Battle of Catraeth facts for kids

The Battle of Catraeth was a huge fight that happened around the year 600 AD. It was between a group called the Gododdin and the Angles. The Gododdin were a Brythonic (ancient British) people from a part of Britain known as the Hen Ogledd, or "Old North." The Angles were from kingdoms called Bernicia and Deira.

The battle was likely an attack by the Gododdin on an Angle stronghold (a strong fort) called Catraeth. Today, this place is probably Catterick, North Yorkshire. Warriors from all over the "Old North" joined the Gododdin. Some even came from as far away as Gwynedd in North Wales and Pictland. Sadly, the battle was a disaster for the Britons. Almost all of them were killed. An important old poem called Y Gododdin, written by Aneirin, remembers these brave warriors.

The Battle of Catraeth

A historian named Ifor Williams studied an old text called Y Gododdin. He believed that a person named Mynyddog Mwynfawr was the king of the Gododdin. His main home was at Din Eidyn, which is now Edinburgh.

Around the year 600, King Mynyddog gathered about 300 skilled warriors. These fighters came from different parts of the ancient British world. He hosted them at Din Eidyn for a whole year. This was to prepare them for the big battle. After their training, they launched an attack on Catraeth. Many historians agree that Catraeth is the same place as Catterick in North Yorkshire. At that time, Catterick was controlled by the Anglo-Saxons.

The Gododdin warriors faced a much larger army. This bigger army was made up of soldiers from the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Deira and Bernicia.

Why the Battle Happened

Long ago, the area of northern England and southern Scotland was home to the Votadini people. The Gododdin were their descendants. By the year 600, the Angles had formed powerful kingdoms like Deira and Bernicia. Some people think that Britons might have ruled these kingdoms at first.

The Battle of Catraeth might have been an attempt by the Gododdin to stop the Anglo-Saxons from taking over more land. After the battle, the Angles did take over the Gododdin kingdom. They made its land part of their own kingdom, Northumbria.

Most modern experts agree with this idea of the battle. Some, like Kenneth H. Jackson, think that 300 men would be too few for such a big attack. He believes that the 300 mounted warriors probably had many more foot soldiers with them. These foot soldiers might not have been mentioned in the poem because it focused on the noble warriors.

Catraeth in Stories

The Battle of Catraeth has appeared in several modern books.

• John James wrote a novel called Men went to Cattraeth in 1969. He based it on the poem Y Gododdin.
• Rosemary Sutcliff wrote a book for young adults called The Shining Company (1990). It tells the story of the battle from the point of view of Prosper, who was a shield-bearer for one of King Mynyddog's warriors.
• Richard J. Denning's novel The Amber Treasure (2010) tells the story from the side of a young Anglo-Saxon boy named Cerdic.
• In Nicola Griffith's novel Hild (2014), a character named Cian often talks about the epic poem. The heroes in the poem are very inspiring to him.
• The TV show Wolfblood had an episode called "The Dark Ages." It was about a hidden treasure buried before the Battle of Catraeth. A group of werewolves had buried it, but they died in the battle and couldn't get their treasures back.

See also

• Battle of Raith