The Battle of Degsastan was fought around 603 between king Æthelfrith of Bernicia and the

Gaels The Gaels ( ; ga, Na Gaeil ; gd, Na Gàidheil ; gv, Ny Gaeil ) are an ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man in the British Isles. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic langua ...

under

Áedán mac Gabráin Áedán mac Gabráin (pronounced in Old Irish; ga, Aodhán mac Gabhráin, lang), also written as Aedan, was a king of Dál Riata from 574 until c. 609 AD. The kingdom of Dál Riata was situated in modern Argyll and Bute, Scotland, and pa ...

, king of Dál Riada. Æthelfrith's smaller army won a decisive victory, although his brother Theodbald was killed. Very little further is known about the battle. The location of the nominal Degsastan is not known, either; Dawstane in Liddesdale,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, is a possibility. According to

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 ...

's account in his ''

Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum The ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' ( la, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum), written by Bede in about AD 731, is a history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict b ...

'' (Book I, chapter 34), Æthelfrith had won many victories against the Britons and was expanding his power and territory, and this concerned Áedán, who led "an immense and mighty army" against Æthelfrith. Although Æthelfrith had the smaller army, Bede reports that almost all of Áedán's army was slain, and Áedán himself fled. After this defeat, according to Bede, the Irish kings in Britain would not make war against the English again, right up to Bede's own time (130 years later). Áedán's army included the Bernician exile Hering, son of the former Bernician king Hussa; his participation is mentioned by 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 A ...

'' (manuscript E, year 603), and may indicate dynastic rivalry among the Bernicians. Áedán's army also included the Cenél nEógain prince

Máel Umai mac Báetáin Máel Umai mac Báetáin (died ) was an Irish prince, the son of Báetán mac Muirchertaig of the northern Uí Néill, who appears to have been a significant figure in early Irish tales. His father and his brother Colmán Rímid are both uncertain ...

, who is said by Irish sources to have slain Eanfrith, brother of Æthelfrith. Áedán survived as King of Dál Riata until 608 when he was succeeded by his youngest son Eochaid Buide. Æthelfrith died in battle in 616.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Degsastan 600s conflicts 603 Battles involving the Anglo-Saxons Battles involving Dál Riata