Copsi

Copsi, also recorded as Copsig, was a Northumbrian magnate who had served Tostig Godwinson before the Norman Conquest. After Tostig’s exile he remained associated with his former lord and survived the failed invasion of 1066.

In 1067 Copsi submitted to William the Conqueror and was appointed Earl of Northumbria. Copsi’s five-week earldom illustrates how weak Norman authority remained in Northumbria during the first year after the conquest. Copsi died in Newburn-upon-Tyne.

In Paul Bernardi’s Blood Feud, William the Conqueror has appointed Copsi as earl in the north, and Oslac’s kinsman Osulf of Bamburgh calls his men to resist a ruler many Northumbrians regard as an outsider imposed by the Norman king.