by AEthelfrith of Bernicia
(probably 605), Edwin was expelled and is said to have taken refuge with
Cadfan, king of Gwynedd. After the battle of Chester, in which
AEthelfrith defeated the Welsh, Edwin fled to Roedwald, the powerful
king of East Anglia, who after some wavering espoused his cause and
defeated and slew AEthelfrith at the river Idle in 617. Edwin thereupon
succeeded to the Northumbrian throne, driving out the sons of
AEthelfrith. There is little evidence of external activity on the part of
Edwin before 625. It is probable that the conquest of the Celtic kingdom
of Elmet, a district in the neighbourhood of the modern Leeds, ruled
over by a king named Cerdic (Ceredig) is to be referred to this period,
and this may have led to the later quarrel with Cadwallon, king of
Gwynedd. Edwin seems also to have annexed Lindsey to his kingdom by 625.
In this year he entered upon negotiations with Eadbald of Kent for a
marriage with his sister AEthelberg. It was made a condition that
Christianity should be tolerated in Northumbria, and accordingly
Paulinus was consecrated bishop by Justus in 625, and was sent to
Northumbria with AEthelberg. According to Bede, Edwin was favourably
disposed towards Christianity owing to a vision he had seen at the court
of Roedwald, and in 626 he allowed Eanfled, his daughter by AEthelberg,
to be baptized. On the day of the birth of his daughter, the king's life
had been attempted by Eomer, an emissary of Cwichelm, king of Wessex.
Preserved by the devotion of his thegn Lilla, Edwin vowed to become a
Christian if victorious over his treacherous enemy. He was successful in
the ensuing campaign, and abstained from the worship of the gods of his
race. A letter of Pope Boniface helped to decide him, and after
consulting his friends and counsellors, of whom the priest Coifi
afterwards took a prominent part in destroying the temple at Goodmanham,
he was baptized with his people and nobles at York, at Easter 627. In
this town he granted Paulinus a see, built a wooden church and began one
of stone. Besides York, Yeavering and Maelmin in Bernicia, and Catterick
in Deira, were the chief scenes of the work of Paulinus. It was the
influence of Edwin which led to the conversion of Eorpwald of East
Anglia. Bede notices the peaceful state of Britain at this time, and
relates that Edwin was preceded on his progresses by a kind of standard
like that borne before the Roman emperors. In 633 Cadwallon of North
W