Ōswīg, King of Northumbria

See Peter Bartrum, https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000173393042914 (February 5, 2023; Anne Brannen, curator)

Oswiu, King of Northumbria (1)

M, #150293, b. 612, d. 15 February 670

Last Edited=26 Oct 2007

Consanguinity Index=0.0%

    Oswiu, King of Northumbria was born in 612. (3) He was the son of Æthelfrith, King of Northumbria and Acha (?). (1), (2) He married Rhianinfellt (?), daughter of Rhwyth (?). (3) He married Eanflæd (?), daughter of Edwin, King of Northumbria and Æthelberg (?). (3) 

He died on 15 February 670. (3)

    Oswiu, King of Northumbria succeeded to the title of King Oswiu of Northumbria in 642. (1) He annexed Mercia to Northumbria. (3)

Children of Oswiu, King of Northumbria

-1. Alhfrith, Sub-king in Deira (3)

-2. Alhflæd (?) (3)

Child of Oswiu, King of Northumbria and Fín (?)

-1. Ealdfrið, King of Northumbria+ d. 14 Dec 705 (1)

Children of Oswiu, King of Northumbria and Eanflæd (?)

-1. Osthryth (?)+ d. 697 (3)

-2. Ecgfrið, King of Northumbria b. 645, d. 20 May 685 (1)

-3. Ælfflæd (?) b. 654, d. bt 713 - 714 (3)

-4. Ælfwine, Sub-king in Deira b. c 661, d. 679 (3)

Forrás / Source:

http://www.thepeerage.com/p15030.htm#i150293

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oswiu (c. 612–15 February 670), also known as Oswy or Oswig, was King of Bernicia. His father, Æthelfrith of Bernicia, was killed in battle, fighting against Rædwald, King of the East Angles and Edwin of Deira at the River Idle in 616. Along with his brothers and their supporters, Oswiu was then exiled until Edwin's death in 633.

Following the death of his brother Oswald, defeated by Penda at the Battle of Maserfield on 5 August 642, Oswiu became King of the Bernicians. He passed the next decade in obscurity as one of many kings subject to Penda. In 655 Penda invaded Bernicia, driving Oswiu before him. The details of the campaign are unclear, but at the Battle of the Winwæd Oswiu unexpectedly defeated and killed Penda. This victory was followed by Oswiu's short-lived imperium—he is traditionally counted as a Bretwalda— over much of Great Britain. He established himself as King of Mercia, setting up his son-in-law, Penda's son Peada as a subject king.

Oswiu's unchallenged domination of Britain lasted only a short time, ending when a revolt among the Mercians established Penda's son Wulfhere as their king. A negotiated settlement appears to have been preferred on both sides to prevent war. Divisions within the Northumbrian church led to the Synod of Whitby in 664, where Oswiu agreed to settle the Easter controversy by adopting the Roman dating. His later years were marred by conflict with his son Ealhfrith. Oswiu died in 670 and was succeeded by his son Ecgfrith.

Background and early life

Oswiu was fifty-eight years old at his death according to Bede, placing his birth c. 612.[1] At this time, his father was at the height of his power. Oswiu's mother may have been Æthelfrith's only recorded wife, Acha of Deira, Edwin's sister, but the apparent unwillingness of the Deirans to have him as their king may argue against this. Oswald, who is known to have been Acha's son, was accepted as king in Deira, while Oswiu appears never to have ruled the kingdom directly.[2]

Æthelfrith ruled over both Bernicia and Deira. His authority ran from the lands of the Picts and the Dál Riata in modern Scotland to Wales and the Midlands in the south.[3] Æthelfrith's power rested on his military success, and this success came to an end in 616, when the exiled Edwin of Deira, with the support of King Rædwald, defeated and killed him in battle by the River Idle.[4]

On Æthelfrith's death, his sons and their supporters fled Northumbria, finding sanctuary among the Gaels and Picts of northern Britain and Ireland. Here they would remain until Edwin's death at the Battle of Hatfield Chase in 633.[5][6]

