Cospatrick of Northumbria
Cospatrick or Gospatric, son of Maldred and thus a cousin of Earl Osulf of Northumbria, was very briefly his cousin's successor in that earldom from 1067 until his deposition in 1068.
Before the Norman Conquest, he accompanied Tostig Godwinson on a pilgrimage to Rome (1061); and at that time was a landholder in Cumberland.
He then bought the earldom of Northumbria from the king, William I, after his cousin's assassination, but he joined with Edgar the Aetheling in opposing William the next year and was thus deposed. He fled to Scotland, where he had connections with the royal house.
He joined the invading army of Danes, Scots, and Englishmen under Edgar the Aetheling in the next year. Though the army was defeated, he afterwards was able, from his possession of Bamburgh castle, to make terms with the conqueror, who left him undisturbed till 1072. The peace concluded in that year with Scotland left him at William’s mercy. He lost his earldom and took refuge again in Scotland, where Malcolm Canmore seems to have provided for him.
Sources
- Freeman, E. A. Norman Conquest, vol. i. Oxford, 1877.
- Stenton, Frank M. Anglo-Saxon England Third Edition. Oxford University Press, 1971.
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
| Preceded by: Osulf II |
Earl of Northumbria, first time 1067–1068 |
Succeeded by: Robert Comine |
| Preceded by: Robert Comine |
Earl of Northumbria, second time 1069–1072 |
Succeeded by: Waltheof II |
