kingdom · British Isles

Kingdom of Lindsey

500 CE – 800 CE (approx.) · capital Lincoln

A small Anglian kingdom in north Lincolnshire centred on Roman Lincoln, briefly fought over by Northumbria and Mercia before Mercian absorption.

Origins

Lindsey took its name from the Roman Lindum (Lincoln), and Anglian settlers established a kingdom there in the late 5th or 6th century. A list of its kings survives in a collection of royal genealogies, tracing them to Woden, ending with Aldfrith in the late 8th century.

Rule and society

The kingdom lay between the Humber and the Witham, bounded by fen and sea, and was too small to stand alone. Paulinus preached at Lincoln around 628 under Northumbrian protection, building a stone church. A separate bishopric of Lindsey was founded in 678.

Decline and legacy

Northumbria and Mercia contested Lindsey until the Battle of the Trent in 679 left it permanently Mercian. Its kings faded into dependent rulers and disappeared by about 800. The district was later settled by Danes and formed part of Lincolnshire.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

Kingdom of LindseyKingdom of Mercia 527 CE – 918 CE

Connections (1)

More states of British Isles →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kingdom of Lindsey. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-lindsey
MLA
“Kingdom of Lindsey.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-lindsey. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Kingdom of Lindsey.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-lindsey.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kingdom of Lindsey’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-lindsey (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