Osred I of Northumbria

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Osred (c. 697 – 716) was king of Northumbria from 705 until his death. He was the son of King Aldfrith of Northumbria. Aldfrith's only known wife was Cuthburg, but it is not certainly known whether Osred was her son. Osred did not directly succeed his father as Eadwulf seized the throne, but held it for only a few months.

At the time that the usurper Eadwulf was overthrown, Osred was only a child, and the government was controlled by the powerful Bishop Wilfrid, presumably assisted by ealdormen such as Berhtfrith son of Berhtred. Osred was adopted as Wilfrid's son at this time. Wilfrid's death in 709 appears to have caused no instability at the time, which, together with the rapid rise and more rapid fall of Eadwulf, speaks to a degree of stability and continuity in early 8th century Northumbria which would not long outlast Osred's reign.

In 711 ealdorman Berhtfrith inflicted a crushing defeat on the Picts, in the area around the upper Forth, but the reign of Osred is otherwise unremarkable politically. Domestically, a variety of eccelsiatical sources portray Osred as a dissolute and debauched young man, and a seducer of nuns. More positively, Aethelwulf's De Abbatibus describes Osred as energetic in deeds and words, mighty in arms and bold in his own strength and Bede referred to him as a new Josiah.

Osred reached his majority in 715 or 716, and within a very short period he was killed. The manner of his death is unclear. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that he was killed "south of the border". David Rollason and N.J. Higham presume that the border is question is the southern Pictish border, and that the Picts slew Osred.

[edit] References

• Higham, N.J., The Kingdom of Northumbria AD 350-1100. Stroud: Sutton, 1993. ISBN 978-0-86299-730-4
• Rollason, David (2004). Osred I (696x8–716). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,. Oxford University Press. Retrieved on 2007-08-20.