According to some early medieval sources, the siege of Exeter or siege of ''Caer-Uisc'' was a military conflict that took place in or around 630 CE, between the

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 ...

ns, led by Penda of Mercia, and the Britons occupying ''Caer-Uisc'' (

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

) in the kingdom of Dumnonia. Penda is said to have laid siege to the town until the exiled British High King Cadwallon 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 ...

, arrived to confront him. An alliance between British and Mercian forces followed, secured by Cadwallon's marriage to Alcfrith, Penda's sister, and they marched north to face the armies 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 ...

(who were occupying Gwynedd) at the Battle of Cefn Digoll. The ''

Flores Historiarum The ''Flores Historiarum'' (Flowers of History) is the name of two different (though related) Latin chronicles by medieval English historians that were created in the 13th century, associated originally with the Abbey of St Albans. Wendover's '' ...

'' (mistakenly attributed to

Matthew of Westminster Matthew of Westminster, long regarded as the author of the ''Flores Historiarum'', is now thought never to have existed. The error was first discovered in 1826 by Francis Turner Palgrave, who said that Matthew was "a phantom who never existed," and ...

) recalls that the Britons were still in possession of Exeter in 632, when it was bravely defended against Penda of Mercia until relieved by Cadwallon, who engaged and defeated the Mercians with great slaughter. Geoffrey of Monmouth also paints a colourful account of the siege in his pseudo-historic ''

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 ...

'', Giles, J. A. ''Six Old English Chronicles''. Henry G. Bohn. 1848 p284 saying Cadwallon made an alliance with the British nobility. Since the 19th century, historians have expressed doubts about the existence of this conflict. For instance in 1861, George Oliver wrote: and in 1887

Edward Augustus Freeman Edward Augustus Freeman (2 August 182316 March 1892) was an English historian, architectural artist, and Liberal politician during the late-19th-century heyday of Prime Minister William Gladstone, as well as a one-time candidate for Parliament. ...

could say:

References

7th-century conflicts Battles involving the Britons Battles involving Mercia Geoffrey of Monmouth

Siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...

Military history of Devon Dumnonia 7th century in England 630s Sieges involving England Sieges of the Middle Ages {{Siege-stub