In exile, the sons of Æthelfrith were converted to Christianity, or raised as Christians.[5] In Oswiu's case, he became an exile at the age of four, and cannot have returned to Northumbria until aged twenty-one, spending childhood and adolescence in a Gaelic milieu. Bede writes that Oswiu was fluent in the Old Irish language and Irish in his faith.[7]

As well as learning the Irish language and being thoroughly Christianised, Oswiu may have fought for his Gaelic hosts, perhaps receiving his arms—a significant event—from a King of Dál Riata, such as Eochaid Buide, son of that Áedán mac Gabráin whom his father had defeated at the Battle of Degsastan.[8] The Irish annals name one Oisiric mac Albruit, rigdomna Saxan—ætheling Osric—among the dead, alongside Connad Cerr, King of Dál Riata, and others of the Cenél nGabráin, at the Battle of Fid Eóin.[9] Whether Oswiu's marriage with the Uí Néill princess Fín of the Cenél nEógain, and the birth of Aldfrith, should be placed in the context of his exile, or took place at a later date is uncertain.[10]

Equally uncertain is the date of Oswiu's return to Northumbria. He may have returned with Eanfrith on Edwin's death in 633, as Bede appears to write.[5] Eanfrith apostasised and was killed by Cadwallon, who was defeated and killed in turn by another brother, Oswald, who became king of Bernicia and probably succeeded to his father's old dominance of northern and central Britain.[11]

[edit]Eanflæd and Oswine

Oswald died in battle against Penda of Mercia at the Battle of Maserfield, dated by Bede to 5 August 642.[12] Oswald's son Œthelwald may have been his preferred successor, but Œthelwald cannot have been an adult in 642. So, the kingship came to Oswiu. Unlike Eanfrith and Osric, Oswiu held to the Christian faith in spite of his brother's defeat by the pagan Penda. This may have been due to his more thoroughly Christian upbringing, but the influence of Bishop Aidan of Lindisfarne, by then a major figure in Bernicia, could also have been significant.[13]

Bede summarises Oswiu's reign in this way:

Oswald being translated to the heavenly kingdom, his brother Oswy, a young man of about thirty years of age, succeeded him on the throne of his earthly kingdom, and held it twenty-eight years with much trouble, being harassed by the pagan king, Penda, and by the pagan nation of the Mercians, that had slain his brother, as also by his son Alfred [i.e. Ealhfrith], and by his cousin-german Ethelwald [i.e. Œthelwald of Deira], the son of his brother who reigned before him.[14]

Oswiu's first recorded action as king of Bernicia was to strengthen his position, and perhaps his claims to Deira, by marrying Edwin's daughter Eanflæd, then in exile in the Kingdom of Kent.[15] This marriage took place between 642 and 644.[16]

Oswiu's is known to have been married three times. Eanflæd, his Queen, bore him two sons and two daughters. The sons were Ecgfrith (644x645–685) and Ælfwine (c. 660–679), the daughters Osthryth (died 697) and Ælfflæd (c. 654–714). The Irish princess Fín was the mother of Aldfrith (died 705). Finally, the British princess Rieinmellt, of Rheged, is named as a wife of Oswiu in the Historia Brittonum.[17] It is thought that Eahlfrith was her son,[18] and Eahlflæd may have been her daughter.[19]

The first half of Oswiu's reign was spent in the shadow of Penda, who dominated much of Britain from 642 until 655, seemingly making and breaking kings as it suited him.[20] The future kingdom of Northumbria was still composed of two distinct kingdoms in Oswiu's lifetime. The northerly kingdom of Bernicia, which extended from the River Tees to the Firth of Forth, was ruled by Oswiu. The kingdom of Deira, lying between the North York Moors and the Humber, was ruled by a series of Oswiu's kinsmen, initially as a separate kingdom, later as a form of appanage for Oswiu's sons.[21]

