The
Battle of Heavenfield was fought in
633- Europe :* Oswald of Bernicia becomes Bretwalda.* Osric becomes king of Deira.* Battle of Hatfield Chase: Penda of Mercia and Cadwallon ap Cadfan of Gwynedd defeat and kill Edwin of Northumbria.- Deaths :* October 12—Edwin, king of Northumbria and Bretwalda...
or
634- By place :* Oswald of Northumbria defeats Cadwallon ap Cadfan of Gwynedd in the Battle of Heavenfield and reunites Northumbria.- Asia :* The Rashidun Caliphate starts the Islamic conquest of the Byzantine empire....
between a
NorthumbrianNorthumbria or Northhumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now north-east England and southern Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory: the Humber...
army under
Oswald of BerniciaOswald was King of Northumbria from 634 until his death, and is now venerated as a Christian saint. He was the son of Æthelfrith of Bernicia and came to rule after spending a period in exile; after defeating the British ruler Cadwallon ap Cadfan, Oswald brought the two Northumbrian kingdoms of...
and a
WelshWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
army under Cadwallon ap Cadfan of
GwyneddGwynedd is one of several Welsh successor states that emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain. It was based on the former Brythonic tribal lands of the Ordovices, Gangani, and the Deceangli which were collectively known as Venedotia in late Romano-British documents...
. The battle resulted in a decisive Northumbrian victory. The
Annales Cambriae (Annals of Wales) record the battle as
Bellum Cantscaul in 631. Bede referred to it as the Battle of
Deniseburna near
Hefenfelth.
An alliance between Cadwallon of Gwynedd and King
Penda of MerciaPenda was a 7th-century King of Mercia, a kingdom in what is today the English Midlands. A pagan at a time when Christianity was taking hold in many of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Penda participated in the defeat of the powerful Northumbrian king Edwin at the Battle of Hatfield Chase in 633...
had led to an invasion of Northumbria.
The
Battle of Heavenfield was fought in
633- Europe :* Oswald of Bernicia becomes Bretwalda.* Osric becomes king of Deira.* Battle of Hatfield Chase: Penda of Mercia and Cadwallon ap Cadfan of Gwynedd defeat and kill Edwin of Northumbria.- Deaths :* October 12—Edwin, king of Northumbria and Bretwalda...
or
634- By place :* Oswald of Northumbria defeats Cadwallon ap Cadfan of Gwynedd in the Battle of Heavenfield and reunites Northumbria.- Asia :* The Rashidun Caliphate starts the Islamic conquest of the Byzantine empire....
between a
NorthumbrianNorthumbria or Northhumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now north-east England and southern Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory: the Humber...
army under
Oswald of BerniciaOswald was King of Northumbria from 634 until his death, and is now venerated as a Christian saint. He was the son of Æthelfrith of Bernicia and came to rule after spending a period in exile; after defeating the British ruler Cadwallon ap Cadfan, Oswald brought the two Northumbrian kingdoms of...
and a
WelshWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
army under Cadwallon ap Cadfan of
GwyneddGwynedd is one of several Welsh successor states that emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain. It was based on the former Brythonic tribal lands of the Ordovices, Gangani, and the Deceangli which were collectively known as Venedotia in late Romano-British documents...
. The battle resulted in a decisive Northumbrian victory. The
Annales Cambriae (Annals of Wales) record the battle as
Bellum Cantscaul in 631. Bede referred to it as the Battle of
Deniseburna near
Hefenfelth.
Background
An alliance between Cadwallon of Gwynedd and King
Penda of MerciaPenda was a 7th-century King of Mercia, a kingdom in what is today the English Midlands. A pagan at a time when Christianity was taking hold in many of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Penda participated in the defeat of the powerful Northumbrian king Edwin at the Battle of Hatfield Chase in 633...
had led to an invasion of Northumbria. This was a strange alliance between a Christian king of British descent and a heathen king of Saxon descent. At the
Battle of Hatfield ChaseThe Battle of Hatfield Chase was fought on October 12 633 at Hatfield Chase near Doncaster, Yorkshire, in Anglo-Saxon England between the Northumbrians under Edwin and an alliance of the Welsh of Gwynedd under Cadwallon ap Cadfan and the Mercians under Penda. The site was a marshy area about 8...
on October 12,
633- Europe :* Oswald of Bernicia becomes Bretwalda.* Osric becomes king of Deira.* Battle of Hatfield Chase: Penda of Mercia and Cadwallon ap Cadfan of Gwynedd defeat and kill Edwin of Northumbria.- Deaths :* October 12—Edwin, king of Northumbria and Bretwalda...
, the invading Welsh and
MerciansMercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
had killed Northumbrian king
EdwinSaint Edwin was the King of Deira and Bernicia - which would later become known as Northumbria - from about 616 until his death...
and Northumbria was split between its two sub-kingdoms,
BerniciaBernicia was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England....
and Deira. The kingdom was exposed to the devastation of Cadwallon's invading army.
