The Battle of Chester (

Old Welsh Old Welsh ( cy, Hen Gymraeg) is the stage of the Welsh language from about 800 AD until the early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh.Koch, p. 1757. The preceding period, from the time Welsh became distinct from Common Brittonic ...

: ''Guaith Caer Legion'';

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

: ''Brwydr Caer'') was a major victory for the

Anglo-Saxons The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

over the native

Britons British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mod ...

near the city of

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the early 7th century.

Æthelfrith of Northumbria Æthelfrith (died c. 616) was King of Bernicia from c. 593 until his death. Around 604 he became the first Bernician king to also rule the neighboring land of Deira, giving him an important place in the development of the later kingdom of Nort ...

annihilated a combined force from the

kingdoms of

Powys Powys (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...

, Rhôs (a

cantref A cantref ( ; ; plural cantrefi or cantrefs; also rendered as ''cantred'') was a medieval Welsh land division, particularly important in the administration of Welsh law. Description Land in medieval Wales was divided into ''cantrefi'', which were ...

of the

Kingdom of Gwynedd The Kingdom of Gwynedd (Medieval Latin: ; Middle Welsh: ) was a Welsh kingdom and a Roman Empire successor state that emerged in sub-Roman Britain in the 5th century during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain. Based in northwest Wales, th ...

), and possibly

Mercia la, Merciorum regnum , conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia , common_name=Mercia , status=Kingdom , status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex () , life_span=527–918 , era=Heptarchy , event_start= , date_start= , ye ...

. It resulted in the deaths of Welsh leaders

Selyf Sarffgadau Selyf ap Cynan or Selyf Sarffgadau (died 616) appears in Old Welsh genealogies as an early 7th-century King of Powys, the son of Cynan Garwyn. His name is a Welsh form of Solomon, appearing in the oldest genealogies as Selim. He reputedly bore ...

of Powys and Cadwal Crysban of Rhôs. Circumstantial evidence suggests that King Iago of

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...

may have also been killed
Other sources
state the battle may have been in 613 or even as early as 607 or 605 AD. According to Bede, a large number of monks from the monastery at

Bangor on Dee Bangor-on-Dee ( cy, Bangor-is-y-coed or Bangor Is-coed) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, on the banks of the River Dee. Until 1974 it was in the exclave of Flintshire known as the Maelor Saesneg, and from 1974 to 199 ...

who had come to witness the fight were killed on the orders of Æthelfrith before the battle. He told his warriors to massacre the clerics because although they bore no arms, they were praying for a Northumbria defeat.Michelle Ziegler at The strategic significance of the battle remains unclear as Æthelfrith died in battle soon after the victory. However other historical accounts hold that Æthelfrith died in 616 AD by

Rædwald of East Anglia Rædwald ( ang, Rædwald, ; 'power in counsel'), also written as Raedwald or Redwald (), was a king of East Anglia, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom which included the present-day English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. He was the son of Tytila of East A ...

, at the Battle of River Idle. It has been suggested that

Cearl Cearl (or Ceorl) was an early king of Mercia who ruled during the early part of the 7th century, until about 626. He is the first Mercian king mentioned by Bede in his ''Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum''. Bede was a Northumbrian who was host ...

, the Anglo-Saxon king of

, may have also been involved and shared in the Britons' defeat because his overkingship of eastern

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and Mercia effectively ended until the rise of his successor,

Penda Penda (died 15 November 655)Manuscript A of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' gives the year as 655. Bede also gives the year as 655 and specifies a date, 15 November. R. L. Poole (''Studies in Chronology and History'', 1934) put forward the theor ...

by 633.

Historical sources

Battle

Historian

Charles Plummer Charles Plummer, FBA (1851–1927) was an English historian and cleric, best known as the editor of Sir John Fortescue's ''The Governance of England'', and for coining the term "bastard feudalism". He was the fifth son of Matthew Plummer of St ...

, best known as an editor of

Bede Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...

