The Battle of Two Rivers was fought between the

Picts 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 ea ...

and

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 ...

ns in the year 671. The exact battle site is unknown. It marked the end of the Pictish rebellion early in the reign of

Ecgfrith Ecgfrith ( ang, Ecgfrið) was the name of several Anglo-Saxon kings in England, including: * Ecgfrith of Northumbria, died 685 * Ecgfrith of Mercia Ecgfrith was king of Mercia from 29 July to December 796. He was the son of Offa, one of the m ...

, with a decisive victory for the Northumbrians. Attestation of the battle is limited to the account in Stephen of Ripon's ''

Vita Sancti Wilfrithi The ''Vita Sancti Wilfrithi'' or ''Life of St Wilfrid'' (spelled "Wilfrid" in the modern era) is an early 8th-century hagiographic text recounting the life of the Northumbrian bishop, Wilfrid. Although a hagiography, it has few miracles, while ...

''.

Background

During the 7th century, the

ns gradually extended their territory to the north. The Annals of Tigernach record a siege of "Etain" in 638, which has been interpreted as Northumbria's conquest of

Eidyn Eidyn was the region around modern Edinburgh in Britain's sub-Roman and early medieval periods, approximately the 5th–7th centuries. It centred on the stronghold of Din Eidyn, thought to have been at Castle Rock, now the site of Edinburgh Cas ...

(

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

) during the reign of

Oswald Oswald may refer to: People * Oswald (given name), including a list of people with the name *Oswald (surname), including a list of people with the name Fictional characters *Oswald the Reeve, who tells a tale in Geoffrey Chaucer's ''The Canterbu ...

, marking the annexation of

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 ...

territories to the south of the

River Forth The River Forth is a major river in central Scotland, long, which drains into the North Sea on the east coast of the country. Its drainage basin covers much of Stirlingshire in Scotland's Central Belt. The Gaelic name for the upper reach of th ...

. To the north of the Forth, the Pictish nations consisted at this time of the Kingdom of

Fortriu Fortriu ( la, Verturiones; sga, *Foirtrinn; ang, Wærteras; xpi, *Uerteru) was a Pictish kingdom that existed between the 4th and 10th centuries. It was traditionally believed to be located in and around Strathearn in central Scotland, but is ...

to the north of the

Mounth The Mounth ( ) is the broad upland in northeast Scotland between the Highland Boundary and the River Dee, at the eastern end of the Grampians. Name and etymology The name ''Mounth'' is ultimately of Pictish origin. The name is derived from ...

, and a "Southern Pictish Zone", to the south, stretching as far as the Forth. Evidence from the 8th century Anglo-Saxon historian

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 ...

points to the Picts also being subjugated by the Northumbrians during Oswald's reign, and that this subjugation continued into the reign of his successor,

Oswiu Oswiu, also known as Oswy or Oswig ( ang, Ōswīg; c. 612 – 15 February 670), was King of Bernicia from 642 and of Northumbria from 654 until his death. He is notable for his role at the Synod of Whitby in 664, which ultimately brought the chu ...

succeeded Oswiu as king of Northumbria in 670. Ecgfrith's kingdom was said to have been 'weak' on his ascent to the throne. In 671, word reached Ecgfrith that the Picts, under the command of the

Verturian Fortriu ( la, Verturiones; sga, *Foirtrinn; ang, Wærteras; xpi, *Uerteru) was a Picts, Pictish kingdom that existed between the 4th and 10th centuries. It was traditionally believed to be located in and around Strathearn in central Scotland, ...

king, Drest mac Donuel, were preparing to rebel and overthrow the Northumbrian hegemony.

Account of battle

The record and description of the battle is limited entirely to Stephen of Ripon's account in his ''

''. According to this account, Ecgfrith became aware of the Picts plans to overthrow the Northumbrian suzerainty and he hastily assembled an invasion force of horsemen. He headed north, aided by his sub-king

Beornhæth Beornhæth was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman in Northumbria in the reign of King Ecgfrith (ruled 671–685). He was the first of his family to come to notice. Eddius's ''Life of Saint Wilfrid'', recounting Ecgfrith's campaign against the Picts in 671 ...

,Colgrave (1927) pp41-43: When King Ecgfrith heard this, lowly as he was among his own people and magnanimous towards his enemies, he forthwith got together a troop of horsemen, for he was no lover of belated operations; and trusting in God like Judas Maccabaeus and assisted by the brave sub-king, Beornhaeth, he attacked with his little band of God's people an enemy host which was vast and moreover concealed. who historian James Fraser suggests may have ruled the southern Pictish kingdom of Niuduera, identified as being located in present-day

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

. The battle location is not recorded. A tentative suggestion of

Moncreiffe Island Moncreiffe Island, also known as Friarton Island, is an island in Perth, Scotland. It divides the River Tay into two channels as it flows through Perth, and is crossed by the single-track Tay Viaduct, carrying the Scottish Central Railway. Lan ...

, near

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

has been made. However, it is unclear what (if any) impact the subsequent revision of Fortriu's location to northern Scotland has on this suggestion. In the account given in ''Vita Sancti Wilfrithi'', Ecgfrith's cavalry was ambushed by a concealed and much larger Pictish army. Nevertheless, the Northumbrians prevailed, with Pictish casualties being of sufficient number to 'fill two rivers', allowing the Northumbrian cavalry to pursue Pictish survivors without getting their feet wet. As a work of hagiography, ''Vita Sancti Wilfrithi'' is not an ideal historical source and it has been suggested that its partisan treatment of Northumbrian history inspired

's ''Historia Ecclesiastica''. Various details of Stephen's account of the battle are likely to have been exaggerated, overstating the extent of Ecgfrith's victory.

Aftermath

Stephen records that, following the battle, the Picts were reduced to slavery and subject to the yoke of captivity for the next 14 years. The

Irish annals A number of Irish annals, of which the earliest was the Chronicle of Ireland, were compiled up to and shortly after the end of the 17th century. Annals were originally a means by which monks determined the yearly chronology of feast days. Over t ...

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

and Tigernach record of a 'Drost' being expelled from kingship in 671. It is generally presumed that this was the Pictish king, Drest, and that he was deposed and replaced by Bridei mac Bili as a direct result of the failure of the Pictish rebellion.; Bridei was later to defeat and kill Ecgfrith in the

Battle of Dun Nechtain The Battle of Dun Nechtain or Battle of Nechtansmere (Scottish Gaelic: ''Blàr Dhùn Neachdain'', Old Irish: ''Dún Nechtain'', Old Welsh: ''Gueith Linn Garan'', Modern Welsh: ''Gwaith Llyn Garan'', Old English: ''Nechtans mere'') was fought be ...

in 685.See, for example: ;

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * *{{Citation , last = Woolf , first = Alex , title = Dun Nechtain, Fortriu and the Geography of the Picts , journal = The Scottish Historical Review , year = 2006 , volume = 85 , pages = 182–201 , doi=10.1353/shr.2007.0029

External links

The Birth Of Nations:Scotland
Two Rivers Two Rivers 671 Two Rivers 671 Two Rivers 671 History of Perth, Scotland 7th century in Scotland 671