For the first decade of Oswiu's reign, Deira was ruled by an independent king, Oswine, son of the apostate Osric, who belonged to the rival Deiran royal family.[22] Oswine and Oswiu came into conflict circa 651, Bede blames Oswiu for the troubles and writes:

For when they had raised armies against one another, Oswin perceived that he could not maintain a war against one who had more auxiliaries than himself, and he thought it better at that time to lay aside all thoughts of engaging, and to preserve himself for better times. He therefore dismissed the army which he had assembled, and ordered all his men to return to their own homes, from the place that is called Wilfaresdun, that is, Wilfar's Hill, which is almost ten miles distant from the village called Cataract [i.e. Catterick], towards the north-west. He himself, with only one trusty soldier, whose name was Tonhere, withdrew and lay concealed in the house of Earl [comes] Hunwald, whom he imagined to be his most assured friend. But, alas! it was otherwise; for the earl betrayed him, and Oswy, in a detestable manner, by the hands of his commander [praefectus], Ethilwin, slew him...[14]

In order to expiate the killing of Oswine, who was later reckoned a saint, Oswiu established Gilling Abbey at Gilling, where prayers were said for Oswine and for Oswiu.[14] Oswine was followed as king of the Deirans by Oswald's son Œthelwald.

[edit]Penda

Oswiu's relations with Penda were not entirely peaceful between 642 and 655. Bede appears to place a major assault on Bernicia by Penda, which reached the gates of Bamburgh, at some time before 651 and the death of Bishop Aidan of Lindisfarne.[23] An entry in the Irish annals recording "[t]he battle of Oswy against Penda" circa 650 may refer to this campaign.[24]

D.P. Kirby suggests that the killing of Oswine may have led to an improvement in relations between Penda and Oswiu in the early 650s. Oswiu's son Ealhfrith married Penda's daughter Cyneburh, while his daughter Ealhflæd married Penda's son Peada. Peada was baptised at Ad Murum—in the region of Hadrian's Wall—by Aidan's successor Finan. Peada and Ealhflæd took a missionary group, including Cedd and Diuma, to establish a church in their lands.[25]

In 655 Bede reports that Penda invaded Bernicia at the head of a large army. Bede states that Oswiu offered "an incalculable quantity of regalia and presents as the price of peace", but that Penda refused. Oswiu vowed to give his daughter Ælfflæd to the church, and to found a dozen monasteries if he was granted the victory, and assisted by Ealhfrith he engaged Penda with a small army in the Battle of the Winwæd, which took place in the region of Loidis, which is to say Leeds. He was successful, and Penda was killed, along with many of his allies, including King Æthelhere of the East Angles. Œthelwald had assisted Penda, but stood aside from the fighting.[26]

The Historia Brittonum gives a somewhat different account. Here, Oswiu's offer of treasure is accepted, and is associated with the siege of a place named Iudeu. It is assumed that Ecgfrith was given over as a hostage, into the keeping of Penda's queen Cynewise, at this time.[27] The Historia suggests that many of Penda's allies were British kings, and notes that Cadafael ap Cynfeddw joined Œthelwald in avoiding the battle, so gaining the epithet Cadomedd (the Battle-Shirker). The decisive battle is located at "Gaius's field".[28]

[edit]Overlord of Britain

The surprising defeat of the hitherto dominant Penda, and the death of the East Anglian king Æthelhere left Oswiu as the dominant figure in Britain. Œthelwald's ambivalent stance during the campaign which led to the Winwæd appears to have led to his removal as he disappears from the record at this time. Oswiu installed his adult son Eahlfrith as king of Deirans in Œthelwald's place. Penda's son Peada was installed as king of southern Mercia, while Oswiu took the north of the kingdom. Other subject rulers seem to have been established elsewhere in Mercia.

