Eadwulf Evil-child

Eadulf, Eadwulf, or occasionally Adulf, surnamed Evil-child (Old English: Yfelcild[1]), (fl. AD 963–973) was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman and Earl of Bamburgh in the late tenth century.[2] Although Eadwulf is sometimes described as the Earl of Northumbria, he ruled only the northern portion of Northumbria from the River Tees to possibly as far north as the Firth of Forth. Eadwulf was one of the noblemen present at King Edgar's council at Chester which formally granted Lothian to the Scots.

Eadwulf Evil-child
Latin: Eadulphus cognomento Yvelcildus
Born10th-century
TitleEarl of Bamburgh

Name and family

The name evil-child itself is derived from the Old English words yvel and cild – a nickname which has not survived to the modern period.[3] The details of Eadwulf's early life are not known except that his surname evil-child may indicate that he was a wild youth, with "evil-child" being equivalent to "bad boy" in modern English.[4] Alternatively, as cild, when used as a cognomen, was an Old English title borne by some Anglo-Saxon nobles to denote a man of high rank,[5] it may be the case that Eadwulf acquired the name simply because he was a nobleman of bad character[6] or because he was considered unworthy to hold noble rank.[7]

His first name, Eadwulf, meaning rich wolf in Old English,[8] may indicate that he was related to a previous ruler of Northumbria, Eadwulf II who died in 913.[9] At least one 19th century work suggests that Eadwulf was probably the son of Osulf, the man whom Eadwulf later succeeded as ruler of Bamburgh.[10] Others simply suggest that Eadwulf and Osulf were probably related.[7]

Ruler of Bamburgh

De primo Saxonum adventu, an eleventh- or twelfth-century compilation from earlier sources, notes that after the death of Osulf, Northumbria was divided into two parts. This happened no later than 963 and quite possibly in that year.[11] The English king Edgar granted Eadulf Evil-child the lands between the Myreford (arguably the Firth of Forth[12]) and the River Tees, while Oslac received the lands between the Humber Estuary and the Tees.[13][14] According to the 13th-century historian John of Wallingford, King Edgar made this division during a council at York, in order to prevent the whole area becoming the inheritance of one man.[15] At the ceremony Eadwulf was "girt with the sword" of his new earldom but he was not crowned.[16]

History makes little mention of Eadwulf in the remaining years of the 960s, except that his existence is perhaps attested in King Edgar's charters from 968 to 970.[17] The presence of Eadwulf's name in these charters is somewhat suggestive of a scenario whereby Eadwulf worked to bring the northern reaches of Northumbria under some degree of control in the late 960s and early 970s.[18] However, the identification of the "Eadulf dux" in the charters with Eadwulf Evil-child is considered questionable by some.[19]

Assuming that Myreford was the Saxon name for the Firth of Forth (which some dispute, suggesting it might be the River Tweed,[20] the Solway,[21] or some unknown location in East Lothian or what is now Berwickshire[22]), Eadwulf's control over the northern part of Northumbria was not to last. In AD 972 Eadwulf's son was captured by Kenneth King of Scots during a raid.[23] The following year, Eadwulf, Oslac and Bishop Ælfsige escorted Kenneth to King Edgar who was at Chester, and after Kenneth had reportedly done homage, Edgar rewarded Kenneth by granting him Lothian.[24] Although no ancient sources mention what happened to Eadwulf's son,[25] it has been speculated that Eadwulf ceded his possessions north of the Tweed in exchange for his safe return.[26]

The details of the later part of Eadwulf's life are not known. It may be that he fell from office in 975 during the violence which attended the succession crisis after the death of King Edgar.[27] It has been suggested that both Eadwulf and Oslac backed the unsuccessful Æthelred the Unready rather than the successful Edward the Martyr as the successor to King Edgar and hence lost their positions.[28] In any case, the Earldom of Bamburgh was held by Waltheof from either 975[2] or as late as 994.[7] The lack of information in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle concerning Eadwulf's fate is in contrast to the provision of details about what happened to Oslac. This may indicate that the English kings had lost the power to depose or exile an earl in the far north. Instead, Eadwulf may have been deposed by powerful Northumbrian nobles or even assassinated.[29]

Sources

The English grammarian and lexicographer C T Onions states that the De primo Saxonum adventu is the only known source for details about Eadwulf's life, as other extant authorities are based upon it.[30] In contrast, Dorothy Whitelock argues that both John of Wallingford's chronicle and De primo Saxonum adventu are based on a single lost source. Whitelock also maintains that some 10th century charters briefly mention Eadwulf Evil-child,[31] as do other authorities.[32]

Eadwulf Evil-child's name is not to be found in De Omnibus Comitibus Northimbrensibus, probably because he was not considered by the eleventh century earls to be an important ancestor.[4]

