Battle of Gwen Ystrad

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Date	c.575
Location	possibly near Wensleydale, Yorkshire
Result	British victory

Belligerents

Rheged

probably Bernicia

Commanders

Urien Rheged

probably King of Bernicia

Casualties and losses

Unknown

Anglian army destroyed

The Battle of Gwen Ystrad was fought in c.575, possibly near Wensleydale^[1] in the English county of North Yorkshire, and is best known from the poem by the famous bard, Taliesen.

Urien ap Cynfarch, King of Rheged (probably Cumbria and/or Galloway), was the most powerful British ruler of the time and a great battle leader. He appears to have forged a northern alliance of Brythonic kings in c.570^[2] by uniting the armies of Riderch Hael of Strathcylde, Gwallog ap Llaennog of Elmet and Morcant (possibly of Bryneich) to oppose the expanding Anglian kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira, and the battle may have been part of this campaign.

In the poem, the battle was fought on the gravel bank of the "River Garanwynyon" where Urien furiously attacked his foes at "the white stone of Galystem". Urien's "rage was a blade" and in the bloody battle the British were clearly the victor. The exact opponents are not mentioned, however the leader was probably either Ida^[3] or more likely one of his sons, with Theodoric of Bernicia a likely candidate given the approximate dates of the battle and his reign.