Bernicia

Kingdom of Bernicia
Beornice
c. 420 AD–634
Capital		Bamburgh
Languages		Old English, Cumbric
Government		Monarchy
Historical era		Early Medieval
•	Established	c. 420 AD
•	Shared crown with Deira	604
•	merged with Deira	634
Preceded by Succeeded by Sub-Roman Britain Northumbria
Today part of		United Kingdom England Scotland

Bernicia (Old English: Bernice, Beornice; Latin: Bernicia) was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England.

The Anglian territory of Bernicia was approximately equivalent to the modern English counties of Northumberland and Durham, and the Scottish counties of Berwickshire and East Lothian, stretching from the Forth to the Tees. In the early 7th century, it merged with its southern neighbour, Deira, to form the kingdom of Northumbria and its borders subsequently expanded considerably.

Bernicia occurs in Old Welsh poetry as Bryneich or Brynaich and in the 9th-century Historia Brittonum, (§ 61) as Berneich or Birneich. This was most likely the name of the native Brittonic kingdom, whose name was then adopted by the Anglian settlers who rendered it in Old English as Bernice or Beornice. The counter hypotheses suggesting these names represent a Welsh adaption of an earlier English form remains unsupported, as it raises more questions as to why Brythonic would need a new foreign name for the area.

Local linguistic evidence suggests continued political activity in the area before the arrival of the Angles. Important Anglian centres in Bernicia bear names of British origin, or are known by British names elsewhere: Bamburgh is called Din Guaire in the Historia Brittonum; Dunbar (where Saint Wilfrid was once imprisoned) represents Dinbaer; and the name of Coldingham is given by Bede as Coludi urbs ("town of Colud"), where Colud seems to represent the British form, possibly for the hill-fort of St Abb's Head.

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