Ælla of Deira

Ælla
Ælla
King of Deira
Reign	c. 560–588
Successor	Æthelric
Died	588
Issue	Edwin; Acha
Father	Yffe

Ælla or Ælle is the first known king of the Anglian kingdom of Deira, which he ruled from around 560 until his death in 588.

Biography

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that Ælla became king in 560.^[1] Anachronistically, the name of his kingdom is given as Northumbria, but the region was actually split between Deira and Bernicia at the time. Ælla's kingdom is identified by Bede as Deira - the use of Northumbria could be based on a tradition whereby the most powerful Anglian king in the region would claim that title.^[2] Ælla was almost certainly a pagan - when Pope Gregory the Great encountered two pale-skinned English boys (Deirans) at a slave market in Rome he is said to have remarked that they were "not Angles, but angels, if they were Christian". (Non Angli, sed angeli, si forent Christiani.)^[3]^: 117 and upon learning that the king of Deira was Ælla he said "Alleluia should be sung in that land".^[4]^[5]

There is some confusion regarding the time and manner of Ælla's death. The Chronicle reports that he "passed away" in 588, although a later source expands and says that he was killed by Æthelfrith, son of Æthelric, the former king of Bernicia.^[2] This account is contradicted by Bede, who says that Ælla was still king in 597 when Augustine of Canterbury came to Britain. In either case, after Ælla's death his family were forced to flee as the rulers of Bernicia seized control of the kingdom.^[4]

Family

The Chronicle gives Ælla's father as Yffe, and gives a genealogy going back to Woden.^[6] Two children of Ælla are identifiable from historical records - Edwin and Acha. Edwin went into exile upon his father's death but eventually became king of both Deira and Bernicia. Acha similarly went into exile, and she eventually married Æthelfrith of Bernicia.^[4] Ælla had at least one brother, Ælfric, and his successor as king, Æthelric, is variously identified as another brother or a son.^[7]

References

Citations

^ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, s.a. 560
^ ^a ^b Venning
^ Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2003), Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781403917232 / ISBN 9781403938695 [1]
^ ^a ^b ^c Cramp
^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ella s.v. Ella (d. 588)" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 288.
^ Cannon and Hargreaves, p. 33; Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, s.a. 560
^ Kirby, p. 57; Venning

Primary sources

Thorpe, B, ed. (1861). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Rerum Britannicarum Medii Ævi Scriptores. Vol. 1. London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts. Accessed via Internet Archive.

Secondary sources

Cannon, John; Hargreaves, Anne (26 March 2009). The Kings and Queens of Britain. Oxford University Press. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-19-158028-4.
Cramp, Rosemary (2004). "Ælla (d. in or after 597?)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/199. Retrieved 22 May 2018. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.) Subscription or UK public library membership required.
Kirby, D. P. (2000). The Earliest English Kings. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-415-24211-0.
Venning, Timothy (19 June 2013). The Kings & Queens of Anglo-Saxon England. Amberley. ISBN 9781445608976.

External links

Ælle 2 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England

[ASC560-1] Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, s.a. 560

[V-2] Venning

[language-3] Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2003), Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781403917232 / ISBN 9781403938695 [1]

[C-4] Cramp

[5] Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ella s.v. Ella (d. 588)" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 288.

[CH33-6] Cannon and Hargreaves, p. 33; Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, s.a. 560

[VV-7] Kirby, p. 57; Venning

[8] Rulers with names in italics are considered fictional

[9] Mackenzie, E; Ross, M (1834). An Historical, Topographical, and Descriptive View of the County Palatine of Durham. Vol. I. Newcastle upon Tyne: Mackenzie and Dent. p. xi. Retrieved 28 February 2012.

[10] Downham, Clare (2007), Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: The Dynasty of Ívarr to A.D. 1014, Edinburgh: Dunedin, ISBN 978-1-903765-89-0, OCLC 163618313

[11] Woolf, Alex (2007), From Pictland to Alba, 789–1070, The New Edinburgh History of Scotland, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 978-0-7486-1234-5, OCLC 123113911

[12] Zaluckyj, Sarah & Feryok, Marge. Mercia: The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Central England (2001) ISBN 1-873827-62-8

[13] Barbara Yorke (1995), Wessex in the early Middle Ages, A & C Black, ISBN 071851856X; pp 79-83; table p. 81

[14] Kelly, S. E. (2004). "Kings of the South Saxons (act. 477–772)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/52344. Retrieved 3 February 2017. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)

[15] Keynes, Simon (2014). "Appendix I: Rulers of the English, c.450–1066". In Lapidge, Michael (ed.). The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-65632-7.

[16] Kirby, D. P. The Earliest English Kings. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-4152-4211-0.

[17] Lapidge, M.; et al., eds. (1999). "Kings of the East Angles". The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. London: Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-6312-2492-1.

[18] Searle, W. G. 1899. Anglo-Saxon Bishops, Kings and Nobles.

[19] Yorke, B. 1990. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England.

[20] Carpenter, Clive. Kings, Rulers and Statesmen. Guinness Superlatives, Ltd.

[21] Ross, Martha. Rulers and Governments of the World, Vol. 1. Earliest Times to 1491.

[22] Ashley, Michael (1998). British Monarchs: the Complete Genealogy, Gazetteer, and Biographical Encyclopedia of the Kings & Queens of Britain. London: Robinson. ISBN 978-1-8548-7504-4.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

Monarchs of Northumbria
Kings of Bernicia 547–670	Ida Glappa Adda Æthelric Theodric Frithuwald Hussa Æthelfrith Edwin Eanfrith Oswald Oswiu
Kings of Deira 560–679	Ælla Æthelric Æthelfrith Edwin Osric Oswald Oswiu Oswine Œthelwald Alhfrith Ælfwine
Kings of Northumbria 642–867	Oswiu Ecgfrith Ealdfrith Eadwulf I Osred I Coenred Osric Ceolwulf Eadberht Oswulf Æthelwald Moll Ealhred Æthelred I Ælfwald I Osred II Osbald Eardwulf Ælfwald II Eanred Æthelred II Redwulf Osberht Ælla
Kings of Viking Northumbria 867–954	Ecgberht Ricsige Halfdan I Guthfrith I Siefredus Cnut Æthelwold Airdeconut Eowils Halfdan II Ingwær Ragnall I Sitric I Caech Guthfrith II Olaf I Guthfrithson Sitric II Olaf II Cuaran Ragnall II Guthfrithson Eric Bloodaxe

Authority control databases
International	VIAF GND WorldCat
People	Deutsche Biographie