The Battle of Catraeth was a catastrophic Brythonic defeat commemorated in Y Gododdin, one of the oldest surviving poems in Welsh literature.
Key Facts
- Approximate date
- c. AD 600
- Attackers
- Gododdin warriors from across Hen Ogledd
- Defenders
- Angles of Bernicia and Deira
- Outcome for Britons
- Nearly all Gododdin warriors killed
- Commemorative poem
- Y Gododdin, attributed to Aneirin
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The Gododdin, a Brythonic people of the Hen Ogledd, assembled a coalition force of warriors drawn from across northern Britain and as far as Gwynedd and Pictland, intending to assault the Angle stronghold at Catraeth, possibly Catterick in North Yorkshire, amid broader Angle expansion in the region.
Around AD 600, the Gododdin force launched an assault on the Angle stronghold of Catraeth. The battle was fought against the Angles of Bernicia and Deira, and despite the coalition's broad origins, the engagement proved disastrous for the Britons, who suffered near-total annihilation.
The destruction of the Gododdin war-band severely weakened Brythonic resistance in the north. The fallen warriors were immortalised in Y Gododdin, attributed to the poet Aneirin, which became one of the earliest surviving works of Welsh-language literature and a key source for the period.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
1 belligerent