a, extended from the
Tees to the Humber, and the Northern, or Bernicia, reached from the Tees
to the Firth of Forth. The province of Bernicia was settled about A.D.
547 by Ida, a chief of the Angles, who made his headquarters on a steep
rock on the sea-coast about sixteen miles south of Berwick. He was
succeeded by his son Ethelric, who built himself a stronghold, which he
named after his wife Bebbanburgh, a name still retained in a shortened
form--Bamburgh. Ethelric was followed by Ella, whose son Edwin was
driven into exile by his fierce brother-in-law, Ethelfrith, and took
possession of Deira, the southern province of Northumbria. After
attaining his majority, Edwin, assisted by Redwald, regained his
kingdom, and eventually ruled over the whole of Northumbria; it is
during his reign that we find the first authentic history of
Christianity in the north. Edwin married Ethelburga, a daughter of
Ethelbert, king of Kent, who had been converted to Christianity by the
preaching of S. Augustine. He himself received baptism at the hands of
Paulinus (625-633), the great Roman missionary, who was sent north with
the Princess Ethelburga. Paulinus fixed his headquarters at York, where
he built his church, the forerunner of the present cathedral. This
attempt of the Romans to christianise Northumbria was, however, of short
duration. Cadwalla and Penda rose against them, and Edwin fell in battle
at Hatfield Moor in Yorkshire. Paulinus, despairing of the cause,
returned to Kent with the queen-widow Ethelburga and her children; and
under Cadwalla and Penda, the kingdom soon relapsed into Paganism.

We must now direct our attention to a small, barren island on the west
coast of Scotland, Iona. Here came a voluntary exile (A.D. 563),
Columba, a monk, said to have been a descendant of the Irish kings. Here
he lived and founded a great missionary monastery, which afterwards
became the centre of Christian influence in Scotland and the north of
England. He and his followers were active workers; they wrote Gospels
and devotional books, preached, and built churches of wood. Columba died
(A.D. 597), but his work was continued.

In 634, Oswald, a son of Ethelfrith, became king of Northumbria. In his
youth he, with his brothers, had been obliged to flee to Scotland,
where, during his exile, Oswald was converted to Christianity by the
teachers of Iona. On his return he defeated and killed Cadwalla at
Hevenfeld, or Heavenfield, near Hexham, in 6