, believed that the battle occurred around 615 or 616, but near contemporary annals give a variety of dates. The ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alf ...

'' says, for year 605 in one version and year 606 in another version:

And here Æðelfrið led his army to Chester, and there slew countless Welsh. And came about Augustinus's prophecy, that he said "If they do not have peace with us, they will die at the hands of the Saxons." There also were slain 200 priests who came there to pray for the Welsh army. Scrocmail was called their leader, and he escaped as one of fifty."

In the ''

Brut y Brenhinedd ''Brut y Brenhinedd'' ("Chronicle of the Kings") is a collection of variant Middle Welsh versions of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Latin ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. About 60 versions survive, with the earliest dating to the mid-13th century. Adaptat ...

'' ( en, Chronicle of the Kings), which is a collection of variant

Middle Welsh Middle Welsh ( cy, Cymraeg Canol, wlm, Kymraec) is the label attached to the Welsh language of the 12th to 15th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This form of Welsh developed directly from Old Welsh ( cy, Hen G ...

versions of

Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiograph ...

's Latin chronicle ''

Historia Regum Britanniae ''Historia regum Britanniae'' (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), originally called ''De gestis Britonum'' (''On the Deeds of the Britons''), is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. I ...

'' (''History of the Kings of Britain''), the battle is called ''Perllan Fangor'' ( en, Bangor Orchard). ''Brut'' proved especially influential in medieval

, where it was largely regarded as an accurate account of the early history of the

. It therefore suggests the battle may have taken place nearer to

Bangor-on-Dee Bangor-on-Dee ( cy, Bangor-is-y-coed or Bangor Is-coed) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, on the banks of the River Dee. Until 1974 it was in the exclave of Flintshire known as the Maelor Saesneg, and from 1974 to 19 ...

rather than

Massacre

mentions the killings of British monks by the Anglo-Saxons. He wrote that the monks:

"resorted...to pray at the...battle...King Æthelfrith being informed
f this F, or f, is the sixth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabet#Let ...
..said, "If then they cry to their God against us, in truth, though they do not bear arms, yet they fight against us, because they oppose us by their prayers." He, therefore, commanded them to be attacked first ... About twelve hundred of those that came to pray are said to have been killed".

This episode was also noted in the

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' ( ga, Annála Uladh) are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, ...

s.a. 612 (recte 613):

''Bellum Caire Legion ubi sancti occisi sunt'' (The battle of Caer Legion, in which holy men were slain)

Bede thought this was divine retribution for the Welsh bishops refusing to join

Augustine of Canterbury Augustine of Canterbury (early 6th century – probably 26 May 604) was a monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597. He is considered the "Apostle to the English" and a founder of the English Church.Delaney '' ...

in proselytizing the Saxons. During the

English Reformation The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...

scholars such as

Matthew Parker Matthew Parker (6 August 1504 – 17 May 1575) was an English bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder (with a p ...

frequently argued that Augustine himself had been complicit in the battle and the massacre, but this contention swiftly degenerated into a sectarian dispute. The argument relies on the 604 date for the battle found in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' as well as the suggestion that a passage in Bede that specifically exculpates Augustine, which appears in the Latin but not in the early English translation of the text, was a later addition aimed at distancing the churchman from the violence he predicted. The usually accepted dates 615/16 for the battle mitigate this argument, as Augustine is believed to have died in 604. The charge against Augustine was challenged or rejected by scholars of the 18th and 19th century such as

Elizabeth Elstob Elizabeth Elstob (29 September 1683 – 3 June 1756), the "Saxon Nymph", was a pioneering scholar of Anglo-Saxon. She was the first person to publish a grammar of Old English written in modern English. Life Elstob was born and brought up in th ...

Henry Spelman Sir Henry Spelman (c. 1562 – October 1641) was an English antiquary, noted for his detailed collections of medieval records, in particular of church councils. Life Spelman was born in Congham, Norfolk, the eldest son of Henry Spelman (d. 1581 ...

