The Battle of Catraeth was fought around AD 600 between a force raised by the
Gododdin
The Gododdin () were a Brittonic people of north-eastern Britannia, the area known as the Hen Ogledd or Old North (modern south-east Scotland and north-east England), in the sub-Roman period. Descendants of the Votadini, they are best known ...
, a
Brythonic people of the ''
Hen Ogledd
Yr Hen Ogledd (), in English the Old North, is the historical region which is now Northern England and the southern Scottish Lowlands that was inhabited by the Brittonic people of sub-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages. Its population sp ...
'' or "Old North" of
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
, and the
Angles
The Angles ( ang, Ængle, ; la, Angli) were one of the main Germanic peoples who settled in Great Britain in the post-Roman period. They founded several kingdoms of the Heptarchy in Anglo-Saxon England. Their name is the root of the name ...
of
Bernicia
Bernicia ( ang, Bernice, Bryneich, Beornice; la, Bernicia) was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England.
The Anglian territory of Bernicia was ap ...
and
Deira
Deira ( ; Old Welsh/Cumbric: ''Deywr'' or ''Deifr''; ang, Derenrice or ) was an area of Post-Roman Britain, and a later Anglian kingdom.
Etymology
The name of the kingdom is of Brythonic origin, and is derived from the Proto-Celtic *''daru' ...
. It was evidently an assault by the Gododdin party on the Angle stronghold of Catraeth, perhaps
Catterick, North Yorkshire
Catterick () is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is north-west of the county town of Northallerton just to the west of ...
. The Gododdin force was said to have consisted of warriors from all over the Hen Ogledd, and even some from as far afield as
Gwynedd in
North Wales
North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...
and
Pictland
The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ear ...
. The battle was disastrous for the Britons, who were nearly all killed. The slain warriors were commemorated in the important early poem ''
Y Gododdin
''Y Gododdin'' () is a medieval Welsh poem consisting of a series of elegies to the men of the Brittonic kingdom of Gododdin and its allies who, according to the conventional interpretation, died fighting the Angles of Deira and Bernicia a ...
'', attributed to
Aneirin
Aneirin , Aneurin or Neirin was an early Medieval Brythonic war poet. He is believed to have been a bard or court poet in one of the Cumbric kingdoms of the Hen Ogledd, probably that of Gododdin at Edinburgh, in modern Scotland. From the 17th c ...
.
Battle
In his ''Canu Aneirin''
Ifor Williams
Sir Ifor Williams, (16 April 1881 – 4 November 1965) was a Welsh scholar who laid the foundations for the academic study of Old Welsh, particularly early Welsh poetry.
Early life and education
Ifor Williams was born at Pendinas, Tregarth near ...
interpreted ''mynydawc mwynvawr'' in the text of ''
Y Gododdin
''Y Gododdin'' () is a medieval Welsh poem consisting of a series of elegies to the men of the Brittonic kingdom of Gododdin and its allies who, according to the conventional interpretation, died fighting the Angles of Deira and Bernicia a ...
'' to refer to a person,
Mynyddog Mwynfawr
{{No footnotes, date=May 2022
Mynyddog Mwynfawr (variant orthographies include: Old Welsh ''Mynydawc Mwynvawr''; Middle Welsh; ''Mynyddawg Mwynfawr'') was, according to Welsh tradition founded on the early Welsh language poem ''Y Gododdin'' (attr ...
in modern Welsh. Mynyddog, in Williams' reading, was the king of the
Gododdin
The Gododdin () were a Brittonic people of north-eastern Britannia, the area known as the Hen Ogledd or Old North (modern south-east Scotland and north-east England), in the sub-Roman period. Descendants of the Votadini, they are best known ...
, with his chief seat at
Din Eidyn (modern
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
). Around the year 600 Mynyddog gathered about 300 selected warriors from across the Brythonic world. He feasted them at Din Eidyn for a year, preparing for battle, then launched an attack on ''Catraeth'', which Williams agrees with
Thomas Stephens in identifying as
Catterick in
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
, which was in
Anglo-Saxon hands. They were opposed by a larger army from the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of
Deira
Deira ( ; Old Welsh/Cumbric: ''Deywr'' or ''Deifr''; ang, Derenrice or ) was an area of Post-Roman Britain, and a later Anglian kingdom.
Etymology
The name of the kingdom is of Brythonic origin, and is derived from the Proto-Celtic *''daru' ...
and
Bernicia
Bernicia ( ang, Bernice, Bryneich, Beornice; la, Bernicia) was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England.
The Anglian territory of Bernicia was ap ...
.