Further south, Æthelhere's brother Æthelwold may have been established with Oswiu's assistance, as well as that of his kinsman by marriage King Eorcenberht of Kent. Cenwalh of Wessex, who had been driven out of his lands by Penda for putting aside his marriage to Penda's sister, may also have returned to power in this period, again with Oswiu's assistance. King Sigeberht the Good of the East Saxons was Oswiu's ally.[29] Oswiu's nephew, Eanfrith's son Talorcan, may have also been established as a leading king among the Picts at this time.[30]

Oswiu's total domination lasted only a short time, around three years. The proximate cause was the death of Peada, supposedly poisoned by his wife, Oswiu's daughter Eahlflæd.[31] This probably occurred at Easter 656, and Oswiu proceeded to install governors or subject kings in Mercia. Probably in late 659, but perhaps in 657, a revolt led by three Mercian noblemen—Immin, Eata, and Eadberht—installed Penda's son Wulfhere as ruler of the Mercians and drove out Oswiu's supporters.[32] Oswiu remained a force to be reckoned with, and political settlement rather than open warfare appears to have resolved the crisis. Oswiu's kinsman Trumhere was named to be Wulfhere's bishop.[33] While Wulfhere extended Mercian influence and authority in southern Britain, he apparently continued to recognise Oswiu's primacy.[34]

Welsh sources suggest that Oswiu campaigned in Wales in the late 650s, imposing tribute on the Welsh kings who had previously been Penda's allies such as Cadafael, the battle-dodging King of Gwynedd.[35] Elsewhere in the south, Oswiu's ally Sigeberht of the East Saxons was murdered and replaced by his brother Swithhelm, who remained a Christian, but distanced himself from Oswiu and the Irish-Northumbrian church. Switthelm was probably subject to the East Angles.[36]

[edit]Ecclesiastical politics

Eahlfrith and the Synod of Whitby

Main article: Synod of Whitby

In 664 at the synod of Whitby,[37] Oswiu accepted the usages of the Roman Church, which led to the departure of Bishop Colman of Lindisfarne. The reasons of the gathering, and its significance, have been closely studied, and the simplistic explanations offered by Bede, and by Eddius, the biographer of Wilfrid, are no longer accepted.

Bede writes that the dispute was brought to a head by Oswiu's son Eahlfrith, who had adopted Roman usages at the urging of Wilfrid.[38] Eahlfrith had been brought up with Irish-Northumbrian usages, and his rejection of these, along with the expulsion of the future saints Cuthbert of Lindisfarne and Eata of Hexham from Ripon, is considered to have had a strong political component.[39] Equally, 665 would be a year when, as Bede writes, "that Easter was kept twice in one year, so that when the King had ended Lent and was keeping Easter, the Queen and her attendants were still fasting and keeping Palm Sunday".[38]

[edit]Ecgfrith

In 660 Oswiu married his son Ecgfrith to Æthelthryth, daughter of the former East Anglian king Anna.

[edit]Death

Even in his final years, Oswiu remained a major figure in Britain. The newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, Theodore of Tarsus, came north to meet with him in 669. Bede writes that Oswiu had intended to undertake a pilgrimage to Rome in the company of Bishop Wilfrid. However, he fell ill and died, aged fifty eight, on 15 February 670.[1] His elder son by Queen Eanflæd, Ecgfrith, succeeded him as King of Bernicia, while their younger son, Ælfwine, succeeded Ecgfrith as King of Deira. He was buried at Whitby Abbey, alongside Edwin of Deira. His widow and their daughter Ælflæd were later Abbess of Whitby and were also buried there.[26]

Alcuin, writing about a century after Oswiu's death, describes him as "very just, with equitable laws, unconquered in battle but trustworthy in peace, generous in gifts to the wretched, pious, equitable to all".[40]

[edit]Holy relics

Oswy was a collector of Holy Relics, for example Pope Vitalian sent filings from Saint Peter's chains to Oswy in the seventh century.[41]

[edit]See also

Kings of Mercia family tree

[edit]Notes

^ a b Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book IV, Chapter 5.

^ Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book III, Chapter 6, states that Oswald was Acha's son. For Oswiu, Yorke, Kings and Kingdoms, p. 78, doubts that Oswiu was Acha's son; Kirby, p. 89, considers it probable, likewise Stancliffe & Cambridge, p. 13, figure 1.

^ Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book I, Chapter 34 & Book II, Chapter 3.

^ Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book II, Chapter 12.

^ a b c Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book III, Chapter 1.

^ Æthelfrith's sons were not the first Anglian exiles to seek refuge in the kingdoms of the north. Hering, son of King Hussa of Bernicia, is said by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to have fought with Áedán mac Gabráin, King of Dál Riata, against Æthelfrith, at the Battle of Degsastan; Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Ms. E, s.a. 603. The choice of a northerly exile, rather than flight to one of the southerly Anglo-Saxon kingdoms is discussed by Grimmer, §3–§6.

^ "Oswy thought that nothing could be better than the Irish teaching, having been instructed and baptized by the Irish, and having a complete grasp of their language"; Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book III, Chapter 5.

^ Grimmer, §8.

^ Annals of Tigernach, s.a. 631; Grimmer, §9.

^ Grimmer, §25; Kirby, p. 143.; Williams, p. 18.

^ Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book III, Chapters 1–2; Adomnán, Life of Saint Columba, Book I, Chapter 1; Stancliffe, pp. 46–61.

^ Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book III, Chapter 9.

^ Higham, Convert Kings, pp. 220–221.

^ a b c Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book III, Chapter 14.

^ Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book III, Chapter 15.

^ Their son Ecgfrith was born no later than May 645.

^ Rieinmellt also appears, as Rægnmæld, in the Liber Vitae Ecclesiae Dunelmensis, among the Queens, immediately preceding Eanflæd; Grimmer §28.

^ Stancliffe & Cambridge, p. 13, figure 1.

^ Eahlflæd is said to have arranged the murder of Peada, in 657 or 658, suggesting that she was not Eanflæd's daughter; Bede, H. E., Book III, chapter 24. See also Higham, Convert Kings, pp. 252–253.

^ Cenwalh of Wessex was driven from his country when he set aside Penda's sister. Anna of East Anglia, Cenwalh's host, was also driven into exile, and later defeated and killed by Penda at Bulcamp, near Blythburgh in 653 or 654, when he returned to East Anglia.

^ Deira was ruled by Oswine from 642 to 651, then by Œthelwald until 655 or later, then by Eahlfrith to after 664, and finally by Ecgfrith. See Kirby, p. 226, figure 7; Yorke, Kings and Kingdoms, p. 75, table 8.

^ Oswine was Oswiu's maternal second cousin; Yorke, Kings and Kingdoms, p. 76, table 9.

^ Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book III, Chapter 16.

^ Fraser, p. 20; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 650.

^ Kirby, pp. 93–94; Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book III, Chapter 21.

^ a b Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book III, Chapter 24. The Winwæd is thought to be the River Went; Keynes, "Penda".

^ Kirby, pp. 90, 94–95 accepts that Iudeu, also Giudi, may have been the site of modern Stirling, and proposes that Ecgfrith became a hostage as a result of Oswiu's submission to Penda.

^ Historia Brittonum, Chapters 64–65.

^ Kirby, p. 96–97.

^ Or not, needed.

^ Higham, Convert Kings, pp. 252–253, sees Eahlfrith's hand in his sister's murder of her husband.

^ Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book III, Chapter 24.

^ Trumhere was a relation of Queen Eanflæd and first abbot of Gilling, established to expiate the killing of Oswine of Deira; Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book III, Chapter 24.

^ Higham, Convert Kings, pp. 245–247. Kirby notes Wulfhere's marriage to Eormenhild, daughter of the Kentish King Eorcenberht, the one ruler over whom Oswiu held no sway; Kirby, p. 114.

^ Kirby, p. 96.

^ Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book III, Chapter 22; Higham, Convert Kings, p. 249; Kirby, p. 97.

