160

OSGEARN

king of Mercia. He was born during the exileof his sire, and was baptized with his father atYork on Easter day, 627 (Beda, ii. 14). He wasa valorous soldier, and was slain with Edwinat Haethfelth in 633 (Id. ii. 20 ; S. C. 22, 45).

[J. R.]

OSGEARN (Osgeofu, Osgifu, Osgiva),^daughter of Oswulf, king of Northumbria inA.D. 758-9. In 768 she married Alchred, kingof Northumbria (Symeon, HB. sub anno).There is a letter from Alchred and Osgiva hisqueen to Lullus, preserved among the letters ofBoniface (ed. Giles, 211-12). It is chiefly toask his prayers for themselves and their friends,whose names they send, and to offer to him as agift “ duodecim sagos cum annulo aureo majori.”Dr. Giles erroneously ascribes this letter to theyear 758. There is nothing farther known ofOsgearn. [J* R>]

OSHERE, king, viceroy, or ealdormau of theHwiccii. He first appears in history as grantingland at Ripple to Frithowald in 680, and in thecharter terms himself king, although actingunder the authority of Ethelred, king of Mercia(Kemble, C . D. 17). This charter is regarded asspurious, but in another (ib. No. 36), which haspossibly a greater claim to authenticity, he againas king bestows lands at Penitanham for amonastery for Cutswitha. He also inducedEthelred to assent to a grant to Abbess Dunnaat Withington, which many years after was con-firmed by archbishop Nothelm (K. C. D. No. 82,83). Little can be even conjectured of his his-tory ; he may have been a son of Oswald thebrother of Osric [Osric, Oswald], and have suc-ceeded father or uncle in the viceroyalty, in orabout 693. Between 704 and 709, we find theHwiccii under the rule of Ethelhard and Ethel-ward (K. C. D. No. 55), who attest charters inconjunction with Ethelmund, Ethelric, andEthelbert. Of these Ethelward (K. C. D. No. 56)and Ethelric (K. C. J). No. 57,83) are called sonsof Oshere, but they do not assume the royal title.A person of this name is mentioned by the ladyEgburg in a letter to St. Boniface between theyears 716 and 722, as her brother and as sometime dead (Mon. Mag. pp. 63 and 64). If thisOshere could be identified with the king of theHwiccii, Egburg might be the second abbess ofGloucester, who is called, however, the sister ofKyneburga and so of Osric. [EGBURGA, Ead-burga (4)] Mon. Angl. i. 542. [S.]

OSITHA, saint. [Osyth.]

OSIUS, of Cordova. [Hosius.]

OSLAC, one of the younger sons of Ethel-frith, king of Northumbria (a.d. 593-617), andAcha, sister of Edwin. During the reign ofEdwin, Oslac and his brothers were exiles inScotland and embraced Christianity at Iona.They returned to Northumbria on Edwin’sdeath. (Symeon, ed. Surtees Soc. 209, 218 ;Beda, iii. 3 ; Vita S. Columbie , i. 114; S. C. 2043.) [J. R.] ’

OSLAF (Oslap), called in another place Osa,was a younger son of Ethelfrith and Acha, kingand qu een of Northumbria. When Edwin becameking in A.D. 617, Oslaf and his brothers tookwfuge in Scotland and remained there during

OSMUND

Surtees Soc. 209, 218; Beda, iii. 3- 71 *Columbae , i. 113 ; S. C. 20, 43.) * (J R]

OSLAYA, the wife of Eomenred, son ofEadbald, kmg of Kent, and mother of the martyrs Ethelbert and Ethelred, and of the saintsEormenberga, Eormenburga, Kormengitha aoHEtheldntha. She is called by Florence of Wor-cester, in the appendix to the Chronicle “rerina”(Mon. Hist Brit. p. 635) and “reginula” (ibp. 627, note), which, as her husband° is by thatauthor termed “regulus,” may show that heexercised a delegated authority over part ofKent during the reign of his father or brotherNothing is known of Oslava’s extraction or his^tory besides, but, if her title of “ regina ” repre-sents any dignity not derived from her husband,it is possible that she was the head of one of the*minor Kentish principalities which, althoughunited for two or three generations under Ethel-bert and his successors, are traceable in the laterdisorganisation of the kingdom of Kent. (SeeKent, Kings of.) m

OSMUND (1), the fourteenth bishop ofLondon (Mon. Hist. Brit. p. 617; W. Malmesb.(?. P. § 73). Nothing but his name and placein the list of bishops is known of him. Hi8predecessor Heathobert is mentioned by Simeonof Durham (Mon. Hist. Brit. p. 672) as dying inthe year 801. Osmund was then probably con-secrated in 801 or 802 by Ethelheard, who hadretained jurisdiction over the diocese of London,and who returned from Rome with restoredauthority early in 802. Osmund attended thecouncil held at Clovesho in October, 803, inwhich the restoration of the provincial jurisdic-diction to Canterbury was recognised, and someother measures taken; his name appears in thelist of clergy approving the act which forbadethe election of laymen as lords of monasteries(K. C. D. 1024), and is attached to that by whichthe dignity of Canterbury was restored (K. C.D.185); as also to a Worcester charter of the samedate (K. C. D. 183 ; Councils , &c., Haddan andStubbs, iii. 542, 54*4-547). On this occasionOsmund, who subscribes as “Ego Osmund Lun-donensis civitatis episcopus,” was attended byone priest abbat, Heahstan; three priests, Wig-hard, Tidhun, and Freothered; and Ethelhelm,who is not further described. Osmund waspresent at a synod at Acleah in 805, in which itis possible that archbishop Wulfred was electedor consecrated (Haddan and Stubbs, iii. 558).After that year we lose sight of him ; his suc-cessor Ethelnoth appearing in 811. (See Kemble,as above.) [®*J

OSMUND (2), the fourth of the seven ficti-tious priors of Westminster, who are said, bySporley, who wrote the history of the abbey wthe 15th century, to have governed between thedeath of Ordbriht, the first abbat in 616, andt eappointment of the second abbat Ordbriht, m785. Osmund is said to have beentwenty-one years, and to have died in ' *Sporley may have used an earlier account, 11the whole is fabulous, and belongs to a classfiction which affords no instruction even in the! exploratiou (Monasticon Anglicanum , i. 266). P'1