In early historical times, this part of
northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
and southern
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
was the territory of the
Votadini, the ancestors of the later Gododdin. By 600 the
Angles
The Angles ( ang, Ængle, ; la, Angli) were one of the main Germanic peoples who settled in Great Britain in the post-Roman period. They founded several kingdoms of the Heptarchy in Anglo-Saxon England. Their name is the root of the name ...
had formed the important kingdoms of
Deira
Deira ( ; Old Welsh/Cumbric: ''Deywr'' or ''Deifr''; ang, Derenrice or ) was an area of Post-Roman Britain, and a later Anglian kingdom.
Etymology
The name of the kingdom is of Brythonic origin, and is derived from the Proto-Celtic *''daru' ...
and
Bernicia
Bernicia ( ang, Bernice, Bryneich, Beornice; la, Bernicia) was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England.
The Anglian territory of Bernicia was ap ...
, which were possibly originally ruled by Britons. As such the Battle of Catraeth may have been an attempt to push back Anglo-Saxon expansion. At some time after the battle, the Angles absorbed the Gododdin kingdom and incorporated its territory into the kingdom of
Northumbria
la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria
, common_name = Northumbria
, status = State
, status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
.
This interpretation has been accepted by most modern scholars.
Kenneth H. Jackson
Prof Kenneth Hurlstone Jackson CBE FRSE FSA DLitt (1 November 1909 – 20 February 1991) was an English linguistics, linguist and a translator who specialised in the Celtic languages. He demonstrated how the text of the Ulster Cycle of tales, wr ...
accepts the interpretation but suggests that a force of 300 men would be much too small to undertake the task demanded of them. He considers that the 300 mounted warriors would have been accompanied by a larger number of foot soldiers, not considered worthy of mention in the poem. A. O. H. Jarman also follows Williams' interpretation.
[Jarman, pp. xxi-xxiv.]
Historical fiction
The Battle of Catraeth has appeared in some modern works of fiction.
John James used ''Y Gododdin'' as the basis for his novel ''Men went to Cattraeth'', originally published 1969.
Rosemary Sutcliff
Rosemary Sutcliff (14 December 1920 – 23 July 1992) was an English novelist best known for children's books, especially historical fiction and retellings of myths and legends. Although she was primarily a children's author, some of her novel ...
's young adult novel ''The Shining Company'' (1990) tells the story of the Battle of Catraeth from the viewpoint of Prosper, shield-bearer to one of King Mynyddog's Gododdin warriors.
Richard J Denning
Richard John Denning (born 11 August 1967) is an English author of historical novels and fantasy novels. Currently he has published seven novels. The genre of his books are historical fiction, horror, and fantasy. Denning also is a board game ...
's 2010 novel, ''The Amber Treasure'' tells the story of the Battle of Catraeth from the point of view of a young Anglo Saxon youth, Cerdic. In
Nicola Griffith
Nicola Griffith (; born 30 September 1960) is a British-American novelist, essayist, and teacher. She has won the Washington State Book Award, Nebula Award, James Tiptree, Jr. Award, World Fantasy Award and six Lambda Literary Awards.
Person ...
's novel ''
Hild
Hild or Hildr may refer to:
* Hildr or Hild is one of the Valkyries in Norse mythology, a personification of battle
* Hild or Hilda of Whitby is a Christian saint who was a British abbess and nun in the Middle Ages
* Hild (Oh My Goddess!), the ult ...
'' (2014), one of the main characters, Cian, frequently refers to the epic, as the heroes are aspirational figures to him.
See also
*
Battle of Raith
The Battle of Raith was the theory of E. W. B. Nicholson, librarian at the Bodleian Library, Oxford. He was aware of the poem Y Gododdin in the Book of Aneirin and was aware that no-one had identified the location "Catraeth". He parsed the nam ...
Notes
References
* Jackson, Kenneth H. 1969. ''The Gododdin: The Oldest Scottish poem.'' Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
* Jarman, A. O. H. (ed.) 1988. ''Y Gododdin. Britain's Oldest Heroic Poem''. The Welsh Classics vol. 3. Gomer.
* Williams, Ifor. 1938. ''Canu Aneirin: gyda rhagymadrodd a nodiadau.'' Aberystwyth: Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru.
* Davies, John. "Dinas Powys, Catraeth, and Llantwit Major." A History of Wales. London: Allen Lane :, 1993. 61-62. Print.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Catraeth
600
600s conflicts
Catraeth
Catraeth
Catraeth
Military history of North Yorkshire
7th century in England
Hen Ogledd
Catterick, North Yorkshire