Eadwulf II, King of Northumbria

Eadwulf II in 796 was declared King of Northumbria and when he died circa 810 his eldest son Eanred succeeded to the title. Eadwulf II was possibly buried at the Mercian royal monastery of Breedon on the Hill which carries a dedication to Saint Mary and Saint Hardulph, with whom Eardwulf II is identified by several historians (i.e. Saint Hardulph was Eardwulf II). A new, fantastic and possible discovery has been made regarding Eadwulf II. See article at https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/anglo-saxon-cave-house-scli-intl... Details about the life and reign of Eadwulf II are given in the profile overview of his son who was Eadwulf III born circa 790-808. Eadwulf III was proclaimed king of Northumberland in 844 when King Aethelred was exiled from the country. But Eadwulf died the same year and Aethelred returned as King. Aethelred was the son of Eanred, the son of Eadwulf II. Eadwulf III's son, the future Earl Eadwulf of Bamburgh was only a child when his father died in 844 and so did not succeed to any title until the 870's or later. Eadwulf of Bamburgh left Northumbria after the victory of Ragnarsson's "Great Heathen Army" in 867. Eadwulf joined up with the future King Alfred the Great in Wessex, swore allegiance to Alfred and was granted the title of Earl of Bamburgh even though he did not possess Bamburgh yet. With victories over the Vikings and Ragnarsson in the south of England, Eadwulf returned to take the Fortress of Bamburgh and make an advantageous marriage for his son Ealdred to Ethelthryth, daughter of the former King of Northumberland. From then on Eadwulf of Bamburgh and his successors were either called High Reeve of Bamburgh, rulers of the northern Saxons, or their actual title as granted by King Alfred, Earl of either Bamburgh, or Bernicia, or Northumberland.

A popular history has been written that corresponds with the circumstances and life of Eadwulf of Bamburgh beginning from 867. It is titled "The Last Kingdom" in a movie made into a BBC mini-series. It exchanges the character of Eadwulf or his son Ealdred with 3x g-grandson, Uhtred "The Bold" Earl of Northumberland. [British historians have now changed this interpretation to one in conformity with the final credits at the end of each movie where it states that "some of the characters portrayed are fictional and any identification with real persons is coincidental." That is the author's prerogative. However, why is there still such a strong story-line just like the life of Eadwulf and his son Ealdred? Ealdred was only 7 then just like Uchtred in the movie. But his father did not die in the battle. According to articles now in Wikipedia about "The Last Kingdom" the author of the movie has admitted now that he used the character and name of Uhtred the Bold to replace Eadwulf and Ealdred as a composite character in the movie "The Last Kingdom."] When Ealdred came of age, other family stood in the way of his becoming king. Plus the Viking rule from 867 to ??? deprived Bamburgh from reforming the Kingdom of Northumberland. Thus, I quote: "The Historia de Sancto Cuthberto states that Ealdred was a friend of King Edward the Elder, as his father (Eadwulf) had been a favourite of King Alfred the Great". This means that those 2 lords of Northumbria had traveled quite a bit into Lancashire, Mercia, and Wessex in support of King Alfred the Great and his son Edward the Elder. The theme of the mini series is exactly that. However, the narrative is more compelling and dramatic using Uhtred the Bold because Uhtred became a famous warrior all over Europe and married his children's lineages to the royal houses of Scotland both before Malcolm III and after him to King David the Saint. Uhtred's lineage through Matilda's (House of Northumberland and Huntingdon) marriage to King David became the Huntingdon offshoot line which eventually became the Scottish Stewart line which ruled Scotland from 1371 (Robert II) and then England from 1603-1714 and the death of Queen Anne.

In "The Last Kingdom" the story begins at the end of when Aella and Osberhrt ruled from 848-867. Some historical tales say King Aella captured the famous Viking raider and Lord called Ragnar and then murdered Ragnar in prison. That prompted the rise of the Great Heathen Army led by the Ragnarssons, Ivar, Ragnarsson, and Hubba, to come to conquer Northumbria and the city of York knowing that Aella would not fail to try to wrest York back from them. Aella and Osberht were both killed by the sons of Ragnar in the 867 battle at York. In "The Last Kingdom" Uhtred was at the battle because he demanded that his father let him fight the Heathen even at the age of about 7. Uhtred is taken by Ragnar (but actually by Ragnarsson) and he adopts him. But Uhtred befriends a brave female compatriot and escapes the Vikings when they came of age. His uncle would not let him stay at Bebbenburgh fortress(said to be its name around that time or earlier) so Uhtred and his first love go to join Alfred just before he became king of Wessex. Alfred finds Uhtred to be paganized by his upbringing by Ragnarsson and so is unsure of him. However, Uhtred is determined to gain the rule of Northumbria like his father and so is faithful to Alfred literally valiantly securing a strong kingdom for the new King Alfred the Great. The historical Uhtred the Bold was a hundred years after Alfred, so it was Eadwulf of Bamburgh who along with his son Ealdred and wife Ethelthryth, and their son Eadwulf (V) Reeve of Bamburgh, who gained back most of their power from the Vikings. In the movie, the still living Ragnar advised Uhtred to never draw his sword against Hubba. But I won't spoil it for you, since it is in a movie, but Uhtred does draw his sword to destroy Hubba, all part of the legend of Uhtred the Bold.

