Independent Northumbria is a de jure independent region in the North of England, regenerated, initially on social media, in 2019, and the Acting Witan of Northumbria is its legal and acting government, accepted as such by all its registered citizens. As free Northumbria was forcibly destroyed by the Norman conquerors after 1066 and continues to be under the illegal control of the United Kingdom, the region remains independent in law. The Acting Witan is consequently spearheading the drive to the recovery of Northumbria’s de facto independence also.
The Independent Northumbria (Oswald’s Stripes) official image
Northumbria was formed by the amalgamation of the English kingdoms of Bernicia (situated between the Rivers Tees and Forth) and Deira (located between the Humber and the Tees) in the northeast of lowland Britain in the seventh century. Northumbria expanded to the west to include all the land between the Mersey and the Solway Firth, but was involved in an epic struggle, with Viking invaders for almost a century, to retain its independence and it lost Lothian (between the Tweed and the Forth) to the Scots following its defeat at the Battle of Carham in 1018.
Map of England in 730, showing the extent of Northumbria and the locations of Bernicia and Deira
In 1066, Northumbria was one of six earldoms which comprised the non-expansionist confederation of England and essentially operated as an organic democracy. However, it was destroyed by the French-speaking Norman invaders following its conquest from the late 1060s and its people were downgraded to serfs, owned by the new foreign lords. Nevertheless, during the millennium since there have been continual attempts to throw off the Norman Yoke, in modern times that of the United Kingdom (the inheritor state of the Norman Empire, with the same illegal monarchy), and the current initiative in the region to try to achieve this is Independent Northumbria.
The origins of Independent Northumbria can be found in the creation of the Facebook group of the same name in 2019, which marked the beginning of the modern campaign for the independence of the region. By the end of 2021, the group had gained approaching 500 members.
Independent Northumbria was represented at a meeting of English Independent Regions in Birmingham on 4 January 2020, following which the region agreed to confederate with Independent Mercia under the name of Independent England .
Membership of the newly constituted, campaign co-ordinating Witan is open to all the registered citizens of Northumbria.
Under the Constitution of Northumbria, the region consists of its six historic provinces and shires, which are Cumberland, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire.
The Current Provinces and Shires (Counties) of Northumbria