EanfrithEanfrith was briefly King of Bernicia from 633 to 634. He was the son of Æthelfrith, a Bernician king who had also ruled Deira to the south before being killed in battle around 616 against Raedwald of East Anglia, who had given refuge to Edwin, an exiled prince of Deira.Edwin became king of...
who had been exiled under Edwin, became king of Bernicia, whilst Deira was ruled by
OsricOsric was a King of Deira in northern England. He was a cousin of king Edwin of Northumbria, being the son of Edwin's uncle Aelfric...
a cousin of Edwin. Eanfrith’s reign was short, as he was killed by Cadwallon whilst trying to negotiate peace. According to
BedeBede , also Saint Bede, the Venerable Bede, or Beda , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria.He is well known as an author and...
, Osric was killed by Cadwallon whilst trying to besiege him. Eanfrith's brother,
OswaldOswald was King of Northumbria from 634 until his death, and is now venerated as a Christian saint. He was the son of Æthelfrith of Bernicia and came to rule after spending a period in exile; after defeating the British ruler Cadwallon ap Cadfan, Oswald brought the two Northumbrian kingdoms of...
, then returned from seventeen years exile in
Dál RiataDál Riata was a Gaelic overkingdom on the western seaboard of Scotland with some territory on the northern coasts of Ireland...
to claim the crown of Northumbria. However the threat of Cadwallon remained and Oswald had to raise an army as soon as possible in order to deal with his invading force.
The battle
It appears that the Welsh army advanced northward from
YorkYork is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence....
along the line of
Dere StreetDere Street or Deere Street, was a Roman road between Eboracum and what we now call Scotland. It still exists in the form of the route of many major roads, including the A1 and A68 just north of Corbridge....
. Oswald, who may have been accompanied by a force of
ScotsThe Scots people and an ethnic group indigenous to Scotland.An ethnic group, historically they emerged from an amalgamation of Picts, Gaels and Brythons....
, took up a defensive position beside the Roman Wall, about four miles north of
HexhamHexham is a market town in Northumberland, England, located south of the River Tyne, and was the administrative centre for the Tynedale district in Northumberland from 1974–2009. Hexham is one of three major towns in Tynedale along with Prudhoe and Haltwhistle, although in terms of population,...
. It was claimed that the night before the battle, Oswald had a vision of Saint
ColumbaSaint Columba , also known as Colum Cille was an outstanding figure among the Gaelic Irish missionary monks who, some of his advocates claim, introduced Christianity to the Picts during the Early Medieval Period...
, in which the saint predicted that Oswald would be victorious. Oswald placed his army so that it was facing east, with its flanks protected by Brady’s Crag to the north and the Wall to the south. According to Bede, Oswald raised a
crossA cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run diagonally, the design is technically termed a saltire....
, and
prayedPrayer is the act of addressing a god or spirit for the purpose of worship or petition. Specific forms of this may include praise, requesting guidance or assistance, confessing sins, as an act of reparation or an expression of one's thoughts and emotions...
for victory alongside his troops.
It is believed that the Welsh had superior numbers, but they were forced to attack from the east along a narrow front, where they were hemmed in and unable to outflank the Northumbrian forces. It is not known how long the battle lasted or what the losses were, but the Welsh line finally broke. This began a headlong flight southwards by the Welsh, pursued by the vengeful Northumbrians. Many Welsh soldiers were cut down as they ran, and according to Bede, Cadwallon was caught and killed at a place called the ‘Brook of Denis’, now identified as the Rowley Burn. The battle was a decisive victory for Oswald, and it was likely that the Welsh losses must have been substantial. Afterwards, the site was known as Heavenfield (Hefenfelth).
Aftermath
After the battle, Oswald reunited Deira with Bernicia and became king of all Northumbria. Bede believed that the importance of the battle was that it restored Christianity to Northumbria. Oswald was only to spend eight years upon the Northumbrian throne before he was defeated and killed by King
Penda of MerciaPenda was a 7th-century King of Mercia, a kingdom in what is today the English Midlands. A pagan at a time when Christianity was taking hold in many of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Penda participated in the defeat of the powerful Northumbrian king Edwin at the Battle of Hatfield Chase in 633...
at the
Battle of MaserfieldThe Battle of Maserfield , Welsh: "Maes Cogwy", was fought on August 5, 641 or 642, between the Anglo-Saxon kings Oswald of Northumbria and Penda of Mercia, ending in Oswald's defeat, death, and dismemberment...
, in Shropshire. Oswald was succeeded as king of Northumbria by his brother Oswiu.
The site now
The road east of
ChollerfordChollerford is a village in Northumberland, England. It is situated approximately four miles to the north of Hexham on the B6318 road, not far from Hadrian's Wall. There is a roundabout in the village where the B6318 and B6320 roads meet, and a traffic light-controlled bridge across the River...
that runs alongside the Roman Wall (B6318) has a stone cross standing alongside it to mark site of the Battle of Heavenfield. On the hill to the north of the cross, stands a church marking the spot where Oswald was believed to have raised his battle standard.
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