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'{{Infobox Military Conflict| image=Interpretation boards on the Battle of Crogen (1165).jpg| caption=Interpretation boards close to the battlefield| conflict=Battle of Crogen| partof=| date=1165 | place=[[Ceiriog Valley]]| coordinates={{coord|52.939|-3.104|type:event_region:GB|display=inline,title}}| result=Welsh victory; English retreat| combatant1=Alliance of Welsh armies| combatant2=English [[Angevin Empire|Angevin]] Army| commander1=[[Owain Gwynedd]]| commander2=[[Henry II of England]]| strength1=Unknown| strength2=Unknown, but said to be a large army| casualties1=Unknown| casualties2=Heavy losses in the vanguard|}} The '''Battle of Crogen''' is the name given to an engagement said to have taken place in the [[Ceiriog Valley]], [[Wales]] in 1165, between the [[vanguard]] of the forces of [[Henry II of England]] and an alliance of [[Wales|Welsh]] princes led by [[Owain Gwynedd]]. Although outnumbered, the ambush tactics of the Welsh aided them in their defeat of King Henry's army. Some sources report that adverse weather conditions also played a major part in Henry's defeat.<ref name="Corwen history"/> Most accounts of the events are derived from largely literary sources and it has been suggested that the "battle" should be considered as [[folklore]] rather than as a genuine historical event.<ref name=pratt>Pratt, D. "Crogen: Myth and Reality", ''The Clwyd Historian'', 8 (1981), 18</ref> 19th century and later accounts of the "battle" rely heavily on [[David Powel]]'s 1584 ''Historie of Cambria'', an unreliable historical source. ==Background== Henry II, who planned to conquer [[Wales]] and so expand the [[Angevin Empire]], raised an army at [[Oswestry]] to march to the [[Berwyn range|Berwyn]] mountains, via the Ceiriog Valley, in the summer of 1165.<ref name="Chirk history"/><ref name= "Nelson">{{cite book | last = Nelson | first = Lynn H. | authorlink = Lynn H. Nelson | title = The Normans in South Wales, 1070–1171 | publisher = Austin & London: University of Texas Press | year = 1966 | page = 128 | url = http://historicaltextarchive.com/books.php?op=viewbook&bookid=68}}</ref> Intending to reach the fortresses of [[Rhuddlan]] and [[Basingwerk]]{{Dubious|date=December 2008}},<ref>J.M. Edwards, ''Flintshire'', Cambridge, 1914, p. [https://books.google.be/books?id=3YCodT2YHY4C&pg=PA98 98].</ref> Henry II expected resistance and recruited a sizeable force from his kingdoms.<ref name="Owain"/> Owain, hearing of the invasion, raised an army at [[Corwen]] in response, comprising forces from all over Wales. Including his own forces of [[Kingdom of Gwynedd|Gwynedd]], led by himself and his brother [[Cadwaladr]], the alliance of princes was made up of men from [[Deheubarth]], under the leadership of [[Rhys ap Gruffudd]], and troops from [[Kingdom of Powys|Powys]].<ref name="Corwen history">{{cite book | last = Lewis | first = Samuel | authorlink = Samuel Lewis (publisher) | title = A Topographical Dictionary of Wales | publisher = Samuel Lewis | edition = Fourth | year = 1849 | location = London | pages = 253–262 | url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=47815#s5}}</ref> ==The battle== [[File:Red Plaque - Battle of Crogen geograph-3604117-by-BrianPritchard.jpg|thumb|left|Red plaque of the Battle of Crogen]] Henry's army had the advantage of greater numbers, so Owain's tactics were to raid and ambush.<ref name= "Owain">{{cite web | title = Owain Gwynedd | date = 2002 | url = http://everything2.com/e2node/Owain%2520Gwynedd | accessdate = 2008-12-20}}</ref> He planted [[skirmisher]]s in the thick woods overlooking the pass Henry would take.<ref name= "Lloyd">{{cite book | last = Lloyd | first = J. E. | title = A History of Wales; From the Norman Invasion to the Edwardian Conquest | publisher = Barnes & Noble Publishing | year = 2004 | pages = 111–114}}</ref> When Henry's army advanced into the densely wooded Ceiriog Valley, the Welsh defenders assailed them repeatedly from their positions of cover. Realising the vulnerability of his army, Henry II ordered 2000 [[woodsmen]] to clear trees and widen the passage, allowing his forces to move more freely and quickly through the pass.<ref name="Lloyd"/> The woodsmen were protected by the best of Henry's army and a powerful vanguard of [[pikemen]], but their resistance was only effective for a short period.<ref name="Chirk history"/> While the woodsmen cut the trees – his forces were ambushed at the point of [[Offa's Dyke]] (which then straddled the valley floor) at the point where "[[Oak at the Gate of the Dead|The Great Oak of the Gate of the Dead]]" now stands.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/north_east/8508158.stm Cold weather splits 1,200-year-old oak]</ref> – a strong force of Owain's troops emerged and assaulted Henry's vanguard, inflicting severe losses.<ref name="Lloyd"/> This engagement was later known as the Battle of Crogen. Henry came within a whisker of losing his life, if not for the brave action of Hugh de St Clare, the Constable of Oakwood Castle, who sacrificed his own life when he threw himself in front of a shaft meant for his King. The English forces disengaged and did indeed reach the Berwyn mountains but, hit hard by the Welsh armies, were forced to retreat from Wales altogether when Owain's forces succeeded in cutting off their supplies.<ref name="Nelson"/><ref name= "Chirk history">{{cite book | last = Lewis | first = Samuel | authorlink = Samuel Lewis (publisher) | title = A Topographical Dictionary of Wales | publisher = Samuel Lewis | edition = Fourth | year = 1849 | location = London | page = 241 | url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=47813#s1}}</ref><ref name="Corwen history"/> ==Aftermath== Estimates of the losses suffered in the battle of Crogen vary, most modern historians consider them to have been relatively light with the English army suffering the bulk of the casualties. The place where this clash occurred is called Adwy'r Beddau, "the Pass of the Graves".<ref name= "Chirk history"/> His attempt at suppression of the Welsh and gaining control of Wales a failure, Henry II ordered Welsh hostages to be brought to him at [[Shrewsbury]], and there oversaw the mutilation of twenty-two prisoners, two of whom were Owain's sons.<ref name= "Lloyd"/><ref name= "Owain"/> Forced to abandon the conquest of Wales, Henry returned to his court at [[Anjou]], while retaliation for the twenty-two tortured hostages was carried out on Normans throughout the Welsh lands.<ref name= "Owain"/> ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==External links== * [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=47813 History of Chirk] {{DEFAULTSORT:Crogen, Battle of}} [[Category:12th century in Wales]] [[Category:Battles involving England]] [[Category:Battles involving Wales]] [[Category:1165 in Europe]] [[Category:Conflicts in 1165]] [[Category:Henry II of England]] [[Category:1165 in Wales]] [[Category:England–Wales relations]]'