Eormenburg or Iurminburg (fl. 672–685) was an

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

queen of

Northumbria Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland. The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...

as consort to

Ecgfrith of Northumbria Ecgfrith (; ; 64520 May 685) was the King of Northumbria from 670 until his death on 20 May 685. He ruled over Northumbria when it was at the height of its power, but his reign ended with a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Nechtansmere agai ...

. She later became an

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa'') is the female superior of a community of nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran and Anglican abbeys, the mod ...

Biography

Eormenburg's parentage is unknown. She was the second wife of Ecgfrith of Northumbria, who was King of

Deira Deira ( ; Old Welsh/ or ; 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 , meaning 'oak' ( in modern Welsh), in which case ...

(a sub-kingdom of Northumbria, 664 to 670) then King of Northumbria (670 to 685). They married after the dissolution of his unconsummated marriage to

Æthelthryth Æthelthryth (or Æðelþryð or Æþelðryþe; 23 June 679) was an East Anglian princess, a Fenland and Northumbrian queen and Abbess of Ely. She is an Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the Englis ...

, daughter of

Anna of East Anglia Anna (or Onna; killed 653 or 654) was List of monarchs of East Anglia, king of East Anglia from the early 640s until his death. He was a member of the Wuffingas family, the ruling dynasty of the East Angles, and one of the three sons of Eni of ...

and Sæwara. Æthelthryth chose instead to become a

consecrated virgin In the Catholic Church, a consecrated virgin is a woman who has been consecrated by the church to a life of perpetual virginity as a bride of Christ. Consecrated virgins are consecrated by the diocesan bishop according to the approved liturgical ...

and later founded

Ely Abbey Ely Abbey was an Anglo-Saxon monastic establishment on the Isle of Ely first established in 673 by Æthelthryth the daughter of Anna, King of East Anglia. The first establishment was destroyed by the Danes in 870, but Edgar, King of England re-est ...

on the

Isle of Ely The Isle of Ely () is a historic region around the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, Ely in Cambridgeshire, England. Between 1889 and 1965, it formed an Administrative counties of England, administrative county. Etymology Its name has been said to ...

. Ecgfrith wedding Eormenburg was valid in church law. As queen, Eormenburg was active in politics. The chronicler Eddius Stephanus considered that the king was overly influenced by his wife. She became an enemy of

Wilfrid Wilfrid ( – 709 or 710) was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Francia, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and beca ...

Bishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers t ...

and suggested to her husband that the bishops estates, large retinue and pomp and ceremony was a threat to royal dignity. In 678, Wilfred lost his see by the division of the

archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

by Theodore of Canterbury. He was expelled from the kingdom of Northumbria by Ecgrith, an action which was allegedly incited by the queen. According to Stephanus' 8th-century biography the '' Life of Wilfrid,'' Eormenburg's sister was married to

Centwine of Wessex Centwine (died after 685) was King of Wessex from c. 676 to 685 or 686, although he was perhaps not the only king of the West Saxons at the time. The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' reports that Centwine became king c. 676, succeeding Æscwine. B ...

. Ecgfrith's sister was married to Aethelred of Mercia. Due to the familial connections between the royal houses of Northumbria,

Mercia Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...

and

Wessex The Kingdom of the West Saxons, also known as the Kingdom of Wessex, was an Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from around 519 until Alfred the Great declared himself as King of the Anglo-Saxons in 886. The Anglo-Sa ...

, and Eormenburg's influence through this "royal ladies network", Wilfred was persecuted in all three kingdoms. He fled to Rome and appealed against Theodore and Ecgfrith's decisions to

Pope Agatho Pope Agatho (577 – 10 January 681) served as the bishop of Rome from 27 June 678 until his death on 10 January 681. He heard the appeal of Wilfrid of York, who had been displaced from his see by the division of the archdiocese ordered by ...

. In 680, Wilfrid returned to Northumbria with a

papal decree A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden seal ('' bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal bulls have been in use at l ...

ordering his restoration, but was instead imprisoned and then exiled by the king and queen. Whilst Eormenburg and her husband were staying at

Coldingham Priory Coldingham Priory was a house of Benedictine monks. It lies on the south-east coast of Scotland, in the village of Coldingham, Berwickshire. Coldingham Priory was founded in the reign of David I of Scotland, although his older brother and prede ...

, Scotland, she fell ill and suffered from "convulsive fits." The fits were considered the consequence of her hostility towards Wilfred, her stealing a

reliquary A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', ''Chasse (casket), chasse'', or ''phylactery'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary, or the room in which one is stored, may also be called a ''feretory''. Relics may be the purported ...

from him that she wore as a necklace and her "exulting in these spoils". The abbess

Æbbe of Coldingham Æbbe, also called Tabbs, ( – 683) was an Anglian abbess and noblewoman. She was the daughter of Æthelfrith, king of Bernicia from to 616. She founded monasteries at Ebchester and St Abb's Head near Coldingham in Scotland. Life Early ...

advised the king that Eormenburg would only be cured when the reliquary was returned and he was restored. The king took her advice, returned the relics and Wilfred was released from his exile. Eormenburg miraculously recovered. Ecgfrith died whilst fighting against the

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Scotland in the early Middle Ages, Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pic ...

Fortriu Fortriu (; ; ; ) was a Pictish kingdom recorded between the 4th and 10th centuries. It was traditionally believed to be located in and around Strathearn in central Scotland, but is more likely to have been based in the north, in the Moray and ...

at the

Battle of Dun Nechtain The Battle of Dun Nechtain or Battle of Nechtansmere (; ) was fought between the Picts, led by King Bridei Mac Bili, and the Northumbrians, led by King Ecgfrith, on 20 May 685. The Northumbrian hegemony over northern Britain, won by Ecgfrith ...

on 20 May 685. Eormenburg was residing at a nunnery in

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

while her husband was away on the campaign. St. Cuthbert was also visiting the nunnery and warned Eormenburg that he had a vision of her husband being killed in battle. News soon arrived from the battlefield confirming Ecgfrith's death. As Ecgfrith and Eormenburg had no children, the Northumbrian throne was inherited by Ecgfrith's illegitimate half-brother

Aldfrith of Northumbria Aldfrith (Early Modern Irish: ''Flann Fína mac Ossu''; Latin: ''Aldfrid'', ''Aldfridus''; died 14 December 704 or 705) was king of Northumbria from 685 until his death. He is described by early writers such as Bede, Alcuin and Stephen of Ripon ...

. After learning of the death of her husband, Eormenburg took the veil and was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

as a nun. She later rose to become abbess of her foundation and Stephanus recorded that she led a praiseworthy monastic life. Her date of death is unknown.

References

{{Authority control 7th-century queens consort Royal House of Northumbria Anglo-Saxon royal consorts Anglo-Saxon abbesses Anglo-Saxon nuns 7th-century English nuns