Battle of Hatfield Chase

Battle of Hatfield Chase
	; Depiction of Edwin at St Mary, Sledmere, Yorkshire.
Date	12 October 633 AD
Location	Disputed. Possibly Hatfield Chase, Yorkshire or Cuckney, Nottinghamshire.
Result	Gwynedd-Mercian victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Gwynedd; Kingdom of Mercia; Kingdom of Elmet	Kingdom of Northumbria; Kingdom of Bernicia ; Kingdom of Deira
Commanders and leaders
Cadwallon ap Cadfan; Penda; Eowa ?	Edwin †; Osfrith †; Eadfrith (captured)
Strength
1,800[citation needed]	3,000[citation needed]
Casualties and losses
700 killed or wounded[citation needed]	2,000 killed[citation needed]

The Battle of Hatfield Chase (Old English: Hæðfeld; Old Welsh: Meigen) was fought on 12 October 633^[1] It pitted the Northumbrians against an alliance of Gwynedd and Mercia. The Northumbrians were led by Edwin and the Gwynedd-Mercian alliance was led by Cadwallon ap Cadfan and Penda. The site of the battle was a marshy area about 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Doncaster on the south bank of the River Don, though this location has been disputed.^{[dubious – discuss]} It was a decisive victory for Gwynedd and the Mercians: Edwin was killed and his army defeated, leading to the temporary collapse of Northumbria.

^ Bede gives the date as 12 October in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People (book II, chapter 20), but the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle gives the date as 14 October. Bede also gives the year as 633; however, a question about what Bede considered the starting point of the years as he used them has raised the possibility that the battle may have actually taken place in 632.

[1] Bede gives the date as 12 October in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People (book II, chapter 20), but the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle gives the date as 14 October. Bede also gives the year as 633; however, a question about what Bede considered the starting point of the years as he used them has raised the possibility that the battle may have actually taken place in 632.

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