Is Uhtred of Bebbanburg Based On A Real-Life Person?

Season 5 of The Last Kingdom is streaming on Netflix now and, after two years of waiting, fans are reunited with Uhtred of Bebbanburg. Played by American Horror Story star Alexander Dreymon, Uhtred is forced to reckon with his past and fight for the future of the land in Season 5.

Is Uhtred of Bebbanburg based on a real person? Newsweek has everything you need to know.

Who Is Uhtred of Bebbanburg and Is He Based On A Real Person?

The Uhtred of Bebbanburg audiences know so well from The Last Kingdom, is not a real historical figure. He is one of the few characters in the show to be fictional, created by The Saxon Stories author Bernard Cornwell.

Uhtred of Bebbanburg is loosely based on Uhtred the Bold, an ealdorman of all Northumbria from 1006 to 1016.

Cornwell was inspired to write the novels after he discovered he was a descendant of the real-life Uhtred the Bold.

However, the Uhtred in The Last Kingdom and Cornwell's The Saxon Stories and the real Uhtred of the Bold lived in entirely different centuries. The Last Kingdom's Uhtred lived in the 9th century, whereas the real Uhtred lived in the 10th century.

This also means Uhtred's alliance with Alfred the Great, King of the Anglo-Saxons (played by David Dawson), is entirely fictional.

Uhtred the Bold was the son of Waltheof I, ealdorman of Bamburgh, whose family had ruled from the castle of Bamburgh on the Northumbrian coast. In The Last Kingdom, Bamburgh Castle is known as Bebbanburg Castle.

Similar to Uhtred in The Last Kingdom Season 1, the real Uhtred did raise an army from Bernicia and Yorkshire against the Scots and lined their severed heads on poles along the walls of Durham.

For his victory, the real Uhtred was rewarded by King Ethelred II with the ealdormanry of Bamburgh and he was later appointed ealdorman of York, uniting northern and southern Northumbria under the house of Bamburgh, consolidating Anglo-Saxon power.

When King Swyen Forkbeard of Denmark invaded England, Uhtred surrendered to him alongside all of the Danes in the North. Sweyn was accepted as King of the English in December 1013.

Following Sweyn's death in January 1014, Ethelred returned from exile in Normandy and resumed his reign as King of the English, with Uhtred transferring his allegiance back to Ethelred.

After Ethelred's return, Uhtred married Ethelred's daughter, Aelfgifu.

The real Uhtred was killed in 1016 shortly after Sweyn's son, Cnut (Magnus Bruun) invaded Yorkshire and became King of England.

On the way to a meeting with the new King, Uhtred and his men were ambushed and killed.

In The Last Kingdom, Uhtred originally name Osbert, is the second son of English Ealdorman, Uhtred, Lord of Bebbanburg in the Kingdom of Northumbria. Following the death of his older brother, Osbert was re-baptized as Uhtred and became the new heir of Bebbanburg.

He was raised by Anglo-Saxons and later the Vikings after Ragnar defeated his father. Despite his loyalty to the Danes, in his adult years, Uhtred has fought to reclaim his home of Bebbanburg.

The real Uhtred was not raised by Danes and did not fight with them.

Across five seasons, audiences have watched as Uhtred's loyalties be tested, and by Season 5, Uhtred is working closely with King Edward's son Athelstan (Harry Gilby) in a bid to secure, not only the future of Bebbanburg but the future of England itself.

Season 5 of The Last Kingdom is based on the ninth and 10th books in Bernard Cornwell's The Saxon Stories, Warriors of the Storm, and The Flame Bearer, respectively.

The Last Kingdom Season 5 is streaming on Netflix now.