Death
In 685, against the advice of Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, Ecgfrith led a force against the Verturian Picts, who were led by his cousin Bridei mac Bili. The Northumbrians were lured by a feigned flight in the mountains and Ecgfrith was then slain at the Battle of Dun Nechtain (located at either Dunnichen in Angus or Dunachton in Badenoch). This defeat severely weakened Northumbrian power in the north and Bede dates the beginning of the decline of the kingdom of Northumbria from Ecgfrith's death. He was succeeded by his illegitimate half-brother, Aldfrith.
Read more about this topic: Ecgfrith Of Northumbria
Famous quotes containing the word death:
“To die, to sleep—
No more, and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to—’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep.
To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there’s the rub,
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil
Must give us pause.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“How I envy you death;
what could death bring,
more black, more set with sparks
to slay, to affright,
than the memory of those first violets.”
—Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)
“The death of a dear friend, wife, brother, lover, which seemed nothing but privation, somewhat later assumes the aspect of a guide or genius; for it commonly operates revolutions in our way of life, terminates an epoch of infancy or of youth which was waiting to be closed, breaks up a wonted occupation, or a household, or style of living, and allows the formation of new ones more friendly to the growth of character.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)