Battle of Maserfield
Who Fought
History & Significance
The Battle of Maserfield, (Welsh: Cad Maes Cogwy) was fought on 5 August 641 or 642 (642 according to Ward) between the Anglo-Saxon kings Oswald of Northumbria and Penda of Mercia allied with Welsh Kingdom of Gwynedd, ending in Oswald's defeat, death, and dismemberment.
The location was also known as Cogwy in Welsh, with Welshmen from Pengwern participating in the battle (according to the probably ninth-century Canu Heledd), probably as allies of the Mercians. Bede reports the commonly accepted date given above; the Welsh Annales Cambriae is generally considered incorrect in giving the year of the battle as 644. The site of the battle is traditionally identified with Oswestry.
"Since the death of Oswald's uncle Edwin of Northumbria at Hatfield Chase in 633, the Mercians under Penda had presented an obstacle to the power of Northumbria over the lands of Britain south of the Humber. Oswald had defeated Cadwallon ap Cadfan of Gwynedd, King of the Britons (Penda's ally at Hatfield) at Heavenfield in 634, and subsequently re-established Northumbrian hegemony across much of Britain; although it is thought that Penda recognized Oswald's authority in some form after Heavenfield, he may nevertheless have been hostile to Northumbrian power or at least perceived by Oswald as a threat."
The Battle of Maserfield was assumed for much of the twentieth century to have taken place at what is now Oswestry in Shropshire. The etymology of this name is "Oswald's Tree", while the traditional Welsh name for the same place is Croesoswald ("Oswald's Cross"); although an association with King Oswald of Northumbria is not certain, the name is popularly assumed to refer to him. In the mid -seventh century, Oswestry is thought to have probably still been in the territory of Powys. If this location is correct, it would mean Oswald was in the territory of his enemies, which would suggest he was on the offensive.
However, neither the Welsh nor English names for the battle site have been securely identified with modern reflexes or localised, and site of the battle is still debated among scholars; in 2020, Andrew Breeze suggested Forden in Powys, particularly on the basis of place-names that seem to be associated with the battle in the Welsh Canu Heledd.
The site of the battle is named Maserfelth (with the variant spelling Maserfeld) in the principal source for the battle, Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum. The second element of this name is the Old English word that became field in present-day English. The first element is debated: it has been taken as a possibly unique Old English attestation of the word mazer; a word having something to do with Welsh maes ('field'); or to be the Welsh female name Meiser (an argument supported by the place-name Dyffryn Meiser in Canu Heledd).
The ground they fought on
The site of Battle of Maserfield lies on Warwickshire Group, bedrock that formed in the Early Permian. The rock here is siltstone and sandstone with subordinate mudstone.
- Kingdom of Mercia; Kingdom of Gwynedd; Kingdom of Powys: 100 Mercians killed; 600 Powysian fighters killed
- Kingdom of Northumbria: Heavy, 800 killed
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything a full report reveals about Battle of Maserfield
This page covers Battle of Maserfield. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Scheduled Monuments near Battle of Maserfield
Other Early Medieval Battles
Battles near Battle of Maserfield
Explore the landscape around this battlefield
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in the UK — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
- Battle of Maserfield · Wikidata
- Battle_of_Maserfield · Wikipedia