Battle of Maes Madog

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Battle of Maes Madog
date March 5, 1295
place Near Montgomery
output English victory
consequences The Welsh Rebellion is put down in North Wales
Parties to the conflict

Kingdom of England

Welsh rebels

Commander

William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick

Madog ap Llywelyn

Troop strength
119 horsemen and 2,500 foot soldiers unknown
losses

allegedly 1 horseman and 6 foot soldiers

500 to over 700 men

The Battle of Maes Madog ( Welsh for Madog's Meadow , also called Maes Moydog ) was a battle during the Welsh uprising from 1294 to 1295 . Both the exact location and the date of the battle are disputed, the only thing certain is that the battle was a decisive victory for the English troops.

After the English King Edward I pacified North Wales with his army in January 1295, the rebel leader Madog ap Llywelyn evaded his armed forces in the direction of Powys . He approached Montgomery , but perhaps also Welshpool , where an English army was under William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick . This had advanced with over 100 horsemen and 2500 foot soldiers from Montgomery via Oswestry to Mid Wales. Madog probably didn't know he'd gotten so close to the English troops while Warwick scouts could spot the Welsh. Warwick returned to Montgomery on March 4th and surprised Madog's troops in an open field on March 5th in a night attack after a night march. The Welsh people had set up their lances for Spanish horsemen to protect their camp against attacks by horsemen . Warwick is said to have set up his crossbow and archers between his knights, who caused high losses among the Welsh with their arrows and bolts. After the Welsh forces got so disturbed, the English attacked in a pincer attack. Over 600 Welsh men are said to have fallen, whereupon the army disbanded. The English then conquered the Welsh camp, killing over 100 more Welsh people, while on the English side only one horseman and six foot soldiers are said to have died. All the Welsh equipment fell into the hands of the English troops. Madog ap Llywelyn escaped with a few men, but the uprising in North Wales was de facto suppressed by the crushing defeat of his armed forces. After the uprising collapsed completely, Madog surrendered to the English in late July or early 1295.

Warwick's successful tactic with the combined use of archers and knights is said to have used Edward I in his wars against Scotland . It is said to have served as a model for the battles of Crécy and Poitiers during the Hundred Years War .

literature

  • John Edward Morris: The Welsh Wars of Edward I. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1901

Individual evidence

  1. Coflein: Maes Moydog; Maes Madog Battlesite, Cefn Digoll; near Montgomery. Retrieved June 10, 2014 .
  2. ^ David Walker: Medieval Wales . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1990. ISBN 978-0-521-31153-3 , p. 156
  3. Peter Coss: Beauchamp, William (IV) de, ninth earl of Warwick (c.1238-1298). 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
  4. RF Walker: Madog ap Llywelyn (fl. 1277-1295). 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
  5. ^ TF Tout: The History of England from the Accession of Henry III. to the Death of Edward III. (1216-1377). Ardent Media, New York 1905. p. 190