Ida () (died c. 559) is the first known

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

of the Anglian kingdom of

Bernicia Bernicia ( ang, Bernice, Bryneich, Beornice; la, Bernicia) was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England. The Anglian territory of Bernicia was ap ...

, which he ruled from around 547 until his death in 559. Little is known of his life or reign, but he was regarded as the founder of a line from which later

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

kings in this part of

northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angles, Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Scandinavian York, K ...

and southern

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

claimed descent. His descendants overcame Brittonic resistance and ultimately founded the powerful kingdom of

Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...

Sources

The ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of A ...

'' indicates that Ida's reign began in 547, and records him as the son of Eoppa, grandson of Esa, and great-grandson of Ingwy. Likewise, the ''

Historia Brittonum ''The History of the Britons'' ( la, Historia Brittonum) is a purported history of the indigenous British ( Brittonic) people that was written around 828 and survives in numerous recensions that date from after the 11th century. The ''Historia B ...

'' calls him as the son of Eoppa and the first king of ''Berneich'' or Bernicia. The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' elaborates that he ruled for twelve years and built the Bernician capital of

Bamburgh Castle Bamburgh Castle is a castle on the northeast coast of England, by the village of Bamburgh in Northumberland. It is a Grade I listed building. The site was originally the location of a Celtic Brittonic fort known as ''Din Guarie'' and may h ...

. Later, however, the ''Chronicle'' confuses his territory with the later Northumbria, saying that Ælla, historically a king of Deira rather than Bernicia, succeeded him as king after his death. Northumbria did not exist until the union of Bernicia with the kingdom of

Deira Deira ( ; Old Welsh/Cumbric: ''Deywr'' or ''Deifr''; ang, Derenrice or ) was an area of Post-Roman Britain, and a later Anglian kingdom. Etymology The name of the kingdom is of Brythonic origin, and is derived from the Proto-Celtic *''daru' ...

; this happened for the first time under Ida's grandson

Æthelfrith Æthelfrith (died c. 616) was King of Bernicia from c. 593 until his death. Around 604 he became the first Bernician king to also rule the neighboring land of Deira, giving him an important place in the development of the later kingdom of Nor ...

. The genealogies of the Anglo-Saxon kings attached to some manuscripts of the ''Historia Brittonum'' give more information on Ida and his family; the text names Ida's "one queen" as Bearnoch and indicates that he had twelve sons, naming among them Adda, Æthelric, Theodric, Eadric, Theodhere, Osmere and Ealric. Several of these are listed as kings. One of them, Theodric, is noted for fighting against a Brittonic coalition led by

Urien Rheged Urien (; ), often referred to as Urien Rheged or Uriens, was a late 6th-century king of Rheged, an early British kingdom of the Hen Ogledd (today's northern England and southern Scotland) of the House of Rheged. His power and his victories, ...

and his sons. The genealogical preface to '' Chronicon ex chronicis'' names six sons, Adda, Bealric, Theodric, Ethelric, Osmere, and Theodhere, born to his wife and six born to concubines, Ocga, Alric, Ecca, Oswald, Sogor and Sogothere.Thomas Forester, ed., ''The chronicle of Florence of Worcester, with the two continuations'', London: H. G. Bohn, 1854, p. 449. Ida's successor,

Glappa Glappa of Bernicia ruled from 559 to 560. He was the second known king of Bernicia Bernicia ( ang, Bernice, Bryneich, Beornice; la, Bernicia) was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now sou ...

, does not appear among his sons in any of the early sources. Ida's descendants would rule Bernicia and later Northumbria. Some 18th- and 19th-century commentators, beginning with

Lewis Morris Lewis Morris (April 8, 1726 – January 22, 1798) was an American Founding Father, landowner, and developer from Morrisania, New York, presently part of Bronx County. He signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a delegate to the Contin ...

, associated Ida with the figure of Welsh tradition known as Fflamddwyn ("Flame-bearer"). This Fflamddwyn was evidently an Anglo-Saxon leader opposed by Urien Rheged and his children, particularly his son Owain, who slew him.Bromwich, p. 353. However,

Rachel Bromwich Rachel Bromwich (30 July 1915 – 15 December 2010) born Rachel Sheldon Amos, was a British scholar. Her focus was on medieval Welsh literature, and she taught Celtic Languages and Literature in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic a ...

notes that such an identification has little to back it; other writers, such as Thomas Stephens and William Forbes Skene, identify Fflamddwyn instead with Ida's son Theodric, noting the passages in the genealogies discussing Theodric's battles with Urien and his sons. At the time Ida ruled, Bernician control did not extend far inland from the coast.Fletcher, p. 25. It was not until the time of

, Ida's grandson, that the kingdom expanded significantly to the west. This is supported by the ''Historia Brittonums description of fighting between Bernicians and the native Britons of the area, indicating ongoing resistance. It is also supported by the scarcity of sixth-century Anglo-Saxon archaeological finds from further inland.

Notes

References

* * *

External links

* {{Authority control 559 deaths 6th-century English monarchs Anglo-Saxon warriors Bernician monarchs Founding monarchs History of Northumberland Year of birth unknown Idings