Date 616 AD Location Chester, United Kingdom | Result Northumbrian victory | |
 | ||
Unknown Selyf ap Cynan
Iago ap Beli? Similar Battle of Hatfield Chase, Battle of Deorham, Battle of Peonnum, Battle of Catraeth, Battle of Maserfield | ||
Post game report l c bird 20 thomas dale 15 battle of chester
The Battle of Chester (Old Welsh: Guaith Caer Legion; Welsh: Brwydr Caer) was a major victory for the Anglo Saxons over the native Britons near the city of Chester, England in the early 7th century. Æthelfrith of Northumbria annihilated a combined force from the Welsh kingdoms of Powys, Rhôs (a cantref of the Kingdom of Gwynedd) and possibly Mercia. It resulted in the deaths of Welsh leaders Selyf Sarffgadau of Powys and Cadwal Crysban of Rhôs. Circumstantial evidence suggests that King Iago of Gwynedd may have also been killed.
Contents
- Post game report l c bird 20 thomas dale 15 battle of chester
- Civil war battle of chester
- Archaeology
- Significance
- References
According to Bede, a large number of monks from the monastery at Bangor on Dee who had come to witness the fight were killed on the orders of Æthelfrith before the battle. He told his warriors to massacre the clerics because although they bore no arms, they were praying for a Northumbria defeat.
The strategic significance of the battle remains unclear as Æthelfrith died in battle soon after the victory. It has been suggested that Cearl, the Anglo Saxon king of Mercia, may have also been involved and shared in the Britons' defeat because his overkingship of eastern Wales and Mercia effectively ended until the rise of his successor, Penda by 633.
Civil war battle of chester
Archaeology
Archaeological excavations at Heronbridge, just south of Chester, in 2004 uncovered post-Roman graves buried beneath a defensive earthwork over an old Roman settlement. There is evidence that they contain the bodies of casualties from the Battle of Chester.
Significance
The precise reasons for the battle are unknown but Geoffrey of Monmouth states that King Æthelfrith's political rival, Edwin of Deira, was living in exile in Gwynedd. Although Geoffrey of Monmouth is often regarded as an unreliable source, there are some supporting references to Edwin in the writings of Reginald of Durham and the Welsh Triads. However, there is no evidence that Æthelfrith was in pursuit of Edwin.
The battle's outcome was once believed to have led to the severing of the land connection between Wales and the Old North - the old northern Brythonic kingdoms of Rheged and Kingdom of Strathclyde. The Battle of Deorham is held to have separated the Welsh peninsula from the West Country (all these kingdoms covered land where Brythonic languages were spoken). However this view is now "generally understood" to be outdated as there is "almost no archaeological evidence for Anglo-Saxon settlement within the pagan period in Cheshire or Lancashire". In any case, the sea would have been the primary means of travel and trade in this period.
It also seems unlikely that Æthelfrith was protecting Anglian settlers in the area. Instead Æthelfrith may have been planning to attack Powys. The fact that he attacked the monks first, and only secondly the defending army, may perhaps be explained as a ruse to throw the defence into disarray.