ECGBERT

ecgbert, or ecgberht (d. 766), archbishop of york, was made bishop of that see in 734 by ceolwulf, king of northumbria, succeeding wilfrid ii. on the latter's resignation. the pall was sent him in 735 and he became the first northern archbishop after paulinus. he was the brother of eadberht, who ruled northumbria 737-758. he was the recipient of the famous letter of bede, dealing with the evils arising from spurious monasteries. ecgberht himself wrote a _dialogus ecclesiasticae institutionis_, a _penitentiale_ and a _pontificale_. he was a correspondent of st boniface, who asks him to support his censure of aethelbald of mercia. see bede, _continuatio_, sub. ann. 732, 735, 766, and _epistola ad ecgberctum_ (plummer, oxford, 1896); _chronicle_, sub ann. 734, 735, 738, 766 (earle and plummer, oxford, 1899); haddan and stubbs, _councils and ecclesiastical documents_ (oxford, 1869-1878), iii. 403-431; _proceedings of surtees society_ (durham, 1853). ecgfrith (d. 685), king of northumbria, succeeded his father oswio in 671. he was married to aethelthryth, daughter of anna of east anglia, who, however, took the veil shortly after ecgfrith's accession, a step which possibly led to his long quarrel with wilfrid archbishop of york. ecgfrith married a second wife, eormenburg, before 678, the year in which he expelled wilfrid from his kingdom. early in his reign he defeated the picts who had risen in revolt. between 671 and 675 ecgfrith defeated wulfhere of mercia and seized lindsey. in 679, however, he was defeated by aethelred of mercia, who had married his sister osthryth, on the river trent. ecgfrith's brother aelfwine was killed in the battle, and the province of lindsey was given up when peace was restored at the intervention of theodore of canterbury. in 684 ecgfrith sent an expedition to ireland under his general berht, which seems to have been unsuccessful. in 685, against the advice of cuthbert, he led a force against the picts under his cousin burde, son of bile, was lured by a feigned flight into their mountain fastnesses, and slain at nechtanesmere (now dunnichen) in forfarshire. bede dates the beginning of the decline of northumbria from his death. he was succeeded by his brother aldfrith. see eddius, _vita wilfridi_ (raine, _historians of church of york_, rolls, series, london, 1879-1894), 19, 20, 24, 34, 39, 44; bede, _hist. eccl._ (plummer, oxford, 1896), iii. 24, iv. 5, 12, 13, 18, 19, 21, 26.