Northumbria And The Anglo Saxons

The withdrawal of the Romans left the Celtic Britons south of the wall vulnerable to attack by the Picts and other clans to the north. A certain King Vortigern, in AD 449, invited the Anglo-Saxons (from modern Germany) to settle in Britain in the hope that they would aid him in repulsing the invaders. Three longships duly arrived led by the brothers Horsa and Hengist. Having seen off the northerners they promptly turned on their hosts, whom they also defeated. They were followed by many more German tribesmen. These came from three distinct tribes; the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes. The Angles were primarily responsible for the conquest and occupation of Northumbria.

After 250 years of struggle, in AD 603, the kingdom of Northumbria was formed by King Ethelfrid. Ethelfrid's main stronghold was on a rock by the sea which he named 'Bebba-burgh' after his wife. Its modern name, Bamburgh, is derived from this. In AD 616 Edwin, the surviving heir to one of the smaller kingdoms which had been replaced when Northumbria was formed, overthrew Ethelfrid and brought the Christian religion to the region through his wife.

The brief Christian period ended when Edwin was vanquished by the pagan King Penda of Merca in AD 632. Meanwhile, Oswald, exiled son of Ethelfrid, heard of Edwin's death and returned to the land to defeat the pagan king who was spending his time ravaging the land. Oswald had spent his years of exile in Iona (in the Scottish Hebrides) and invited St Aidan to establish a monastery on the island of Lindisfarne (now Holy Island). The rule of Edwin, and now Oswald, were very influential in Britain, and Northumbria was already the most influential of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. The monastery was a great success and soon there were a number of new monasteries running. Northumbria now became a major centre for religion and learning. Initially the religion was that of the Celtic church, but this moved towards the acceptance of Roman practices and the Celtic church declined.