Osulf (Northumbria) Bamburgh (bef. 913 - bef. 963)

Born before 0913 in Northumberland, England

Ancestors

Husband of Unknown (UNKNOWN) Bamburgh — married 0950 in Northumbria, England

Descendants

Died before 0963 at about age 50 in Northumberland, England

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Biography

Oswulf or Osulf fl. 946 - 954 d. ~954 - ante 963 High Reeve of Bamburgh ^[1]

Oswulf's date and place of birth are not known, but as Osulf dux he witnessed charters of King Æthelstan in 934.^[1] While Dux in general means a leader (especially a military one), in Anglo-Saxon sources it's the holder of the office of ealdorman or eorl, and was used to designate senior noblemen in the latter part of the eighth century in Mercia and Northumbria, and from the 820s in Wessex.^[2] He would have been an adult when he witnessed those charters, so he was born before 913.

Medieval Lands doesn't mention Osulf's parents, wives, or children. Wikipedia talks about the speculations of historians. Some think it might have been Ealdred of Bamburgh (d.c.933), or one of Ealdred's relatives.^[1]

Oswulf was^[3] or probably was the son of Ealdred, died circa 933, leader of the Northumbrians, who was the son of Eadulf.^[4]

Oswulf became the first recognized earl of Northumbria in 953 and maintained the alliance with Scotland that his father had forged. However early in his rule, in 914, Scotland’s alliance with the Danish Yorkshiremen ended as the Dublin Norse prepared to control York.^[5]

Succession

Oswulf's family ruled Bernicia (Northumbria north of the Tyne) from the Scandinavian invasion and settlement of the late ninth century.^[3]

• Eadulf, was the father of:
  • Ealdred of Bamburgh, died circa 933, leader of the Northumbrians and lord of Bamburgh, was the father of:
    • Oswulf, died 966, was the father of:
      • Eadwulf, was probably the father of
        • Waltheof, flourished circa 994–1006, was the father of:
          1. Uhtred, earl of Bamburgh, died 1016, and
          2. Eadulf Cudel.

When Eadread succeeded his older brother, Edmund, as king of England in 946, there were two rival factions in the kingdom of York, Osulf of Bamburgh led one, Wulfstan, archbishop of York, led the other. Eadread had control of York in 949-50, when he issued charters as "king of the English, Northumbrians, pagans and Britons".

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Charles Cawley, "England, Anglo-Saxon Nobility: Chapter 5. Northumbria", Medieval Lands: A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families, (V3 Updated 29 May 2014), Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, (http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLAND,%20AngloSaxon%20nobility.htm#_Toc284396931 accessed 20 September 2017).
2. ↑ "Reference: Glossary", Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England, http://pase.ac.uk/reference/glossary.html, accessed 21 September 2017.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} William M. Aird, ‘Uhtred, earl of Bamburgh (d. 1016)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.
4. ↑ Benjamin T. Hudson, ‘Ealdred (d. 933?)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. Ealdred (d. 933?): doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/39225
5. ↑ Hayes, Jean Anne, "Anglian leadership in Northumbria, 547 A.D. through 1075 A.D." (2005). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 1986. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/1986 (accessed Jul 2023).

See also:

• "England, AngloSaxon nobility: Northumbria." Medieval Lands v.3. fmg.ac
• Wikipedia: Osulf I of Bamburgh
• fmg.ac