What is Battle of Maserfield?
The '''Battle of Maserfield''' ({{lang-cy|Cogwy}}) was fought on 5 August 642. It was mainly between the armies of the [[Christian]] [[king]] [[Oswald of Northumbria]] and the [[pagan]] King [[Penda of Mercia]]. The battle ended in Oswald's death and his army's defeat. The site of the battle is reported to be at [[Oswestry]] in [[Shropshire]]. == Background == King Oswald's uncle, King [[Edwin of Northumbria]], was killed at the [[Battle of Hatfield Chase]] in 633 by Penda and his [[:wikt:ally|ally]] [[Cadwallon ap Cadfan]].<ref>John Davies, ''A History of Wales'' (London: Penguin Books, 1994), p. 63</ref> After the battle Cadwallon and Penda began slaughtering the people of [[Northumbria]]. This included men, women and children.<ref name=Bede140>Bede, ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'', trans. Leo Sherley Price, revsd. R. E. Latham (London; New York: Penguin, 1990), p. 140</ref> Northumbria fell apart and was divided into its two former [[kingdom]]s of [[Deira]] and [[Bernicia]].<ref name=Blair194>Peter Hunter Blair, ''Roman Britain and Early England 55 B.C.–A.D 871'' (New York; London: W. W. Norton & Company, 1963), p. 194</ref> Oswald defeated and killed Cadwallon ap Cadfan at the [[Battle of Heavenfield]] in 634. After that Oswald reunited Northumbria into a single kingdom.<ref>Rudolf Abraham, ''St Oswald's Way and St Cuthbert's Way'' (Milnthorpe, Cumbria: Cicerone, 2013), p. 26</ref> Oswald was considered a ''[[:en:bretwalda|bretwalda]]'' by Bede, the fourth such [[:wikt:overlord|overlord]] over the other [[Anglo-Saxon]] kings.<ref>Frank Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971), p. 34</ref> Penda remained a constant [[:wikt:threat|threat]] but was kept busy fighting the [[East Anglia|East Angles]] and making new [[:wikt:alliance|alliances]] with the [[Welsh people|Welsh]].<ref name=Ashley251>Mike Ashley, ''The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens'' (New York: Carroll & Graf, 1999), p. 251</ref> Oswald also created several similar alliances in an effort to c