Uhtred the Bold's titles (the real Uhtred) after his 1016 death 1st passed to his brother and then to his first son, Ealdred (II), who had 5 daughters, no sons. Then Uhtred's second son took the Earl's title when Ealdred was murdered by Thurbrandsson. Uhtred's third son Gospatric never succeeded to any major title like Earl. But Gospatric had one son, Uchtred FitzGospatric (de Kirkham) bc1027 verified by Simeon's Account of the Siege of Durham v.3, pt.2, p.556. Gospatric's son Uchtred would then be the father of at least two sons, Waltheof bc 1061 and Eadwulf bc1055, murdered for conspiracy. Eadwulf had killed his cousin, Bishop Walcher for the Bishop's murder of one of their cousins. Search: Bishop Walcher, to learn more about him and the cousin relationship).  With Eadwulf dieing early being murdered himself, Waltheof carried on the family line. (See Waltheof's son's profile for documentation). There is a secondary and primary source (Domesday Book 1066-86) confirming the existence of Waltheof's father, Uchtred FitzGospatrick,j also spelled Ughtred. The primary source, Domesday, confirms the presence of Uchtred (Uhtred) FitzGospatric as the thane of manors all over Lancashire in 1066 from both sides of the River Ribble like North Meols, Goosnargh, Kirkham, and all the way down to the northside of Liverpool. See Uchtred FitzGospatric's profile Overview to access the link into the Domesday Book showing the Manors. By the time that Uchtred died in 1090 and Waltheof inherited, their thanage had dwindled down to the Hundred of Amounderness at Thornton, Kirkham, and Goosnargh plus a few manors in Derbyshire.  The secondary source is at WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/CHINGLE_HALL. The reference(3 "Chingle") shows that Uchtred by lineage FitzGospatrick (de Kirkham) did own the property in the Goosnargh, Lancashire area as early as 1060.  Note: this uses a secondary source, and the primary source has now been found in the Domesday Book. The present owner of Chingle Hall is an eminent historian and maintains that the bc1027 Uchtred FitzGospatric owned what was later called Chingle(Singleton) Hall Manor.  

NOW HOW DID NORTHUMBRIA INFLUENCE EXTEND INTO LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE? Northumbria had been united with the West Saxon English kingdom only in the late 800s to the 900s, by Earls Eadwulf and Ealdred of Bamburgh, and subsequent control was exerted through the agency of at least two ealdormen, one to the north and one to the south of the river Tees. The former is associated with the stronghold of Bamburgh, while the latter is associated with the great Roman city of York. It was a politically fragmented region. The western part, from Lancashire to Cumberland, was heavily settled by Norse-Gaels, while in the rest of Northumbria English and Anglo-Scandinavian regional magnates—thegns, holds and high-reeves—exercised a considerable degree of independence from the ealdormen. One such example was the magnate Thurbrand, a hold in Yorkshire, probably based in Holderness, whose family were frequently at odds with the ruling earls at Bamburgh.
Forward then again to Uhtred the Bold's eldest son Earl Ealdred, he succeeded his uncle Eadwulf Cudel as Earl of Bernicia in 1020/25, and some time probably in the mid 1020s he killed Thurbrand in revenge for his father's death. In 1038 Ealdred was murdered by Thurbrand's son, Carl. He was succeeded as Earl of Bernicia by his brother, another Eadwulf, who was murdered by King Harthacanute in 1041. The latter's father, Cnut was a Scandinavian ruler who conquered England in the 1010s, and Siward was one of the many Scandinavians who came to England in the aftermath of that conquest. Siward subsequently rose to become sub-ruler of most of northern England. From 1033 at the latest Siward was in control of southern Northumbria, that is, present-day Yorkshire, governing as earl on Cnut's behalf.

He entrenched his position in northern England by marrying Ælfflæd, the daughter of Ealdred, Earl of Bamburgh. After killing Ealdred's successor Eadulf in 1041, Siward gained control of all Northumbria. He exerted his power in support of Cnut's successors, kings Harthacnut and Edward, assisting them with vital military aid and counsel. He probably gained control of the middle shires of Northampton and Huntingdon by the 1050s, and there is some evidence that he spread Northumbrian control into Cumberland. In the early 1050s Earl Siward turned against the Scottish ruler Mac Bethad mac Findlaích ("Macbeth"). Despite the death of his son Osbjorn, Siward defeated Mac Bethad in battle in 1054. More than half a millennium later the Scotland adventure earned him a place in William Shakespeare's Macbeth. Siward died in 1055, leaving one son, Waltheof, who would eventually succeed to Northumbria and Huntingdon. St Olave's church in York and nearby Heslington Hill are associated with Siward. The Earldom of Huntingdon with the marriage of Waltheof's daughter to King David the Saint was then merged into the Scottish royal family line from c1150 to c1250 when the line became the Bruce family line. Here we see how the Kingdom of Northumbria was transformed into the leading counties of Northern England: Lancashire, Cumberland, Yorkshire, and Northumberland. This explains also how Uhtred the Bold's power descended down to Siward and Waltheof and the two Gospatrics, one of Dunbar and the other a wild card between northern Lancashire and the rest of Northumberland, whose descendants led to two different areas of influence and branches of the family all over the counties just listed above. (for the sources for this history from Eadwulf II through Eadwulf (V) see the overviews for Ealdred I de Bamburgh and his son Eadwulf V.)