Oslac of York
Oslac ealdorman (or earl) of York from around 963 to 975. His territory included but may not have been limited to the southern half of Northumbria. His background is obscure because of poor source documentation. The latter has facilitated disagreement amongst historians regarding his family and ethnicity.
He may have been the first ealdorman of southern—as opposed to a united—Northumbria, though an alternative tradition puts the division of Northumbria into two ealdormanries after his death. Little is known of his career as ealdorman, except for a legend that he escorted the Scottish king Kenneth II to the English royal court, and that he was expelled from England in 975. His life is unattested after this. He had one known son, but it is not clear if that son ever succeeded him.
Origins
Oslac's origins are unclear and no specific relationship with any previous known figure can be established from available sources. Oslac's name suggests to some historians that he was a
On the other hand Oslac is also a genuine English name, and the common Os element Oslac's name shared with the name of
Accession
Oslac attested three charters as earl in 963, all relating to the northern Danelaw.
Division of Northumbria
According to John of Wallingford, King Edgar made this division during a council at York, in order to prevent the whole area becoming the inheritance of one man.[9] The Historia Regum claims that such a division took place not in Oslac's time but Osulf's, and that the division line was the River Tyne rather than Tees; historian Dorothy Whitelock considered this to be apocryphal.[10]
Career
Oslac frequently attested charters of King
De primo Saxonum adventu claims that Oslac, along with
The two earls [Oslac and Eadwulf] along with Ælfsige, who was bishop of St Cuthbert [968—90], conducted Cinaed to king Edgar. And when he had done homage to him, king Edgar gave him Lothian; and with great honour sent him back to his own.[12]
This must have occurred — if it happened at all — between 968 and 975, i.e. between Ælfsige becoming bishop and Edgar dying.[13] Richard Fletcher dated it to 973.[14]
The historian
Downfall and legacy
In 975, not long after the death of King Edgar, Oslac was banished from England. No reason is given by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle's report of his expulsion.[16] Version C of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describes the events thus:
The valiant Oslac was driven from the country, over the tossing waves, the gannet's bath, the tumult of the waters, the homeland of the whale; a grey-haired man, wise and skilled in speech, he was bereft of his lands[17]
The historian Richard Fletcher guesses that Oslac's downfall may have been the result of opposing the succession of Edward the Martyr.[18]
Oslac is said by the
The
Notes
- ^ Whitelock, "Dealings of the Kings", p. 79
- ^ Whitelock, Dealings of the Kings, pp. 78—9; Williams, Smyth and Kirby, Biographical Dictionary, s.v. "Oslac ealdorman 963—75", p. 194
- ^ Fletcher, Bloodfeud, p. 44
- ^ Hart, Oslac
- ^ Fletcher, Bloodfeud, p. 44; Rollason, Northumbria, pp. 266—7
- ^ Whitelock, "Dealings of the Kings", p. 78
- ^ William, Smyth & Kirby, Biographical Dictionary, s.v. "Oslac, ealdorman 963—75", p. 194
- ^ Whitelock, "Dealings of the Kings", p. 77; Woolf, Pictland to Alba, p. 211; Arnold (ed.), Symeonis Monachi Opera Omnia, vol. ii, p. 382; Anderson, Scottish Annals, p. 77
- ^ Whitelock, "Dealings of the Kings", p. 77
- ^ Whitelock, "Dealings of the Kings", pp. 77—8
- ^ Fletcher, Bloodfeud, p. 44; "Oslac 7". Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England.
- ^ Trans. Woolf, Pictland to Alba, p. 211; Latin text printed in Arnold (ed.), Symeonis Monachi Opera Omnia, vol. ii, p. 382
- ^ a b Woolf, Pictland to Alba, p. 211
- ^ Fletcher, Bloodfeud, p. 56
- ^ Barrow, "Anglo-Scottish Border", pp. 121—5
- ^ ASC MS D, E, s.a. 975; "Oslac 7". Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England.
- ^ ASC MS C, s.a. 975 (c/f ASC MS B s.a. 975), translated Fletcher, Bloodfeud, p. 44; see also William, Smyth & Kirby, Biographical Dictionary, s.v. "Oslac, ealdorman 963—75", p. 194
- ^ Fletcher, Bloodfeud, p. 45
- ^ Fletcher, Bloodfeud, pp. 70—1; Whitelock, "Dealings of the Kings", pp. 77—8
- ^ Fletcher, Bloodfeud, p. 71; Whitelock, "Dealings of the Kings", pp. 77—8; Woolf, Pictland to Alba, p. 211; but compare Williams, Smyth and Kirby, Biographical Dictionary, s.v. "Oslac ealdorman 963—75", p. 194
- ^ Gesta Herwardi Chapter 2 "... et mater Aediva trinepta Oslaci ducis ..."
References
- ISBN 1-871615-45-3
- Arnold, Thomas, ed. (1882–85), Symeonis Monachi Opera Omnia, Rerum Britannicarum Medii Ævi Scriptores, or, Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the Middle Ages; vol. 75 (2 vols.), London: Longman
- Fletcher, Richard (2003), Bloodfeud: Murder and Revenge in Anglo-Saxon England, London: Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-028692-6
- Hart, Cyril (2004). "Oslac (fl. 963–975)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/20898. (subscription or UK public library membershiprequired)
- ISBN 0-7099-0040-6
- ISBN 0-521-04102-3
- Seebohm, Frederic (1902), Tribal Custom in Anglo-Saxon Law : Being an Essay Supplemental to: (1) The English Village Community, (2) The Tribal System in Wales, London: Longmans, Green & Co.
- Whitelock, Dorothy (1959), "The Dealings of the Kings of England with Northumbria", in Clemoes, Peter (ed.), The Anglo-Saxons: Studies in some Aspects of their History and Culture presented to Bruce Dickins, London: Bowes & Bowes, pp. 70–88
- ISBN 1-85264-047-2
- ISBN 978-0-7486-1234-5
External links