Ricsige of Northumbria

Who is Ricsige of Northumbria?

Ricsige was king of Northumbria from 872 or 873 to 876. He became king after Ecgberht I was overthrown and fled, with Wulfhere, Archbishop of York, to Mercia.

Ricsige appears not to have been the nominee or client of the Vikings of the Great Heathen Army, and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that the Great Army came north in 873 or 874. Halfdan Ragnarsson appears to have retaken southern Northumbria for the Danes, corresponding with the old Kingdom of Deira, or the Viking kingdom of Jórvík, between the Humber and the Tees.

Ricsige or his successor Ecgberht II remained in control of Bernicia, between the Tees and the Forth. Roger of Wendover reports that Ricsige died of a broken heart after the partition. He was followed by Ecgberht II in Bernicia.