Philip Dunshea, 'The Road to Winwæd? Please take a moment to review my edit. The Battle of the Winwaed (Welsh: Maes Gai; Medieval Latin: Strages Gai Campi[1]) was fought on 15 November 655[notes 1] between King Penda of Mercia and Oswiu of Bernicia, ending in the Mercians' defeat and Penda's death. During the 20th Century, the name has been transferred to both a train station (now closed) and a street. Despite any resurgence of Northumbrian dominance after Heavenfield, it seems that at some stage between 633 and 642 Penda managed to establish hegemony over the East Angles, a region with strong associations with Northumbria from the time of Edwin’s coronation. Bede indicates that Penda led raids into Northumbria numerous times throughout the years 650 – 651. Although the battle is said to be the most important between the early northern and southern divisions of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain, few details are available. The side bar shows a flag of Mercia that looks like a variation on St. Andrew's cross. The Brythonic name for this battle has been Maes Cai (tr: The Field of Cai), Cai being named as one of Arthur's henchmen. The next key event, however, was Penda’s victory at the Battle of Maserfield in 642, in which Penda emphatically ended any question of his dominance over Oswald by leaving the Northumbrian king’s body dismembered on the battle field. ( Log Out /  Several events led to the battle of the Winwaed. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Mirroring major changes in the English language, the battle has been given a variety of names during Possibly it was a tributary of the Humber. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. You could also do it yourself at any point in time. [6] Penda had continued in his traditional paganism despite the widespread conversions of Anglo-Saxon monarchs to Christianity, and a number of Christian kings had suffered death in defeat against him; after Penda's death, Mercia was converted, and all the kings who ruled thereafter (including Penda's sons Peada, Wulfhere and Æthelred) were Christian. Iedeu appears as a historic name for Jedburgh, also located in the north of the kingdom. Only a year later, King Oswald of Bernicia defeated Penda’s Welsh allies at the Battle of Heavenfield and parlayed that success into once more unifying Northumbria. That's a disambiguation page. If you’ve been inspired to don your mail and take up your shield, the best place to start is with the fantastic Shieldwall supplement! Thus, Northumbria once more took the ascendency, and there is little question the Oswiu enjoyed his success. [16], Penda, after gathering allies from East Anglia and Wales, marched with a force led by "thirty warlords". King Oswald of Northumbria was considered the bretwalda or overlord over the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in England. Leeds, which I grew up in. We are meant to be on the side of the Christian king, Oswiu of Northumbria. Another possibility is the River Went, a tributary of the River Don, situated to the north of modern-day Doncaster. Oswiu then pledged his daughter to ‘[God’s] service in perpetual virginity,’ and gave twelve grants of land to establish monasteries. According to the Historia Brittonum, Penda's ally Cadafael ap Cynfeddw of Gwynedd (thereafter remembered as Cadomedd, "battle-shirker") abandoned him,[21] along with his army, and Bede says that Aethelwald of Deira withdrew from the battle to await the outcome from a place of safety. The origins of the conflict derive from the transition of  political and military supremacy from Northumbria to Mercia. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section. Bede indicates that Penda, bent on destruction, refused the offer of treasure, while the Historia states that Penda took the treasure and distributed it among his allies. He mentions Uinued; today's translation would be gwyned - very similar to Gwynedd! Northumbrian authority over Mercia was overthrown within a few years, however. [11] Also killed with Penda was king Aethelhere of East Anglia. The Battle of the Winwaed (Welsh: Cai) was fought on 15 November 655 between the forces of Kings Penda of Mercia and Oswiu of Bernicia. information or comments about these pages, please contact me. Edwin grew in power and converted to Christianity, being numbered among the bretwaldas by the Chronicles, a designation derived from Bede that acknowledged a degree of ‘overlordship’ or recognised dominance among the English kingdoms. Significantly, the battle marked the effective demise of Anglo-Saxon paganism; Charles Plummer, in 1896, described it as "decisive as to the religious destiny of the English". Whatever the case, battle was still joined at Winwæd – likely an unidentified river crossing, a suggestion borne out by Bede’s statement that as many men died by drowning as by violence in battle. There is reason to believe it may have been the river now known as Cock Beck in the ancient kingdom of Elmet, which passes Pendas Fields, Leeds, before joining the River Wharfe (which eventually feeds into the Hu… [19], From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Penda was not a conqueror. With Northumbria in disarray, an earlier victory over the Hwicce granting him control over their kingdom (think Gloucestershire and Worcestershire), and a firm alliance with the Britons of Gwynedd, Penda was ascendant. refer to "Winwaed", "Winwade", "Wunued", and "Wingfield".