Henry Wharton Henry Wharton (9 November 1664 – 5 March 1695) was an English writer and librarian. Life Wharton was descended from Thomas, 2nd Baron Wharton (1520–1572), being a son of the Rev. Edmund Wharton, vicar of Worstead, Norfolk. Born at Worstead ...

, and

Jeremy Collier Jeremy Collier (; 23 September 1650 – 26 April 1726) was an English theatre critic, non-juror bishop and theologian. Life Born Jeremiah Collier, in Stow cum Quy, Cambridgeshire, Collier was educated at Caius College, University of Cambrid ...

. That Æthelfrith and his army were pagan is a further difficulty with the theory, which has no support from modern historians.

Archaeology

Archaeological excavations at Heronbridge, just south of Chester, in 2004 uncovered post-Roman

graves A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grave ...

buried beneath a defensive earthwork over an old

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

settlement. There is evidence that they contain the bodies of casualties from the Battle of Chester.

Significance

The precise reasons for the battle are unknown but

states that King Æthelfrith's political rival,

Edwin of Deira Edwin ( ang, Ēadwine; c. 586 – 12 October 632/633), also known as Eadwine or Æduinus, was the King of Deira and Bernicia – which later became known as Northumbria – from about 616 until his death. He converted to Christia ...

, was living in exile in Gwynedd. Although Geoffrey of Monmouth is often regarded as an unreliable source, there are some supporting references to Edwin in the writings of

Reginald of Durham Reginald of Durham (died c. 1190) was a Benedictine monk and hagiologist, a member of the Durham Priory and associated with Coldingham Priory in Scotland.Victoria TudorColdingham, Reginald of (d. c.1190) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ...

and the

Welsh Triads The Welsh Triads ( cy, Trioedd Ynys Prydein, "Triads of the Island of Britain") are a group of related texts in medieval manuscripts which preserve fragments of Welsh folklore, mythology and traditional history in groups of three. The triad is a ...

. However, there is no evidence that Æthelfrith was in pursuit of Edwin. The battle's outcome was once believed to have led to the severing of the land connection between

and the Old North - the old northern

Brython The Britons ( *''Pritanī'', la, Britanni), also known as Celtic Britons or Ancient Britons, were people of Celtic language and culture who inhabited Great Britain from at least the British Iron Age and into the Middle Ages, at which point the ...

ic kingdoms of

Rheged Rheged () was one of the kingdoms of the ''Hen Ogledd'' ("Old North"), the Brittonic-speaking region of what is now Northern England and southern Scotland, during the post-Roman era and Early Middle Ages. It is recorded in several poetic and b ...

and

Kingdom of Strathclyde Strathclyde (lit. "Strath of the River Clyde", and Strað-Clota in Old English), was a Brittonic successor state of the Roman Empire and one of the early medieval kingdoms of the Britons, located in the region the Welsh tribes referred to as Yr ...

. However this view is now "generally understood" to be outdated as there is "almost no archaeological evidence for Anglo-Saxon settlement within the pagan period in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

". In any case, the sea would have been the primary means of travel and trade in this period.Koch, p. 318 It also seems unlikely that Æthelfrith was protecting Anglian settlers in the area. Instead Æthelfrith may have been planning to attack Powys. The fact that he attacked the monks first, and only secondly the defending army, may perhaps be explained as a ruse to throw the defence into disarray.

Notes

References

Secondary sources

* * *Morris, John (1973). ''The Age of Arthur''. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. * *

Primary sources

*''

Annales Cambriae The (Latin for ''Annals of Wales'') is the title given to a complex of Latin chronicles compiled or derived from diverse sources at St David's in Dyfed, Wales. The earliest is a 12th-century presumed copy of a mid-10th-century original; later ed ...

'' (''c''. 10th century), tr

* See als

* *'' Trioedd Ynys Prydein'', ed. and tr. *

, ''Life of St. Oswald'' (''c''. 1150) *''

'' (MS Cotton Cleopatra), ed. *

, ''

'' (1136)