Battle of Cirencester

Battle of Cirencester
Date 628 Location Cirencester, Hwicce (in modern-day England) Result Mercian victory; Mercia takes control of the Severn Valley and the territory of the Hwicce
Belligerents
Mercia	Gewisse
Commanders and leaders
Penda	Cynegils and Cwichelm

The Battle of Cirencester was fought in 628 at Cirencester in modern-day England. The conflict involved the armies of Mercia, under King Penda, and the Gewisse (predecessors of the West Saxons), under Kings Cynegils and Cwichelm.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (A) states:

628. Here Cynegils and Cwichelm fought against Penda at Cirencester, and then came to an agreement. ^[1]

This suggests that the Gewisse were defeated.

Cirencester had nominally been under the influence of the Gewisse since Battle of Dyrham in 577, although archaeological evidence suggests Anglo-Saxon settlement near the Roman town from the mid sixth century. ^[2] Henceforward the region would be controlled by the minor kingdom of the Hwicce. ^[3]

References

1. Swanton, Michael (2000). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. London: Phoenix. p. 24.
2. Heighway, Catherine (1996). "Context of the Kemble burials". Transactions Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society. 114: 14–54.
3. Yorke, Barbara (1990). Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London: Routledge. p. 136.

51°43′08″N1°58′05″W / 51.719°N 1.968°W / 51.719; -1.968