
Ida "the Flame-Bearer" of Bernicia (505-559) was King of Bernicia from 547 to 559, preceding Glappa. A leader of the Germanic Angles, he defeated King Morcant Bulc of Bryneich and conquered the Brittonic kingdom, renaming it to Bernicia.
Biography[]
Ida was the son of Eoppa and a member of the Anglian Ingving clan. In the early 500s, he took part in the Anglian invasion of northern England, fighting against an alliance of the Briton kings of Gododdin, Bryneich, Rheged, Alt Clut, and Elmet. King Urien of Rheged nearly drove the Anglians from Britannia, but King Morcant Bulc of Bryneich assassinated Urien out of jealousy, allowing for Ida to swiftly recapture all of the lost territories and conquer Bryneich in 547, founding the anglicized kingdom of Bernicia in its place. One day, Ida and his hungry men came ashore in Northumberland to attack the Briton castle of Bebbanburg atop a high rock. His men were hurled back by the Britons three times, and their dead lay thick on the slope as they huddled on the beach, taunted by their enemies. At night, trapped between the fortress and a stormy sea, Ida chose to die by fire, burning his ships and making flames by the water. He then seized a fiery length of wood and charged alone, flinging himself on the wall and thrusting flame onto his enemy's faces. Ida was nicknamed "the Flame Bearer", as he took the fortress while on fire. At Bebbanburg, Ida established a long line of kings and nobles which would later include the Viking Age warrior Uhtred of Bebbanburg. He died in 559 and was succeeded by his son, Glappa of Bernicia.