Battle of Moel-y-don

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Battle of Moel-y-don
Date 1282 Location Menai Strait Result Welsh victory
Belligerents
Norman led English	North Welsh
Commanders
Luke de Tany	Llywelyn ap Gruffydd
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
300+	Light

The Battle of Moel-y-don was a battle fought in the 1282 Welsh war between the Welsh and the English.

Contents 1 Background 2 The battle 3 Aftermath 4 References

[edit] Background

During the 1282 Welsh war, Edward I had a plan to strike his armies into Wales on multiple fronts in order to surround the armies of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd and destroy them. Edward sent the former constable of Gascony Luke de Tany and his army to capture Anglesey and strike northern Wales.

[edit] The battle

Luke de Tany managed to successfully capture Anglesey from the Welsh. Following this victory, him and his men began to construct a boat bridge connected by pontoons connecting Anglesey to the mainland. Edward's plan was to send his men across the Conwy while de Tany crossed the Menai and struck down on Llywelyn from the north, effectively causing a two-pronged attack that would strike the Welsh a devastating blow. However de Tany ignored the plan, believing he could defeat the Welsh without Edward's aid. Luke de Tany had contacted some of the clergy in Bangor who had promised to aid him in the assault by giving the English a signal when the time was right for them to attack. The bridge was finished in September that year, and on November the 6th, de Tany and his men crossed the bridge having been signaled to attack. Llywelyn ap Gruffydd was somehow alerted to the crossing however, and emerged with a large army to meet the crossing English. Few of the Normans managed to reach the other side in time, and they where surrounded and killed by the Welsh army. In a mass panic, the rest of de Tany's army tried to flee back to Anglesey across the bridge, however the majority of them drowned due to their heavy armour dragging them under the sea. Walter of Guisborough wrote an account of the battle:

"When they had reached the foot of the mountain and, after a time, came to a place at some distance from the bridge, the tide came in with a great flow, so that they were unable to get back to the bridge for the debt of water. The Welsh came from the high mountains and attacked them, and in fear and trepidation, for the great number of the enemy, our men preferred to face the sea than the enemy. They went into the sea but, heavily laden with arms, they were instantly drowned."

The bridge of boats collapsed under the fleeing Normans, and very few men made it back to Anglesey. Luke de Tany, 16 of his knights and a further 300 men either drowned or were slain and the Welsh suffered few casualties.

[edit] Aftermath

Llywelyn's popularity was greatly boosted among the Welsh people following this victory. This battle and The Battle of Llandeilo Fawr had greatly spoiled Edward's plan to invade Wales.

[edit] References

• Stephenson, David (1983). The Last Prince of Wales: Llywelyn and King Edward: the End of the Welsh Dream, 1282-3. Barracuda Books. pp. 51-54. ISBN 0860231739.