DEIRA AND BERNICIA

Probably the  most important date in this period of history  in the North East ,was 547 AD,  when  Din Guyaroi (Bamburgh) on the North East coast was seized by the Angle chief called Ida the Flamebearer.  Even then, this was an ancient fortress,  His capture of this important British stronghold was important to the Angles' political and military seizure of the North. It is is a year which is widely regarded as the first date in history of the kingdom that would become known as Northumbria. It is probable that Ida already controlled an area in the Tyne, Wear and Tees region. But the more populated  lands held by the British, to the north,  in the vicinity of Bamburgh (Din Guyardi), were to become important additions to Ida's Kingdom of Bernicia, a kingdom that was expanding.

 The name Bernicia, was like Deira, probably an corruption of an existing Celtic name and would come to be synonymous with the  region of the North East in the centuries to come.

Huge areas of the North East had been conquered by Ida.   By 550 this included some territory south of the Tees. Ida was now the  undisputed and most powerful leader in the northern Angle Land (later England) and  Bamburgh or (Din Guyardi) was the capital .   Ida was succeeded by his son Theodoric, In 560 . His domain was confined to Bernicia, north of the Tees. However, some of the remaining Celtic kingdoms in the north, saw  Theodoric as a weaker leader than his father and would to accept his rule.

Meanwhile, in the Yorkshire Wolds (known  as Deira to the Angles)  Aelle, an Anglian chief  was rising to power and leading his people against the native Britons. Aelle is often regarded as the first king of Deira. Rivalry between the two kingdoms of  Deira and Bernicia would be a long running, and would feature in Anglo-Saxon history in the north for many years.  The native Celts however,  were still not  completely subdued. Urien, the king of the  of Rheged , a British kingdom based in Cumbria, was determined to fight for the Celtic cause. , He besieged King Theodoric of Bernicia on the island of LindisfarneIn  575 AD. The  siege that lasted three days, but victory could not be claimed.

,Due to the  close proximity of  the island of Lindisfarne to the Bernician capital of Bamburgh, it seems to have been  important as a  location for the early battles between Britons and Angles in the North. Not much is known of this period but, Urien of Rheged would meet his end fighting against the Anglo-Saxons on Lindisfarne in 590 AD.  It is thought that Morgan, a leader of the Goddodin tribe from north of the Tweed betrayed him

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--
Malcolm

malcolm.pickering@gmail.com

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