What is Northumbria?
{{about|the medieval English kingdom|the modern county|Northumberland}} [[File:Kingdom of Northumbria in AD 802.jpg|thumb|right|300px|{{Center|Kingdom of Northumbria in AD 802}}]] The Kingdom of '''Northumbria''' ({{lang-ang|Norþhymbra rīce}}), was a [[middle Ages|medieval]] kingdom of the [[Angles]], in what is now northern [[England]] and south-east [[Scotland]]. It later became an [[earl]]dom in the [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] [[Kingdom of England]]. The name reflects the southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the [[River Humber]]. == History == Northumbria was formed in the early [[7th century]] by [[Athelfrith of Bernicia|Athelfrith]], King of [[Bernicia]].<ref name=Higham1>N. J. Higham, ''The Kingdom of Northumbria; AD 350–1100'' (Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing, 1993), p. 1</ref> He conquered the kingdom of [[Deira]] and several [[Britain|British]] kingdoms and combined them under his rule.<ref>Barbara Yorke, ''Kings and Kingship in Early Anglo-Saxon England'' (London: Seaby, 1990), p. 77</ref> The kingdom of Northumbria also included [[Lindsey (kingdom)|Lindsey]] at times. Northumbria was a part of the [[Heptarchy]] of [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] kingdoms.<ref>D. P. Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', Second Edition (London; New York: Routledge, 2000), p. 4</ref> At its greatest the kingdom extended at least from just south of the Humber river, to the [[River Mersey]] and to the [[Firth of Forth|Forth]] (roughly, [[Sheffield]] to [[Runcorn]] to [[Edinburgh]]). The name 'Northumbria' wasn't in common use until the time of Ecgfrith, King of Northumbria.<ref name=Higham1/> The name is first used in the [[preamble]] to the council of Hatfield (680).<ref name=Higham1/> Ecgfrith was described as king of the Humberfolk'. After the loss of [[Lindsey (kingdom)]] which was south of the [[River Humber]], the name became Northumbria in [[Latin language|Latin]] is ''Northanhymbrenis.'' It comes from the [[Old English]] ''be northan Hymbre'' meaning 'to the north of the Humber'.<ref>John Marsden