Urbs Iudeu was a city besieged in 655AD by Penda, King of Mercia and Cadafael, King of Gwynedd. This was an important episode in a long-running war between Mercia and Northumbria in the years from 616 and 679. This war was fought in the area north of the Trent, in particular in and around the Peak District and in and around Heathfield, Elmet and Lindsey as these were provinces of Northumbria at the time.
Background and origins
In or about 616, the Northumbrians, apparently attempting to expand their kingdom under King Aethelfrith, fought the British and their allies at the Battle of Chester. The Northumbrians had the victory and allegedly slaughtered a large number of monks nearby who had prayed for a British victory. The immediate outcome of this was to enable the Northumbrians to take control of the area north of the river Trent. The British, later the Welsh, supported by the Mercians, then attempted to regain control of the area from the Northumbrians. This resulted in a war which took place up and down Ryknield Street, Ermine Street and lesser known north-south Roman routes. These roads gave entry, respectively, to Northumbria from the South and to Mercia from the North. The series of battles and sieges was recorded in the “Historia Brittonum” originally thought to be written by a scholar known as Nennius. Later, in a rather more incoherent way, the battles were noted from the Northumbrian viewpoint by the Venerable Bede in his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum.
Battle sites and episodes
616: The Battle of Chester. Northumbrian victory, the British and Mercian army defeated. Slaughter of monks "from Bangor". Recent archaeological work at Heronbridge near Chester has identified the battle site.
633: The Battle of Hatfield, where a Northumbrian army was defeated and Edwin of Northumbria killed. There are two possible locations which lay claim for this battle site. Either Hatfield Chase near Doncaster, near where a small former Roman fort at Kirk Sandall guards the south bank of the Don; or Hatfield near Cuckney in Nottinghamshire, near a former Roman camp at Gleadthorpe. In neither case is a Roman road archaeologically known nearby but both must have had access to them and in both cases their strategic position and archaeology needs to be considered to determine which is correct.
636: Morfael, a British leader, attacks Caer Lwytgoed / Cair Luit Coit and kills a bishop during the battle. Although several locations lay claim to being this place, most of them are not in the battle zone, nor have any physical remains which might be old enough to represent a town of the necessary date. However, Wirksworth church in the Peak District contains a Northumbrian stone sculpture which may be ancient enough, Wirksworth is the oldest recorded town in the Peak District and lies at the nexus of several Roman roads. This episode appears to represent the known first battle or siege of Urbs Iudeu. Caer Lwytgoed is synonymous with Urbs Iudeu / Urbs Judeu because the first is the Welsh place-name and the second is the Northumbrian place-name: they are the same place. The spelling differences are common and complicate the issue: they are due to the variable recording of oral histories by peoples speaking different languages.
642: The Battle of Aberford, known in Welsh as the battle of Maes Cogwy, where the western branch of Ermine Street crosses the Cock Beck at the Aberford Dykes Oswald of Northumbria was defeated by Penda of Mercia.
655: The siege of Urbs Iudeu at which King Oswiu of Northumbria was compelled to buy off Penda of Mercia and Cadafael of Gwynedd by “delivering all the treasures which were in the city into the hands of Penda, and Penda distributed them to the Kings of the British, this is called the Restitution of Iudeu”. However, King Penda was still attempting to eject the Northumbrians and later that year, in November, another battle occurred, the Battle of Winwead / Maes Gai. Penda was killed in this battle and the Mercians and the British defeated. Oswiu of Northumbria then set up Peada as “King” of Mercia under Northumbrian control. It was said of the battle that the river rose in flood and as many were killed by drowning as in the battle. Other locations have been suggested and require archaeological and strategic consideration, but many of the common claims are simply beyond the area being contested by the Northumbrians and the Mercians.
657: The Mercian nobility rebel, kill Peada and make Wulfhere king of Mercia. In 670 Oswiu dies and is replaced by Ecgferth as King of Northumbria and in 674 Wulfhere dies and is replaced by Ethelred as King of Mercia.
679: The Northumbrians are finally and wholly defeated by the Mercians at the Battle of Trent, the site of this battle is unknown but perhaps where Ryknield Street passes over the River Trent at Wychnor by Alrewas may be considered, but other locations are viable, near major crossings of the Trent, such as where western branch of Ermine Street crosses the river at Littleborough, the Roman road between Lincoln and Doncaster.
Outcomes and legacy
The battles of the Northumbrian - Mercian war resulted from Northumbrian attempts to expand their kingdom, which originally comprised the provinces of Diera and Bernicia, including all the region north of the Trent and in close proximity to it. This destroyed British supremacy in “the old North” and resulted in the war. Its eventual outcome and legacy, however, was the development and expansion of the Mercian kingdom beyond its original focal point in the Trent Valley around Tamworth and Repton. After the Battle of Trent in 679, the border between Mercia and Northumbria appears to have been settled, with the provinces of Elmet and Heathfield becoming part of Northumbria and the provinces of The Peak District and Lindsey becoming part of Mercia. The British appear to retire quietly to Wales and, at least at the start of the Mercian kingdom, relations between the Mercians and the Welsh remain those of equal respect. The place-names of this war cause the very greatest difficulty, only some can be accurately located with modern knowledge and many have been spuriously located by antiquarians for years: Lichfield, for example, has long and wrongly claimed to be Caer Luit Coit, but it is outside the battle area and unlike Wirksworth contains no Northumbrian stone sculpture nor remains of any Northumbrian presence: it is, in any case, south of the Trent; Stirling and Cramond have also been suggested as Urbs Iudeu, but these are far beyond the kingdoms involved in the war, Penda is simply not fighting a war in Scotland. Finally, Oswestry has been suggested as the site of the battle of Maserfelth, it is also far too far from the battle zone and in any case, rather like Lichfield's claim, the Welsh and the Mercians are allies at this time: you are not attacking your allies' towns. Urbs Ludeu is the recorded site of a siege in the Mercian - Northumbrian war: Wirksworth in the Peak District is the principal candidate due to its antiquity, its strategic location and its Roman and Northumbrian remains. The circumstances and a clearer understanding of the geography and archaeology of the conflict need to be given greater weight in consideration of the battle sites. Antiquarian speculation, as well as the endless repetition of random, remote and unlikely locations has unfortunately not served the better understanding of this war in any way.
