CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Acha of Deira

Deiran princess, wife of Æthelfrith of Bernicia

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 16, 2026
Entity authorityQ9138811 ↗
Source-derived summary

Acha of Deira was a princess of Deira, and the daughter of Ælla of Deira. Her brother was Edwin of Northumbria, and her grandfather was Yffe but apart from him, her earlier origin is unknown.

Biography

Acha married Æthelfrith, king of Bernicia. He may have married her prior to taking power in Deira, in which case the marriage may have facilitated it, or he may have done so afterwards in order to consolidate his position there.

They had eight children:

Eanfrith of Bernicia (590–634 AD)

Oswald of Northumbria (c. 604–5 August 642 AD)

Oswiu of Northumbria (c.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Acha of Deira” as deiran princess, wife of Æthelfrith of Bernicia. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current 97-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The authority record carries competing date values—0501-01-01, 0600—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. The account is most persuasive where Acha, Deira and Deiran can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as deiran princess, wife of Æthelfrith of Bernicia. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q9138811. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Acha of Deira”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Acha of Deira primary sources, Acha of Deira archive and Acha research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Acha of Deira”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Acha of Deira” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.