Benedict Biscop

I've gained a new appreciation for Benedict Biscop this week after rereading the History of the Abbots and the Life of Ceolfrith, along with Ian Woods' contribution to the new Cambridge Companion to Bede. What follows is a little musing on Biscop and questions his life open up. I used to think of Biscop as...

The Realm of Humbria

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...

Three British Chieftains of Bernicia and Deira

I was browsing through Rachel Bromwich's Triodd Ynys Prydein (The Welsh Triads) today and I came across the triad of the Three Chieftains of "Deiuyr a Brennych", Deira and Bernicia, that reminds me of some of the usual nearly lost material among the 'Men of the North' lore.  The variant triad 10W combines it with...

PW: Abbot Berhthun of Beverly

You might be wondering, who is Abbot Berhthun and why should we care about him? First of all, he was someone known and respected by Bede and second, we owe practically everything we know about St John of Beverly to Berhthun. According to Bede, Berhthun was John's deacon while he was Bishop of Hexham and...

LKM: Deira

Its not too difficult to do little known kingdoms. Its possible to seem comprehensive when you don't have a lot of information. I could keep to those practically forgotten kingdoms, but I think a regional approach is more fair. So there is no dancing around it, Deira is one of the two giants of the...

PW: King Ecgfrith of Northumbria

On May 20th, 685 King Ecgfrith of Northumbria fell deep in Pictland at Dunnichen to King Bridei, who was somehow his cousin. As far as we know, Ecgfrith's death at Dunnichen marked the deepest incursion into Pictland that we know of in the Anglo-Saxon period. Given that Ecgfrith invaded to prevent loosing hegemony, it is...