Earl of Northumbria or Ealdorman of Northumbria was a title in the late
Anglo-Saxon,
Anglo-Scandinavian and early
Anglo-Norman period in
England. The
ealdordom was a successor of the Norse
Kingdom of York. In the seventh century, the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of
Bernicia and
Deira were united in the kingdom of
Northumbria, but this was destroyed by the Vikings in 867. Southern Northumbria, the former Deira, then became the Viking
kingdom of York, while the
rulers of Bamburgh commanded territory roughly equivalent to the northern kingdom of Bernicia. In 1006
Uhtred the Bold, ruler of Bamburgh, by command of
Æthelred the Unready became ealdorman in the south, temporarily re-uniting much of the area of Northumbria into a single jurisdiction. Uhtred was murdered in 1016, and
Cnut then appointed
Eric of Hlathir ealdorman at York, but Uhtred's dynasty held onto Bamburgh. After the
Norman Conquest the region was divided into multiple smaller baronies, one of which was the
earldom of Northumberland, with others like the earldoms of
York and numerous autonomous liberties such as the
County Palatine of Durham and Liberty of Tynedale.
Unclear if he was just ruler of Bamburgh or what if any jurisdiction he exercised south of the Tyne. Gospatric and his descendants were the forerunners of the
earls of Dunbar.[1]