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Ebrauc (Eburacum)
Based on the Roman capital of the North, Ebrauc did not survive as a kingdom for long.
Coel Hen was its first Post-Roman governor, and
apparently came to be styled King of Northern
Britain. At first, Ebrauc was most likely ruled in much the same way as it was ruled
under direct Roman control; as a magistratum, a kind of governorship of the region, with
(as has been quite reasonably suggested by the author Parke Godwin) the likely title of
prince-magistrate, combining the old Roman world with the new, re-emerging Celtic one.
Archaeologically, how late the Roman way of life was pursued in York is unknown. The town and its
community may well have survived after the final withdrawal of Roman troops and well into the
fifth century. There were certainly Germanic settlements in East Yorkshire in about the middle
of the fifth century and early Anglian cremation burials have been found on The Mount and at
Heworth (on the outskirts of York) where the urns were among the earliest of their kind to be
found in the country. The date is about a century too early to be the work of the Angles who
were in charge of York, so it seems plausible to assume they were barbarian laeti,
mercenaries employed by the British to fight against their northern enemies.
After 547, former Bernaccian Catraeth was
claimed by the kingdom (later immortalised in the Mabinogion), and this name is
occasionally applied to the kingdom itself.
Angles had settled in the nearby region of Deywr,
part of Ebrauc's territory, probably being employed as laeti, and in the mid-sixth
century they took over. Under their leadership, Deywr (Anglian
Deira) rapidly absorbed Ebrauc, and the Angles
claimed all of the territory east of the Pennines up to
Bernicia's border. Nothing historically is
known of the city of Eburacum in the fifth and sixth centuries. By the first decade of the
seventh century, and perhaps earlier, it lay within but not at the heart of the kingdom of
Deira.
(Coel Hen's ancestry supplied by Mick Baker.) |
[ |
Aballac |
Son
of High King Beli Mawr.] |
[ |
Eudelen |
Son.] |
[ |
Eudos |
Son.] |
[ |
Ebiud |
Son.] |
[ |
Outigirn |
Son.] |
[ |
Oudecant |
Son.] |
[ |
Ritigrn |
Son.] |
[ |
Iumetel |
Son.] |
[ |
Grat |
Son.] |
[ |
Vrban |
Son.] |
[ |
Telpuil |
Son.] |
[ |
Teuhant |
Son.] |
[ |
Tegfan Gloff |
Son.] |
?383 - c.420 |
Coel Hen, Dux Brittanorum |
Son. Effectively High King after Magnus Maximus. |
c.420 |
Bernaccia is passed to Coel's younger son. |
c.420 - c.450 |
Ceneu (St) ap Coel |
Second King of Northern Britain. |
c.450 |
Ceneu's territory is divided
between Rheged west of the Pennines and Ebrauc to the
east, which continues the name of the Kingdom of
Northern Britain. |
c.450 |
Mor ap Ceneu |
Third & last King of
Northern Britain. |
c.470 |
Upon Mor's death, the Kingdom of
Northern Britain is divided between his sons, becoming The Kingdom of the Pennines, based
on Dunoting and
The Peak, and the Kingdom
of Ebrauc. Around this time, the Goutodin
also seem to become fully independent. |
c.470 |
Einion ap Mor |
First King of Ebrauc. |
c.505 |
When Einion dies, son Eliffer
gains the best territory around Ebrauc, but
Caer-Guendoleu,
in the north, passes to Ceidio ap Einion. |
c.505 - 560 |
Eliffer Gosgorddfawr (of the
Great Army) |
Son. |
547 |
Bernaccia
falls to the Angles under Ida, and, whilst laying claim to Catraeth,
Ebrauc suddenly finds itself with a Teutonic kingdom on its northern border. |
559 |
The Angles in
Deywr pronounce their kingdom of
Deira, perhaps with help from their kinsmen in
Bernicia, and Ebrauc faces a threat on two
sides. Within a short space of time the Deirans probably secure the coastal
region. |
560 - 580 |
Peredyr Arueu Dur (Steel Arms) |
|
573 |
Peredyr fights against
Caer-Guendoleu at Arfderydd in 573 (
Annles Cambriae). |
- 580 |
|
Gwrgi ap Eliffer |
Brother of Peredyr & joint
ruler. |
580 |
Gwrgant Gwron (the Hero) |
Son of Peredyr. Last British
claimant to the kingdom. Fled. |
c.570 - 580 |
The
Deirans continue to gain
ground in the region. Although by now they seem to have already captured the
coast, York is known to have fallen later, c.570-580, so it seems likely, given their
dates of death (Annales
Cambriae), that the sons of Eliffer had been fighting on from their capital
until overrun. Peredyr's son, Gwrgant, is forced to flee the kingdom.
North Rheged
gains the territory of Catraeth. |
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