From academic institutions to water suppliers, the name ‘Northumbria’ is something that Northeasterners often encounter in their day-to-day lives. Indeed, the name of that old kingdom has echoed across the millennia, but what do we actually know of it?
Admittedly, we’re left in the dark (or in the early medieval?) about much of its history. However, thanks to the propensity for holy people to scribble on calfskin, there is plenty of light we can shed on a regional power whose expansionist and cultural exploits would remain unmatched, at least until the advent of ‘Greggs’ approximately 1,500 years later.
In this episode, Glen and Ben seek to chart the history and significance of the Kingdom of Northumbria, navigating a few suspect head shavings and family fallouts along the way.
Bernician or Deiran, Pagan or Christian, Angle or Briton, all are welcome on our journey. Just try not to think of all the baby cows that were sacrificed to bring us this episode…
Useful resources:
- Northumbria, 500–1100: Creation and Destruction of a Kingdom, by David Rollason (2003)
- Northumbria, AD 367–867: Earth Hall, Ring Gift and Heaven’s Field, by Max Adams and Colm O’Brien (2025)
- Bernician Studies Group
- Kingdom of Northumbria: The Anglo-Saxon Era, by David Simpson, England’s North East
- “Where Did the Northumbrians Come From?”, by Alex Iles, YouTube Video
