Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria
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Gospatric or Cospatric (from the Cumbrian "Servant of Saint Patrick") (died after 1073) was Earl of Northumbria, or of Bernicia, and later ruler of sizable estates around Dunbar. While his ancestry is uncertain, his descendants held the Earldom of Dunbar, also known as the Earldom of March, in south-east Scotland until 1435.
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[edit] Background
Gospatric is often said to have been a son of Maldred son of Crínán of Dunkeld.[1] If this is correct, Maldred was apparently not the son of Crínán's known wife Bethóc, daughter of the Scots king Malcolm II, as Gospatric's descendants made no such claim when they submitted their pleadings in the Great Cause to determine the succession to the kingship of the Scots after the death of Alexander III.[2] Alternatively, rather than being descended from a half-brother of King Donnchad mac Crínáin, Gospatric may have been the youngest son of Earl Uchtred the Bold (died 1016). Another reconstruction would make Gospatric the grandson of Uchtred's discarded first wife, Ecgfritha, daughter of Aldhun, Bishop of Durham, through Sigrida, her daughter with Kilvert son of Ligulf.[3] Whatever his parentage may have been, Gospatric was clearly an important figure in Northumbria and Cumbria, with ties to the family of Earl Uchtred.
The Life of Edward the Confessor commissioned by Queen Edith contains an account of the pilgrimage to Rome of Tostig Godwinson, Earl of Northumbria. It tells how a band of robbers attacked Tostig's party in Italy, seeking to kidnap the Earl. A certain Gospatric "was believed because of the luxury of his clothes and his physical appearance, which was indeed distinguished" to be Earl Tostig, and succeeded in deceiving the would-be kidnappers as to his identity until the real Earl was safely away from the scene. Whether this was the same Gospatric, or a kinsman of the same name, is unclear, but it is suggested that his presence in Tostig's party was as a hostage as much as a guest.[4]
[edit] Harrowing of the North
After his victory over Harold Godwinson at Hastings, William of Normandy appointed a certain Copsi or Copsig, a supporter of the late Earl Tostig, who had been exiled with his master in 1065, as Earl of Bernicia in the spring of 1067. Copsi was dead within five weeks, killed by Oswulf, grandson of Uchtred, who installed himself as Earl. Oswulf was killed in the autumn by bandits after less than six months as Earl.[5] At this point, Gospatric, who had a plausible claim to the Earldom given the likelihood that he was related to Oswulf and Uchtred, offered King William a large amount of money to be given the Earldom of Bernicia. The King, who was in the process of raising heavy taxes, accepted.[6]
In early 1068, a series of uprisings in England, along with foreign invasion, faced King William with a dire threat. Gospatric is found among the leaders of the uprising, along with Edgar Ætheling and Edwin, Earl of Mercia and his brother Morcar. This uprising soon collapsed, and William proceeded to dispossess many of the northern landowners and grant the lands to Norman incomers. For Gospatric, this meant the loss of his earldom to Robert Comine and exile in Scotland. King William's authority, apart from minor local troubles such as Hereward the Wake and Eadric the Wild, appeared to extend securely across England.[7]
Gospatric joined the invading army of Danes, Scots, and Englishmen under Edgar the Aetheling in the next year. Though the army was defeated, he afterwards was able, from his possession of Bamburgh castle, to make terms with the conqueror, who left him undisturbed till 1072. The widespread destruction in Northumbria known as the Harrying of the North relates to this period.
[edit] Exile
Gospatric was stripped of his earldom in 1072 and replaced by Siward's son Waltheof. Gospatric went into exile in Scotland where he was granted a number of estates around Dunbar and in the Merse by King Máel Coluim. This earldom or mormaerdom without a name in the Scots-controlled northern part of Bernicia would later become the Earldom of Dunbar or March.
Gospatric did not long survive in exile according to Roger of Hoveden's chronicle:
[N]ot long after this, being reduced to extreme infirmity, he sent for Aldwin and Turgot, the monks, who at this time were living at Meilros, in poverty and contrite in spirit for the sake of Christ, and ended his life with a full confession of his sins, and great lamentations and penitence, at Ubbanford, which is also called Northam, and was buried in the porch of the church there.
Gospatric is known to have had a daughter, named Uchtreda, who married Donnchad, son of King Máel Coluim. It appears that the Earl Gospatric who was killed at the battle of the Standard in 1138 was his son.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Thus Fletcher, p. 76, table 3. Scottish Annals, p. 96, citing Symeon of Durham refers to "Gospatric, son of Maldred, Crinan's son", also pp 80–81, again citing Symeon, refer to the marriage of Aldgitha daughter of Uhtred to "Maldred, son of Crinan the thane". That "Crinan the thane", father of Maldred, and Crínán, father of King Donnchad, are one and the same person is by no means clear.
- ^ Duncan, pp. 348–349, table C.
- ^ Forte et al, p. 204.
- ^ Fletcher, pp. 152–154.
- ^ Fletcher, pp. 169–171; Higham, p. 242; Stenton, pp. 601–602.
- ^ Fletcher, p. 171,
- ^ Fletcher, pp 171–173; Higham, pp. 241–242; Stenton, p. 601.
[edit] References
- Barrow, G.W.S., The Kingdom of the Scots. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2003. ISBN 0-7486-1803-1
- Fletcher, Richard, Bloodfeud: Murder and Revenge in Anglo-Saxon England. London: Penguin, 2003. ISBN 0-14-028692-6
- Stenton, Frank M., Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1973. ISBN 0-19-280139-2
- Forte, Angelo, Oram, Richard, & Pedersen, Frederik, Viking Empires. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-521-82992-5
- Higham, N.J., The Kingdom of Northumbria AD 350-1100. Stroud: Sutton, 1993. ISBN 0-86299-730-5
| Preceded by: Osulf |
Earl of Northumbria, first time 1067–1068 |
Succeeded by: Robert Comine |
| Preceded by: Robert Comine |
Earl of Northumbria, second time 1069–1072 |
Succeeded by: Waltheof |
