Mercia

The Battle of the Winwaed was fought on 15 November 655 , between King Penda of Mercia and Oswiu of Bernicia, ending in the Mercians' defeat and... Penda's death. Although the battle is said to be the most important between the early northern and southern divisions of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain, few details are available. The two armies met on the banks of a river named the Winwaed, but this river has never been identified. Possibly it was a tributary of the Humber. There is reason to believe it may have been the river now known as Cock Beck in the ancient kingdom of Elmet, which passes Pendas Fields, Leeds, before joining the River Wharfe . Another possibility is the River Went, a tributary of the River Don, situated to the north of modern-day Doncaster. It could also be in Oswestry or Winwick. The roots of the battle lay in Penda's success in dominating England through a number of military victories, most significantly over the previously dominant Northumbrians.
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The Battle of Maserfield , field Welsh: "Maes Cogwy", was fought on August 5, 641 or 642, between the Anglo-Saxon kings Oswald of Northumbria and... Penda of Mercia, ending in Oswald's defeat, death, and dismemberment. The battle was also known as Cogwy to the Welsh, with their countrymen from Pengwern participating in the battle , probably as allies of the Mercians. Bede reports the commonly accepted date given above; the Welsh Annales Cambriae is generally considered incorrect in giving the year of the battle as 644. The site of the battle is traditionally identified with Oswestry; arguments have been made for and against the accuracy of this identification. Since the death of Oswald's uncle Edwin of Northumbria at Hatfield Chase in 633, the Mercians under Penda had presented an obstacle to the power of Northumbria over the lands of Britain south of the Humber.
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The Battle of Hatfield Chase was fought on October 12, 633 at Hatfield Chase near Doncaster, Yorkshire, in Anglo-Saxon England between the... Northumbrians under Edwin and an alliance of the Welsh of Gwynedd under Cadwallon ap Cadfan and the Mercians under Penda. The site was a marshy area about 8 miles NE of Doncaster on the south bank of the River Don. It was a decisive victory for the Welsh and Mercians: Edwin was killed and his army was defeated, leading to the temporary collapse of the Northumbrian state. Edwin, the most powerful ruler in Britain at the time, had apparently defeated Cadwallon a few years before the battle. Bede refers to Edwin establishing his rule over what he called the Mevanian islands, one of which was Anglesey, and another source refers to Cadwallon being besieged on the island of Priestholm , which is off the coast of Anglesey. Later, Cadwallon defeated and drove the Northumbrians from his territories and then allied with Penda .
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