Battle of Hatfield Chase

Battle of Hatfield Chase

Depiction of Edwin at St Mary, Sledmere, Yorkshire.
Date12 October 633 AD
Location
Result Gwynedd-Mercian victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Gwynedd
Kingdom of Mercia
Kingdom of Elmet
Kingdom of Northumbria
Kingdom of Bernicia
Kingdom of Deira
Commanders and leaders
Cadwallon ap Cadfan
Penda
Eowa ?
Edwin 
Osfrith 
Eadfrith (captured)
Strength
1,800 3,000
Casualties and losses
700 killed or wounded 2,000 killed

The Battle of Hatfield Chase (Old English: Hæðfeld; Old Welsh: Meigen) was fought on 12 October 633[1] It pitted the Northumbrians against an alliance of Gwynedd and Mercia. The Northumbrians were led by Edwin and the Gwynedd-Mercian alliance was led by Cadwallon ap Cadfan and Penda. The site of the battle was a marshy area about 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Doncaster on the south bank of the River Don, though this location has been disputed.[dubiousdiscuss] It was a decisive victory for Gwynedd and the Mercians: Edwin was killed and his army defeated, leading to the temporary collapse of Northumbria.

  1. ^ Bede gives the date as 12 October in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People (book II, chapter 20), but the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle gives the date as 14 October. Bede also gives the year as 633; however, a question about what Bede considered the starting point of the years as he used them has raised the possibility that the battle may have actually taken place in 632.