Battle of the Menai Strait
Coordinates: 53 ° 11 '11.7 " N , 4 ° 13' 9.9" W.
The English campaign of 1282, the island of Anglesey above left
| date | November 6, 1282 |
|---|---|
| place | On Menai Strait between Anglesey and Gwynedd |
| output | Welsh victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
|
|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| unknown | unknown |
| losses | |
|
over 330 fallen |
unknown, probably minor |
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The Battle of Menai Strait , also known as the Battle of Moel-y-don , was a battle between the English Army and Welsh forces during King Edward I's second campaign against Wales in 1282 . The exact course of the battle is unclear as contemporary accounts contradict each other, but the battle ended in a clear victory for the Welsh.
prehistory
By the Treaty of Aberconwy , Llywelyn ap Gruffydd , the Prince of Wales, got back the island of Anglesey, northwest of Gwynedd , which had been conquered by Edward I. The island was only given to him as a lifelong rule and remained occupied by an English garrison. After the start of the Welsh uprising in March 1282, Edward I had the garrison reinforced. On August 18 he instructed the former Seneschal of Gascony, Luke de Tany , to cross over with the troops from Anglesey to Gwynedd as soon as the main royal army advanced from the east. This was to create a second front in the rear of the Welsh troops, and to give the English troops further access to the mountains of Snowdonia , the traditional retreat of the Welsh. The passage of the troops should take place with the help of a boat bridge over the in places less than 300 m wide Menai Strait , which separates Anglesey from Gwynedd. Tany sailed for Anglesey in the second half of October with Roger de Clifford , the eldest son of Roger de Clifford , and with William Audley, a younger son of James Audley . The bridge was completed in November.
Course of the battle
On November 6th, Tany and his army made an advance across the bridge to Gwynedd. Fatally, Tany did not send any scouts. There are different details about the exact course of the battle. According to one version, the English were caught by an attack by Welsh troops on the opposite bank, attacking from the surrounding mountains. When retreating over the bridge consisting of 40 boats, the bridge collapsed due to overload. According to another version, the English first made an advance on the mainland before they wanted to retreat to Anglesey before the Welsh pursuing them. The boat bridge, however, was insufficiently constructed and was therefore destroyed by the Welsh or the strong tides in the strait. In any case, the destruction of the bridge turned the battle into a catastrophic defeat for the English, who lost at least 16, according to other reports over 30 knights and nobles and over 300 soldiers who were killed by the Welsh or drowned in the Menai Strait. Luke de Tany, Roger de Clifford and William Audley were among the dead. William Latimer narrowly escaped on his warhorse that swam through the water, and Otton de Grandson narrowly escaped too . Medieval sources criticized the time of the attack, as at the beginning of November John Pecham , Archbishop of Canterbury, tried to broker a truce between the king and Llywelyn ap Gruffydd. The attack on the Menai Strait was possibly an attempt to thwart these negotiations, as the soldiers on Anglesey feared that in the event of a ceasefire they would no longer be able to take prey. Perhaps Roger de Clifford was also the driving force behind the attack, as he wanted to free his father of the same name, who had been captured by the Welsh since March .
consequences
The clear victory strengthened the morale and resistance of the Welsh people. Militarily, however, the battle had no consequences, as the war was decided five weeks later by the Battle of Orewin Bridge , in which Llywelyn ap Gruffydd was killed. The defeated English troops remained on Anglesey until the main English army had captured the north coast of Gwynedd in January 1283, and only then did they cross over to Gwynedd.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 192
- ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California Press, Berkeley 1988. ISBN 978-0-520-06266-5 , p. 192
- ↑ Michael Prestwich: Tany, Sir Luke de (d. 1282). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004
- ^ Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-820198-2 , p. 353