Trouble in Northumbria

In 947/948, the folk of Northumbria decided to oust Amlaib Cuarán, the Viking ruler who came from Dublin with his cousin, Olaf Guthfrithson, and took over when Olaf died. They invited Eric (later called "Bloodaxe") from Norway to take his place. This request for another Scandinavian ruler seems to be a response to the Anglo-Saxon family of Æthelstan continually subduing the north to keep England united.

Archbishop of York Wulfstan supported Eric, but the current Anglo-Saxon king, Eadred, came north in 948 and destroyed part of Northumbria as punishment, even burning several buildings at Ripon (a significant place, it was founded by St. Wilfrid and housed the remains of St. Cuthbert at one time). The he departed the north, he advised that he would return with greater devastation if they did not get rid of Eric.

That did not resolve the "northern trouble," however, because shortly after, King Malcolm I of Scotland raided Northumbria and took captives and stole cattle. Moreover, with Eric gone and Eadred back south, Amlaib returned in 949, so one record claims. That only lasted until 952 when, once again, the Northumbrians expelled him, whereupon Eric returned to reign from 952 - 954.

Eric might have stayed longer except for a betrayal. A history written a century later by Roger of Wendover says he was:

King Eric was treacherously killed by Earl [consul] Maccus in a certain lonely place which is called Stainmore, with his son Haeric and his brother Ragnald, betrayed by Earl [comes] Oswulf; and then afterwards King Eadred ruled in these districts.

After this, Oswulf administered Northumbria and was loyal to Eadred and the following English kings. Northern control by Vikings was a thing of the past. The identity of maces is unknown. It is assumed that Roger of Wendover had access to a txt with details of the death that is no longer available to modern scholars.

Tradition tells that Oswulf ruled all of Northumbria for about the next decade, so I think he's worth talking about. See you tomorrow.

Eric Bloodaxe

I mentioned yesterday that the control of northern England passed in and out of Anglo-Saxon and Viking hands until finally the inhabitants themselves drove out the last Viking ruler in 954. That ruler was Eric Bloodaxe.

Details of Eric's life are few, and this has caused the sometime King of Northumbria in the 940s and 950s with an Eric of Norway mentioned in Norse sagas who ruled the Norwegian Westlands in the 930s. This possibly erroneous conflation of the two gives us a richer history, but cannot be proven. If true, however, then Bloodaxe is the son of Harald Fairhair and half-brother of Haakon the Good, and left the kingship of Norway to rule over northern England.

At least we have evidence of his status in England from the existence of coins minted during his reign. Shown are coins minted at York with "ERIC REX" on them, accompanied by a sword.

The epithet "Bloodaxe" comes from mentions by a Norse poet writing in the 900s, and is given to him because he supposedly slew his half-brothers to ensure his rule over Norway. Other poets and historians refer to him as a "brother killer" or simply the he was vicious as a Viking raider. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle omits "Bloodaxe" and refers to him simply as "Harald's son."

Let's talk about northern England. When Æthelstan died in 939, he was succeeded by his teenage brother Edmund. It seems that Olaf Guthfrithson almost immediately left Dublin to reclaim what he once claimed. He was joined by his cousin, Olaf Sihtricsson (known in Ireland and usually referred to in chronicles as Amlaib Cuarán). When Guthfrithson died in 941 or 942, Amlaib succeeded him. He had (for a time, at least) the support of Archbishop Wulfstan of York. Edmund then marched north and subdued Amlaib (and Wulfstan), and negotiated a treaty: Amlaib would be an ally and could hold onto Northumbria.

This second Olaf, however, was supposedly not as acceptable as the first, so Wulfstan and others helped drive him out in 952 and invited Eric from Norway to come and rule them. This is where he starts minting his own coins. Tomorrow we'll continue the back-and-forth possession of Northern England from Viking to Anglo-Saxon hands.

Æthelstan's Reign, Part 3

King Æthelstan (c.890s - 27 October 939) united England under a single ruler, prevented invasion, reformed the law, and donated to the Church. He did all the things you would want a leader to do, but of course, nothing lasts forever.

Æthelstan died almost exactly 40 years after the death of his grandfather, Alfred the Great. There is no particular reason given for his death. It is likely that, as a man in his 40s who had led armies through some fierce battles and pushed his body to its limits as the leader of a country, he was simply aged to the point where his body had enough. The fact that so many king's deaths raise the specter of poison, but not here, is telling that it seemed a natural death.

He was buried at Malmesbury Abbey. The 12th-century chronicler William of Malmesbury stated that the king had devotion to the memory of the 7th-century St. Aldhelm, but there may have been another reason. When Æthelstan first was crowned, he had an older sibling, Ælfweard, with a claim to the throne. Winchester—where Æthelstan's grandfather, father, and Ælfweard were buried—seems to have preferred Ælfweard over Æthelstan. Æthelstan might have avoided Winchester as part of a grudge.

With the king's death, the Viking king of Dublin, Olaf Guthfrithson, was chosen by York to rule them. The unification of northern England to the rest of the island was broken. It got worse: Olaf conquered the East Midlands as well. Upon Olaf's death in 941, Æthelstan's half-brother Edmund managed to regain control of the midlands in 942 and York in 944, but that victory was short-lived. Edmund died in May 946, and the Vikings once again took control of York.

I once wrote of Æthelstan as the Forgotten King. The truth is that we have little source material about his life. William of Malmesbury wrote about him long after his death, and his account is considered unreliable, but some historians argue that William must have had access to some lost biography. Still, the charters and coins give evidence of a very active king. Also, the illustration in yesterday's post was made in Æthelstan's lifetime, making his likeness one of the earliest contemporary portraits of an English king in existence.

Speaking of York: northern England swayed back and forth from Anglo-Saxon to Viking hands. Anglo-Saxon rule did not become permanent until the northerners decided to drive out their Viking rule themselves. Tomorrow we'll start the story of that Viking ruler, Eric Bloodaxe.