Æthelric was supposedly a King of Deira (c. 589/599–c. 604). He is thought to have succeeded Ælla of Deira, but his existence is historically obscure.

Manuscript A of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...

reports that Ælle, king of Deira, was succeeded by Æthelric in 588. According to Bede

Bede

Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...

, Deira was invaded and taken over by Æthelfrith

Æthelfrith of Northumbria

Æthelfrith was King of Bernicia from c. 593 until c. 616; he was also, beginning c. 604, the first Bernician king to also rule Deira, to the south of Bernicia. Since Deira and Bernicia were the two basic components of what would later be defined as Northumbria, Æthelfrith can be considered, in...

 of Bernicia

Bernicia

Bernicia was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England....

 in about the year 604. The circumstances of this are unclear, and Æthelric's fate is unknown. The fact that Edwin

Edwin of Northumbria

Edwin , also known as Eadwine or Æduini, was the King of Deira and Bernicia – which later became known as Northumbria – from about 616 until his death. He converted to Christianity and was baptised in 627; after he fell at the Battle of Hatfield Chase, he was venerated as a saint.Edwin was the son...

, a son of Ælla and possibly Æthelric's brother, had to flee into exile suggests that Deira may have been conquered by Æthelfrith, and in this case Æthelric may have been killed during warfare. Æthelfrith ruled both Deira and Bernicia, the two components of Northumbria, until he was killed in battle and the Deiran line was restored for a time under Edwin.

Further reading

• Kirby, D.P. The Earliest English Kings. London, 1991. 56-8.
• Miller, M. "The dates of Deira." Anglo-Saxon England 8 (1979): 35–61.
• Yorke, Barbara. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London, 1990. p. 77.