References
  1. Douglas, Sir George (1899). History of the Border Counties: (Roxburgh, Selkirk, Peebles). Blackwood. p. 47.
  2. Rollason, David W. (2003). Northumbria, 500 – 1100: Creation and Destruction of a Kingdom. Cambridge University Press. p. 267. ISBN 0521813352.
  3. Tengvik, Gösta (1938). Old English Bynames. Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksells Boktryckeri-A-B. p. 358.
  4. McGuigan, Neil (2015). "4.1.3 'Northumbrian Earldom Foundation Legend'". Neither Scotland nor England : Middle Britain, c.850–1150 (PhD). University of St Andrews. pp. 92, 93. hdl:10023/7829. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.675224.
  5. Swanton, Michael J. (translator), Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (MSS C, D and E), p. 138 note 7.
  6. Bäck, Hilding (1934). The Synonyms for "Child", "Boy", Girl" in Old English, Lund Studies in English. Lund: C.W.K. Gleerup. p. 64. ISBN 9780598617286.
  7. Williams, Ann; Smyth, Alfred P; Kirby, D P (1997). A biographical dictionary of Dark Age Britain. Routledge. p. 114. ISBN 978-1852640477.
  8. Mike Campbell (3 December 2014). "Given Name EADWULF". Behind The Name. Retrieved 4 January 2018. Derived from the Old English elements ead "wealth, fortune" and wulf "wolf".
  9. Fletcher, Richard A. (2004). Bloodfeud: Murder and Revenge in Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford University Press. p. 44. ISBN 978-0195179446.
  10. Armitage, Ella S (1885). The Connection Between England and Scotland. Rivingtons. p. 20.
  11. Knight, Charles Brunton (1944). A History of the City of York. York: Herald Printing Works. p. 107.
  12. McGuigan, Neil (2015). "5.3.1 'Myreforð'". Neither Scotland nor England : Middle Britain, c.850–1150 (PhD). University of St Andrews. pp. 147, 148. hdl:10023/7829. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.675224.
  13. Whitelock, Dorothy, "Dealings of the Kings", p. 77; Woolf, Pictland to Alba, p. 211; Arnold (ed.), Symeonis Monachi Opera Omnia, vol. ii, p. 382; Anderson, Scottish Annals, p. 77
  14. Barrow, Geoffrey (1962). The border: inaugural lecture of the Professor of Medieval History. University of Durham. p. 13.
  15. Whitelock, "Dealings of the Kings", p. 77
  16. Palgrave, Sir Francis (1831). History of England: Vol. I. Anglo Saxon Period. John Murray. p. 268.
  17. Lapidge, Michael; Blair, John; Keynes, Simon; Scragg, Donald (2013). The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781118316108.
  18. Scragg, Donald (2008). Edgar, King of the English, 959–975. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. p. 51. ISBN 9781843833994.
  19. Robertson A. J., Anglo-Saxon charters, in Medium Aevum; Oxford Vol. 9, 1940
  20. Barrow, Geoffrey (2003). The Kingdom of the Scots: Government, Church and Society from the Eleventh to the Fourteenth Century. Edinburgh University Press. p. 122. ISBN 978-0748618033.
  21. "Forth". Fife Place-name Data. Glasgow University. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  22. Walker, Ian W (19 January 2006). Lords of Alba: The Making of Scotland. The History Press. ISBN 9780752495194.
  23. Ann Williams, Edgar (943/4–975), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
  24. Rollason, David W. (2003). Northumbria, 500 – 1100: Creation and Destruction of a Kingdom. Cambridge University Press. p. 275. ISBN 0521813352.
  25. Clarkson, Tim (2014). Strathclyde and the Anglo-Saxons in the Viking Age. Edinburgh: Berlinn. ISBN 9781907909252.
  26. Armitage, Ella S (1885). The Connection Between England and Scotland. Rivingtons. p. 21.
  27. Fletcher, Richard A. (2004). Bloodfeud: Murder and Revenge in Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford University Press. p. 45. ISBN 978-0195179446.
  28. Hayes, Jean Anne (August 2005). "4 – Northumbrian Earls, 927 A.D. TO 1075 A.D." (PDF). Anglian leadership in Northumbria, 547 A.D. through 1075 A.D. (Dissertation). Louisiana State University. pp. 122, 123. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  29. Hayes, Jean Anne (2005). Anglian Leadership in Northumbria, 547 A.D. through 1075 A.D. (PhD). Louisiana State University. p. 124. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  30. Onions, Charles Talbut (1940). Medium Ævum. 9–10. Society for the Study of Mediæval Languages and Literature. p. 110.
  31. Whitelock, Dorothy (1959). "The dealings of the Kings of England with Northumbria in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries". In Clemoes, Peter (ed.). The Anglo-Saxons, studies in some aspects of their history and culture. London: Bowes & Bowes. p. 77.
  32. Robertson, A J, ed. (1939). Anglo-Saxon charters. CUP Archive. p. 341.
Peerage of England
Preceded by
Osulf I		 Earl of Bamburgh
floruit 963–973		 Succeeded by
Waltheof I

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