^ The dating is discussed by Kirby, p. 101, who concludes that the synod can confidently be placed in 644.

^ a b Bede, Ecclesiastical History, Book III, Chapter 25.

^ Higham, Convert Kings, pp. 250–275. For an overview of the Easter controversy, see Stevens.

^ Proposography of Anglo-Saxon England, quoting Alcuin's The Bishops, Kings and Saints of York.

^ Wall, J. Charles. (1912), Porches and Fonts. Pub. London: Wells Gardner and Darton. P. 295.

[edit]References

"Oswiu 1 (Male)". Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England. Retrieved on 2007-04-22.

"The Annals of Tigernach" (in Middle Irish). CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts. Retrieved on 2007-04-22.

"The Annals of Ulster, volume 1". CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts. Retrieved on 2007-04-22.

Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Translated by Leo Sherley-Price, revised R.E. Latham, ed. D.H. Farmer. London: Penguin, 1990. ISBN 0-14-044565-X

Blair, Peter Hunter, The World of Bede. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, reprinted 1990. ISBN 0-521-39138-5

Charles-Edwards, T.M., Early Christian Ireland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-521-39395-0

Eddius, "Life of Wilfrid" in D.H. Farmer (ed.) & J.H. Webb (trans.), The Age of Bede. London: Penguin, 1998. IBN 0-140-44727-X

Fraser, James, The Pictish Conquest: The Battle of Dunnichen 685 & the birth of Scotland. Stroud: Tempus, 2006. ISBN 0-7524-3962-6

Grimmer, Martin (October 2006). "The Exogamous Marriages of Oswiu of Northumbria". The Heroic Age, issue 9.. Retrieved on 2007-04-06.

Higham, N.J., The Convert Kings: Power and religious affiliation in early Anglo-Saxon England. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-7190-4828-1

Higham, N.J., The Kingdom of Northumbria AD 350-1100. Stroud: Sutton, 1993. ISBN 0-86299-730-5

Holdsworth, Philip, "Oswiu" in M. Lapidge, et al, (eds), The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. ISBN 0-631-22492-0

Keynes, Simon, "Penda" in M. Lapidge, et al, (eds), The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. ISBN 0-631-22492-0

Kirby, D.P., The Earliest English Kings. London: Unwin Hyman, 1991. ISBN 0-04-445691-3

Stenton, Sir Frank, Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 3rd edition, 1971. ISBN 0-19-280139-2

Stevens, Wesley M., "Easter Controversy" in M. Lapidge, et al, (eds), The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999. ISBN 0-631-22492-0

Veith, Kenneth (1997). "The Columban Church in northern Britain, 664-717: a reassessment" (pdf). Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, volume 127. Retrieved on 2007-04-06.

Williams, Ann, Kingship and Government in Pre-Conquest England, c. 500–1066. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1999. ISBN 0-333-56798-6

Yorke, Barbara, Kings and Kingdoms in Early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Seaby, 1990. ISBN 1-85264-027-8

Yorke, Barbara, The Conversion of Britain: Religion, Politics and Society in Britain c. 600–800. London: Longman, 2006. ISBN 0-582-77292-3

Zaluckyj, Sarah, Mercia: The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Central England. Logaston: Logaston Press, 2001. ISBN 1-873827-8.

Zeigler, Michelle (Winter 2001). "Oswald and the Irish". The Heroic Age, issue 4.. Retrieved on 2007-04-22.

