Eadberht of Northumbria

Eadberht (died 19 or 20 August 768) was king of Northumbria from 737 or 738 to 758. He was the brother of Ecgbert, Archbishop of York. His reign is seen as a return to the imperial ambitions of seventh century Northumbria and may represent a period of economic prosperity. He faced internal opposition from rival dynasties and at least two actual or potential rivals were killed during his reign. In 758 he abdicated in favour of his son Oswulf and became a monk at York.

Eadberht became ruler of Northumbria following the second abdication of his cousin Ceolwulf, who entered the monastery at Lindisfarne. Unlike Ceolwulf's first abdication, which clearly involved force, his second, in favour of Eadberht, may have been voluntary. Eadberht son of Eata was a descendant of Ida of Bernicia through either his son Ocga (Anglo Saxon Chronicle and Anglian collection) or Eadric (Historia Brittonum). The genealogy gives Eadberht's father Eata the cognomen Glin Mawr.

Eadberht appears to have faced opposition from rival families throughout his reign. Eardwine, probably the son of King Eadwulf, and grandfather of the future king Eardwulf, was killed in 740. In 750 Offa, son of King Aldfrith was taken from the sanctuary of Lindisfarne and put to death after a siege, while Bishop Cynewulf of Lindisfarne, who had presumably supported Offa, was deposed and detained in York. The importance of religious foundations in Northumbrian political struggles and family feuds is apparent. Eardwine's family is associated with Ripon, Offa and Ceolwulf with Lindisfarne, and Hexham appears to have supported kings and noblemen opposed by the Lindisfarne community. Eadberht, however, as brother of the Archbishop of York, enjoyed the support of the greatest Northumbrian prelate. Eadberht's reign saw major reforms to the Northumbrian coinage, and some coins name King Eadberht and Archbishop Ecgberht. Kirby concludes that "the indications are that Eadberht was bringing new prosperity to his kingdom." A letter sent by Pope Paul I to Eadberht and Ecgberht, ordering them to return lands taken from Abbot Fothred, and given to his brother Moll, presumed to be the same person as the later king Æthelwald Moll, suggests that Eadberht's reign saw attempts at reclaiming some of the vast lands which had been granted to the church in earlier reigns.

Kirby suggests that "a revival of seventh century northern imperial ambitions had evidently occurred among the Northumbrians at the court of Eadberht". In 750, Eadberht conquered the plain of Kyle and in 756, he campaigned alongside King Óengus against the Britons of Alt Clut. The campaign is reported as follows:

In the year of the Lord's incarnation 756, king Eadberht in the eighteenth year of his reign, and Unust, king of Picts led armies to the town of Dumbarton. And hence the Britons accepted terms there, on the first day of the month of August. But on the tenth day of the same month perished almost the whole army which he led from Ouania to Niwanbirig. That Ouania is Govan is now reasonably certain, but the location of Newanbirig is less so. Although there are many Newburghs, it is Newburgh on Tyne near Hexham that has been the preferred location.

Eadberht abdicated in 758, entering the monastery attached to the cathedral of York. His death there in 768 is recorded in Symeon of Durham's chronicle. However, his daughter Osgifu's husband Alhred became king, and Eadberht's descendants, such as Oswulf's son Ælfwald and Osgifu's son Osred contested for the Northumbrian throne until the end of the century. Eadberht's last known descendant is Osgifu's son Saint Alhmund, murdered in 800 on the orders of King Eardwulf, and reputed a martyr.