of Ecgfrith’s rule was spent dealing with minor raids from Wales and Ireland. However it was also in this period that the first signs of the golden age of Anglo Saxon culture were nurtured. Ecgfrith was succeeded by Edwui in 704 after dying from a fall from his horse when hunting.
According to Bede, 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 in the Battle of the Winwaed by the Northumbrians under Oswiu, a victory which greatly enhanced Northumbrian power.
In 660, Oswiu forced Ecgfrith to marry Æthelthryth, a daughter of Anna of East Anglia. Ecgfrith was then made king of Deira in 664 after his half-brother Alhfrith, who according to Bede had rebelled against Oswiu earlier that year, disappears from history. Ecgfrith became king of Northumbria following his father's death on 15 February 670. Bede writes, “In the year of our Lord 670, being the second year after Theodorearrived in England, Oswiu, king of the Northumbrians, fell sick, and died, in the fifty-eighth year of his age. He at that time bore so great affection to the Roman Apostolic usages, that he had designed, if he recovered from his sickness, to go to Rome and there to end his days at the holy places, having asked Bishop Wilfrid, with a promise of no small gift of money, to conduct him on his journey. He died on the 15th of February, leaving his son Ecgfrith his successor.” Upon becoming king of Northumbria, Ecgfrith put his brother Ælfwine on the throne of Deira.
In 671, at the Battle of Two Rivers, Ecgfrith put down an opportunistic rebellion by the Picts, which resulted in the Northumbrians taking control of the land between the Firth of Forth and the Tweed.
Around the same time, Æthelthryth wished to leave Ecgfrith to become a nun. Eventually, in about 672, Æthelthryth persuaded Ecgfrith to allow her to become a nun, and “she entered the monastery of the Abbess Æbbe, who was aunt to King Ecgfrith, at the place called the city of Coludi (Coldingham, Berwickshire), having received the veil of the religious habit from the hands of the aforesaid Bishop Wilfrid”. A year later Æthelthryth became founding abbess of Ely.
In 674, Ecgfrith defeated Wulfhere of Mercia, which enabled him to seize Lindsey. In 679, he defeated the Mercians again, now under Wulfhere's brother Æthelred(who had married Ecgfrith's sister Osthryth), at the Battle of the Trent. Ecgfrith's own brother Ælfwine was killed in the battle and, following the intervention of Theodore, the Archbishop of Canterbury, an area roughly equivalent to northern Derbyshire and northern Nottinghamshire was annexed.
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. Coins had been produced by the Anglo-Saxons since the late 6th century, but these were rare, the most common being gold scillingas (shillings) or thrymsas. Ecgfrith's pennies, also known as sceattas, were thick and cast in moulds, and were issued on a large scale.
In 685, against the advice of Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, Ecgfrith led a force against the Picts of Fortriu, who were led by his cousin Bridei mac Bili. The Northumbrians were lured by a feigned flight in the mountains however Ecgfrith was victorious at the Battle of Nechtansmere, located at either Dunnichen in Angus or Dunachton in Badenoch. This defeat strengthened Northumbrian power in the north and the Picts did not seriously threaten Northumbria for over 100 years.
On his return Ecgfrith’s second wife gave birth to a son Edwui in 686 and Ecgfrith settled down to consolidating his conquests into the kingdom. However Aethelred invaded Northumbra again in 690 and was defeated at the Battle of the Don (assumed to be somewhere near the present day site of Doncaster) and was forced to acknowledge Ecgfrith as his liegelord. As a penalty Ecgfrith took the rest of Lincolnshire thus depriving Mercia of an east coast. The rest of Ecgfrith’s rule was spent dealing with minor raids from Wales and Ireland. However it was also in this period that the first signs of the golden age of Anglo Saxon culture were nurtured. Ecgfrith was succeeded by Edwui in 704 after dying from a fall from his horse when hunting.
