Bernicia

Bernicia , Old English kingdom. Established in 547, it later extended from the Tees River to the Forth. In the late 6th cent. it was united with Deira to form Northumbria .

Bernicia, kingdom of This kingdom may have had its origins in Anglo‐Saxon settlements around the rivers Tyne and Wear, but it expanded rapidly in the late 6th and 7th cents. to control all the land between the Tees and the Forth. The first recorded king was Ida (c.547–59). His grandson Æthelfryth (592–616) and great‐grandsons Oswald (634–42) and Oswiu (642–70) were responsible for the military expansion which enabled Oswald and Oswiu to establish a wide‐ranging overlordship over other Anglo‐Saxon and Celtic kingdoms. The supremacy of the Bernician dynasty in northern England was only seriously challenged by Edwin of Deira (617–33) who ruled in both Bernicia and Deira, but by the end of the reign of Ecgfrith (670–85) Deira had been integrated with Bernicia to form the province of Northumbria. The disastrous defeat of Ecgfrith by the Picts at Nechtansmere put an end to further overlordship of the northern Celtic peoples. When much of Deira was overrun by Scandinavians after 867, Bernicia (or a substantial part of it) re‐emerged in effect as a separate province under a dynasty known as ‘ealdormen of Bamburgh’.