Battle of Maserfield
52°51′36″N 3°03′14″W / 52.860°N 3.054°W
Battle of Maserfield | |||||||
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A twelfth-century painting of St Oswald, killed at Maserfield, in Durham Cathedral | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Kingdom of Mercia Kingdom of Gwynedd Kingdom of Powys |
Kingdom of Northumbria | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
King Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon | King Oswald † | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
2,000 Mercian forces 1,200 Powysian forces | 1,000 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
100 Mercians killed 600 Powysian fighters killed | Heavy, 800 killed |
The Battle of Maserfield, a corruption of the Welsh Maes Elferth (Elferth's field, also
Background
"Since the death of Oswald's uncle Edwin of Northumbria at Hatfield Chase in 633, the Mercians under Penda had presented an obstacle to the power of Northumbria over the lands of Britain south of the Humber. Oswald had defeated Cadwallon ap Cadfan of Gwynedd, King of the Britons (Penda's ally at Hatfield) at Heavenfield in 634, and subsequently re-established Northumbrian hegemony across much of Britain; although it is thought that Penda recognized Oswald's authority in some form after Hatfield, he may nevertheless have been hostile to Northumbrian power or at least perceived by Oswald as a threat."[2]
Location and place-names
The Battle of Maserfield was assumed for much of the twentieth century to have taken place at what is now Oswestry in Shropshire. The etymology of this name is "Oswald's Tree", while the traditional Welsh name for the same place is Croesoswald ("Oswald's Cross"); although an association with King Oswald of Northumbria is not certain, the name is popularly assumed to refer to him.[3] In the mid -seventh century, Oswestry is thought to have probably still been in the territory of Powys. If this location is correct, it would mean Oswald was in the territory of his enemies, which would suggest he was on the offensive.[4]
However, neither the Welsh nor English names for the battle site have been securely identified with modern reflexes or localised, and site of the battle is still debated among scholars;[5] in 2020, Andrew Breeze suggested Forden in Powys, particularly on the basis of place-names that seem to be associated with the battle in the Welsh Canu Heledd.[6]
The site of the battle is named Maserfelth (with the variant spelling Maserfeld) in the principal source for the battle, Bede's
The
Outbreak of war
The cause of the war that led to Maserfield is unknown. The historian Bede, writing in the next century, portrayed Oswald as a saintly figure in his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum; his desire to portray Oswald in a positive light may have led him to omit mention of Oswald's aggressive warfare. He says only that Oswald died fighting for his country at Maserfield, giving the impression that the battle was part of a "just war".[citation needed]
Penda's Welsh allies may have included
Battle
The outcome of the battle was defeat for the Northumbrians. Bede mentions the story that Oswald prayed for the souls of his soldiers when he saw that he was about to die. Oswald's body was cut into pieces, and his head and arms mounted on poles; the parts were retrieved in the next year by his brother and successor
According to the Historia Brittonum and the Annales Cambriae, Penda's brother Eowa, also said to have been a king of the Mercians, was killed in the battle along with Oswald.[14][15] The possibility exists that he was subject to Oswald and fighting in the battle as his ally. It has been suggested that Eowa was the dominant king among the Mercians for a period prior to the battle, and it has also been suggested that he had ruled the northern Mercians while Penda ruled the southern Mercians.[9][16] Since the Historia Brittonum says Penda ruled for only ten years (Bede says 22 years: 633–655), this may mean that it was dating Penda's reign from the time of his victory at Maserfield; this would make sense if Eowa's death removed an important rival to Penda, enabling him to claim or consolidate authority over all the Mercians.
Aftermath
Following the battle,
According to
Notes
- ^ Ward, Richard (2020). "The Battle of Maserfeld 5th August AD 642" (PDF). sthelens.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
- ^ Morritt, Robert D. "Historia Cymru: History of Early Wales from Prehistory". Academia. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
- ISBN 9780199609086.
- ^ Clare Stancliffe, "Where Was Oswald Killed?", in C. Stancliffe and E. Cambridge (ed.), Oswald: Northumbrian King to European Saint (1995, 1996).
- ^ Tim Clarkson, 'Oswald, King and Saint: His Britain and Beyond', The Heroic Age: A Journal of Early Medieval Northwestern Europe, 9 (2006).
- ^ ISBN 9781785272257.
- ^ "mazer, n.1.", Oxford English Dictionary Online, 3rd edn (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001).
- ^ Barrie Cox, 'The Place-Names of the Earliest English Records', Journal of the English Place-Name Society, 8 (1975–76), 12–66 (p. 24).
- ^ a b c D. P. Kirby, The Earliest English Kings (1991, 2000), pages 76–77.
- ^ Peter Berresford Ellis, Celt and Saxon: The Struggle for Britain, AD 410–937 (1993).
- ^ Bede, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, Book III, chapter 12.
- ^ Bede, H. E., Book III, chapters 9–12.
- Stopford A. Brooke, The History of Early English Literature(1905), page 118.
- ^ a b Historia Brittonum, Chapter 65.
- ^ Annales Cambriae, 644.
- ^ Nicholas Brooks, "The Formation of the Mercian Kingdom", in S. Bassett, The Origins of Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms (1989), page 166.
- ^ Frank Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England (1943, 1971, 1998 paperback), pages 81–83.
References
- Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, Book III, Chapters IX–XII.
- Llywarch Hen (attribution) (c.9th century). Canu Heledd.
- Remfry, P.M., Annales Cambriae. A Translation of Harleian 3859; PRO E.164/1; Cottonian Domitian, A 1; Exeter Cathedral Library MS. 3514 and MS Exchequer DB Neath, PRO E (ISBN 1-899376-81-X)