Battle of Maes Moydog

Coordinates: 52°38′56″N 3°19′26″W / 52.649°N 3.324°W / 52.649; -3.324

The Battle of Maes Moydog was a battle that took place at the field of Moydog (Welsh: Maidog, also Meidiog) on 5 March 1295 during the revolt of Madog ap Llywelyn and others against English rule, near the modern-day town of Llanfair Caereinion in Powys, Wales.

The Battle

Madog's opponent was the earl of Warwick William de Beauchamp, who, on hearing that Madog's army were camped in a valley close to his base at Welshpool, made a night march on 4 March and surrounded Madog's army. Madog had his spearmen form into a square, and repelled an English cavalry charge, killing around 10 men at arms. However, Warwick's innovative deployment of archers and crossbows gave the English the upper hand. Surrounded, Madog's men fought their way out of the encirclement and killed a further 90 English men, then retreated across the swollen river Banwy, in which many drowned. A second, smaller engagement near a place that the English records call 'Thesseweit' - the location of which remains uncertain - resulted in the loss of Madog's supply train. English losses totalled around one hundred dead; Welsh losses were placed at seven hundred. The battle was a crucial step in breaking Welsh resistance in the revolt; Madog went to ground and was captured in late July.

References

• Richard Morgan, 'Thesseweit', Montgomeryshire Collections Vol. 68, pp. 87-9 (1980).
• J. E. Morris, The Welsh Wars of Edward I (Oxford, 1901).