Ælla of Deira

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that Ælla became king in 560.Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, s.a. 560 Anachronistically, the name of his kingdom is given as Northumbria, but the region was actually split between Deira and Bernicia at the time. Ælla's kingdom is identified by Bede as Deira - the use of Northumbria could be based on a tradition whereby the most powerful Anglian king in the region would claim that title.Venning Ælla was almost certainly a pagan - when Pope Gregory the Great encountered two pale-skinned English boys (Deirans) at a slave market in Rome he is said to have remarked that they were "not Angles, but angels, if they were Christian". (Non Angli, sed angeli, si forent Christiani.)Zuckermann, Ghil'ad (2003), Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew. Palgrave Macmillan. {{ISBN|9781403917232}} / {{ISBN|9781403938695}} [http://www.palgrave.com/br/book/9781403917232]{{rp|117}} and upon learning that the king of Deira was Ælla he said "Alleluia should be sung in that land".Cramp{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Ella |display=Ella s.v. Ella (d. 588) |volume=9 |page=288}}

There is some confusion regarding the time and manner of Ælla's death. The Chronicle reports that he "passed away" in 588, although a later source expands and says that he was killed by Æthelfrith, son of Æthelric, the former king of Bernicia. This account is contradicted by Bede, who says that Ælla was still king in 597 when Augustine of Canterbury came to Britain. In either case, after Ælla's death his family were forced to flee as the rulers of Bernicia seized control of the kingdom.

The Chronicle gives Ælla's father as Yffe, and gives a genealogy going back to Woden.Cannon and Hargreaves, p. 33; Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, s.a. 560 Two children of Ælla are identifiable from historical records - Edwin and Acha. Edwin went into exile upon his father's death but eventually became king of both Deira and Bernicia. Acha similarly went into exile, and she eventually married Æthelfrith of Bernicia. Ælla had at least one brother, Ælfric, and his successor as king, Æthelric, is variously identified as another brother or a son.Kirby, p. 57; Venning

Citations

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• {{cite book |year=1861 |editor-last=Thorpe |editor-first=B |editor-link=Benjamin Thorpe |title=The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle |url=https://archive.org/details/anglosaxonchroni01thor |series=Rerum Britannicarum Medii Ævi Scriptores |volume= 1 |publisher=Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts |publication-place=London |ref=ASC }} Accessed via Internet Archive.

• {{cite book|last1=Cannon|first1=John|last2=Hargreaves|first2=Anne|title=The Kings and Queens of Britain|url=https://archive.org/details/kingsqueensofbri0000cann|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/kingsqueensofbri0000cann/page/65 65]|date=26 March 2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-158028-4|ref=Cannon&Hargreaves}}
• {{cite ODNB |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/199|title=Ælla (d. in or after 597?) |last=Cramp |first=Rosemary |authorlink=Rosemary Cramp |year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/199 |access-date=22 May 2018|ref=Cramp}} Subscription or [http://www.oup.com/oxforddnb/info/freeodnb/libraries/ UK public library membership] required.
• {{cite book|last=Kirby|first=D. P.|title=The Earliest English Kings|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wCQqKQIrSYUC&pg=PA57|year=2000|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-24211-0|ref=Kirby}}
• {{Cite book|title=The Kings & Queens of Anglo-Saxon England|last=Venning|first=Timothy|date=2013-06-19|publisher=Amberley|isbn=9781445608976|language=en|ref=Venning}}

• {{PASE|12172|Ælle 2}}

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{{s-ttl|title=King of Deira|years=c. 560–unknown}}

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{{Northumbrian monarchs}}

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Category:Deiran monarchs

Category:6th-century English monarchs

Category:Year of birth unknown