• Oswy King of Northumbria

born about 0612

died 15 February 0669/70

father:

• Æthelfrith of Bernicia King of Northumbria

died 0617

mother:

• Acha of Deira

siblings:

St. Oswald King of Northumbria

Ebba Abbess of Coldingham

spouse:

• Riemmelth (Rhiainmelt) verch Rhoeth

children:

• Alchfled (Alfreda) of Northumbria

Alfrith of Northumbria

biographical and/or anecdotal:

notes or source:

ancestry.com

Oswiu, King of Northumbria

(AD 613-AD 670)

Oswiu was a son of King Aethelfrith of Bernicia by his third wife of unknown name. His father was the first King of a united Northumbria, having joined the the old countries of Bernicia and Deira by force of conquest. However, in AD 616, King Edwin of Deira returned to reclaim his kingdom with a mighty army supplied by his ally, King Redwald of East Anglia. Aethelfrith was killed at the Battle of the River Idle and his family was forced to flee across the border into Gododdin and thence to Scottish Dalriada. Along with his half-brother, Oswald, Prince Oswiu was taken under the wing of King Eochaid Buide and sent to school at on abbey on Iona. Naturally, the two quickly converted to Christianity.

When Oswiu was about twenty, his father's killer, King Edwin, fell in battle against a combined force from Gwynedd and Mercia. The Prince's eldest half-brother, Enfrith - who had been hiding in Pictland - returned to Bernicia to claim his inheritance and was eagerly enthroned by their people. However, King Cadwallon of Gwynedd was in no mood to accept the rule of an Edwinian replacement and he too was soon slain. In AD 634, Oswiu's other brother, Oswald, decided to try his luck instead. Having been lent an army by King Domnall Brecc of Dalriada, he was much better prepared for an encounter with the Welsh and the enemy was put to flight at the Battle of Heavenfield. Oswiu was almost certainly amongst the victorious Bernician warriors.

Having been in exile together, King Oswald much favoured his little brother, and Oswiu seems to have been a central character in the new monarch's expansionist policies. Only four years after snatching the throne, Oswald negotiated Oswiu's marriage to Princess Rhiainfelt, the last heiress of the once great Celtic kingdom of North Rheged. It seems probable that her father, King Rhoedd, died shortly afterward, leaving Oswiu as the first Saxon King of North Rheged, under the overlordship of his brother. The two continued to work closely together and Oswiu headed up the Northumbrian army which conquered Gododdin in AD 641. Unfortunately however, despite such successes, the Welsh and Mercians were not subdued and, the following year, they rose up with a great force. King Oswald marched south to meet them on their home ground, but was killed at the Battle of Oswestry.

Prince Aethelwald being rather young, his uncle, Oswiu, then took the throne. He may have been in Rheged at the time of the battle. However, Oswald had been the son of a Bernician father and a Deiran mother and was thus acceptable to both kingdoms of Northumbria; Oswiu was not. Deira rejected his rule and the late King Edwin's cousin, Oswin, managed to to re-establish his dynasty there. Since his wife was now dead, the new Bernician monarch tried to counter this move by sending for Edwin's daughter, Princess Enflaed, who was in exile in Kent. The two were married at Bamburgh in AD 643, but the Deirans still preferred their own King and armed conflicts followed. While Oswiu was busy fighting a civil war, the Mercians became strong once more. They rose up and wrested Elmet and Lindsey from his control. Under pressure, therefore, King Oswiu seems to have sought new allies and it was around this time (c.AD 650) that he spend some time in Ireland. He, apparently, had an affair with Princess Fin, the grandaughter of Colman Rimid Ui Neill, and their son, Prince Aeldfrith, was born soon afterward.

In AD 651, Oswiu raised a great army for a one last push against Oswin of Deira. But the latter refused to engage him and hid out in Gilling. Completely frustrated, Oswiu had him assassinated: a shameful and unpopular move for which he was later obliged to turn the estate where the act took place into a religious establishment. It also failed to secure Deira for him. For the people - possibly with Mercian help - raised to the throne, the late King Oswald's son, Prince Aethelwald. About this time, Oswiu married his eldest son, Prince Alcfrith, to King Penda of Mercia's daughter, Cuneburga, possibly in an attempt to stop further interference in Northumbrian affairs. The scheme did not work and, the following year, Penda, for a short while, was besieging Oswiu in the far north of his kingdom, at Bamburgh. In AD 655, he was back again with an even stronger force, swelled by his British allies in Wales. Oswiu's army was only a third the size and he, therefore, fled north to Stirling, his most northerly city. From the safety of the borders with Pictland - from where his nephew, King Talorcan I, had probably recognised his overlordship - Oswiu sent envoys to offer Penda offering bribes in return for his withdrawal. The Mercians took the cash and distributed it amongst their British allies. But the money had come from the oppressed Northern Britons of Gododdin, so Oswiu's British enemies viewed it as a restitution of their own property and ravaged Bernicia anyway. The two armies clashed at the Battle of Winwaed, but the forces from Gwynedd and Deira, unexpectedly withdrew. Penda's severely depleted force lost the battle and the man himself was killed.

