Eanred of Northumbria

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eanred was king of Northumbria from c.810 to c.840.

Very little is known for certain about Eanred. The only reference made by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to the Northumbrians in this period is the statement that in 829 Egbert of Wessex:

led an army against the Northumbrians as far as Dore, where they met him, and offered terms of obedience and subjection, on the acceptance of which they returned home.

thereby, at least temporarily, extending Egbert's hegemony to the entirety of Anglo-Saxon Britain. However, Roger of Wendover states that Eanred reigned from 810 until 840, whilst the twelfth century History of the Church of Durham records a reign of 33 years, and, given the turbulence of Northumbrian history in this period, a reign of this length suggests a figure of some significance. Within a generation of Eanred's death, Anglian monarchy in Northumbria had collapsed.

Eanred was the son of King Eardwulf, who was deposed by an otherwise unknown Ælfwald in either 806 or 808. According the History of the Church of Durham, Ælfwald ruled for two years before Eanred succeeded. However, Frankish sources claim that, after being expelled from England, Eardwulf was received by Charlemagne and then the pope, and that their envoys escorted him back to Northumbria and secured his restoration to power. Therefore, the precise nature of the removal of Ælfwald and the succession of Eanred are unclear. All sources agree that Eanred was eventually succeeded by his son, Æthelred.