Earl of Northumbria

Common card · No. 363403

Earl of Northumbria or Ealdorman of Northumbria was a title in the late Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Scandinavian and early Anglo-Norman period in England. The ealdordom was a successor of the Norse Kingdom of York. In the seventh century, the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira were united in the Kingdom of Northumbria, but this was destroyed by the Vikings in 867. Southern Northumbria, the former Deira, then became the Viking kingdom of York, while the rulers of Bamburgh commanded territory to the North of the Tees, roughly equivalent to the northern kingdom of Bernicia. Scandinavian domination came to an end when Eadred's forces killed Eric Bloodaxe at the Battle of Stainmore in 954. The whole area was then governed by earls, from the local nobility, who were appointed by the King of England to rule Northumbria in his stead. The honorific title "Earl" was Anglo-Scandinavian in origin. At the time of the Norman Conquest Northumbria was one of only seven Earldoms for all of England. The...

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