At last, Oswiu was King of a united Northumbria, like his father and brother before him. He appointed his son, Alcfrith, as sub-king in Deira and allowed Penda's Christian son (and Oswiu's son-in-law), Peada, to remain in Middle Anglia. The latter was murdered the following year, however, and Oswiu extended direct rule into Mercia, invaded Pengwern and killed King Cynddylan. The Mercians did not re-establish their independence - under Penda's youngest son, Wulfhere - until AD 658. Oswiu also tried to further extend his power northwards, by invading Pictland, in AD 663, a few years after the death of his Northumbrian-friendly nephew, King Talorcan I. However, there seems to be little support for Bede's claim that he made tributary the Dalriadan Scots. Meantime, troubles of a different kind were brewing for King Oswiu. About AD 660, his son, King Alcfrith of Deira, fell under the influence of Abbot Wilfred of Ripon and began to follow a religious policy completely independent of his father. He rejected the Celtic traditions of the Ionian Church and turned instead to the ways of Rome. Alcfrith was soon removed, but this religious controversy could not be ignore. The two parties could not agree on the correct form for calculating the Easter dates and the argument dominated Northern politics for the next four years, until, in AD 664, King Oswiu agreed to call the Synod of Whitby (Streoneshall) at the abbey in that town.

Oswiu had always been interested in matters of the church. He had been instrumental in the foundation of Melrose Abbey around AD 650 and it was during his reign that St. Cedd's mission had left Northumbria to re-establish the See of Essex. The King had even allowed his daughter, Aelfflaed, to become a nun at Hartlepool, under her second cousin, St. Hilda. The two had since moved on to Whitby, hence the King's choice of venue. The timing appears to have been due to the fact that, if the method for calculating the date of Easter was not standardised in Northumbria, the following year, the King and his Kentish wife would be celebrating the feast on different days! Bishop Colman of Lindisfarne & Abbot Wilfred of Ripon argued it out in front of the King. They appear to have agreed on little, until Colman was forced to admit that, as Wilfred insisted, St. Peter did indeed hold the keys to the kingdom of heaven. The impatient monarch then interjected that St. Peter's successor in Rome must therefore know when Easter should fall and abruptly closed the meeting with a knowing smile.

Colman resigned his see in protest soon afterward and Wilfred eventually succeeded him, but moved his Episcopal seat to York. His rule was short-lived however. Claiming there is no-one in Britain with the authority to consecrate him, he left for France and was enthroned by the Archbishop of Paris. Wilfred liked the Frankish Archiepiscopal court so much that he delayed his return and King Oswiu decided to appoint Abbot Chad of Lastingham as Bishop of York instead.

King Oswiu died in AD 670 of natural causes. He was buried in Whitby Abbey and succeeded by his sons, Egfrith as overlord of Northumbria and Aelfwin as sub-King of Deira.

Oswio - King of Northumbria Sex: M Birth: ABT 960 in Scotland

Father: Aethelfrith of Northumbria b: ABT 930 in Scotland Mother: Acca of Dura b: in Northumbria, England

Marriage 1 Eanfled of Northumbria b: ABT 960 in Scotland

Children

   Has Children Ecgfrith - King of Northumbria b: ABT 990 in Scotland

Source: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=garrett_m...