Kingdom of Northumbria

An Anglo-Saxon kingdom formed from Bernicia and Deira, ruling much of northern England and at times southeastern Scotland. Its political power and cultural influence peaked in the seventh and eighth centuries.

Bernicia: An Anglo-Saxon kingdom in what is now southeastern Scotland and northeastern England. Its royal dynasty supplied the rulers who united Bernicia with Deira.
Bretwalda: A title in later Anglo-Saxon sources for rulers said to exercise authority over other kingdoms. Northumbrian kings such as Edwin and Oswald were later counted among these powerful overlords.
Oswald of Northumbria: A Northumbrian king from 634 to 642 who promoted Christianity and founded a religious community at Lindisfarne. His reign reunited the kingdom and strengthened its links with Irish Christian traditions.
Lindisfarne: A tidal island off the coast of Northumberland, home to an influential early medieval monastery. The monastery founded there under Oswald became a major center of Northumbrian Christianity.
Synod of Whitby: A meeting in 664 that decided Northumbria would follow Roman rather than Irish calculations for Easter. The decision aligned Northumbria’s church with practices favored by Rome and continental Europe.
Deira: An Anglo-Saxon kingdom in what is now Yorkshire and nearby parts of northern England. Its incorporation with Bernicia created the larger Northumbrian kingdom.
Battle of Hatfield Chase: A battle in 633 in which Cadwallon of Gwynedd and Penda of Mercia defeated Edwin of Northumbria. Edwin’s defeat ended his reign and fractured Northumbria’s early expansion.
Oswiu of Northumbria: A Northumbrian king from 642 to 670 who defeated Mercia and presided over the Synod of Whitby. His rule marked Northumbria’s political peak and a decisive ecclesiastical settlement.
Whitby Abbey: A monastery on the Yorkshire coast that hosted the Synod of Whitby in 664. Its synod settled which Christian calendar and customs Northumbria would follow.
Northumbrian Renaissance: A period of exceptional learning and artistic production in Northumbria during the seventh and eighth centuries. It describes the cultural flowering made possible by Northumbria’s monasteries and royal patronage.

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