Humbria is a hypothetical proto-over-kingdom in the extreme. The area discussed under the term Humbria seems to be the region around the Humber River, not surprisingly. This region includes the kingdoms of Deira, Elmet, Lindsey, and proto-Mercia. In effect, references to Humbria suggest that it was the core of Deira’s hegemony. While Edwin had extended [...]
Archive for the ‘Mercia’ Category
10 Apr
FB: The Mystery of Urbs Iudeu
James Fraser has written an interesting article on a very important seventh century English fortress called Urbs Iudeu. Fraser notes that the Urbs Iudeu is unlikely to be one of the better known named places on the Firth of Forth, this fortress gave its name to the firth itself, or took its name from the [...]
9 Feb
FB: Din-Guaïroï /Bebbanburg/Bamburgh
You knew I couldn’t wait too long to do Bamburgh. Thanks to Bernard Cromwell it may be the best known Anglo-Saxon fortress site in England today anyway.
Din-Guaïroï
Din Guaïroï is the name given to Bamburgh in the Historia Brittonum, which then later tells us that it was renamed Bebbanburgh for Æthelfrith’s queen. The [...]
2 Oct
The Grandfather Effect
As I worked on this month’s lost kingdom, my mind wondered on to the grandfather effect. There is this trend for the dynastic founder to be the grandfather of the first great king. This is not to say that the grandfather wasn’t an important king in his own time, but he could have easily become [...]
28 May
PW: Queen Cynewise of Mercia
Queen Cynewise is one of the few early Mercian queens that we have any information on at all. The only direct mention of her name is after Penda’s fall when Bede notes that Ecgfrith was not at the battle of Winwaed because he was a hostage in the care of Queen Cynewise (HE III.24). He [...]
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