10 hours ago
- General
- Powys County Times
The Battle of Pilleth regaled upon 623rd anniversary
TODAY marks the anniversary of the Battle of Pilleth - one of the most pivotal battles in Welsh history.
The battle, also known as the Battle of Bryn Glas, was waged between Knighton and Presteigne by forces loyal to Owain Glyndwr who led a rebellion against the English from 1400-1415.
In 1402 the war reached Powys.
The war broke out amid turmoil across England with King Richard II dying in prison in 1400 after being overthrown by Henry Bolingbroke who would be declared King Henry IV.
An ally of the new king, Reginald Grey, baron of Ruthin, then sparked a Welsh rebellion when he seized lands owned by Glyndwr who was falsely accused of treason.
The result was a 15 year war waged across Wales with Powys often centre stage.
This almost brings us up to the legendary 1402 battle.
In June, Glyndwr and his forces visited Knighton - close enough to the garrison town of Leominster and prompted a confrontation with forces loyal to Sir Edmund Mortimer.
The Wigmore Chronicle says the battle site was 'upon the hill called Bryn Glas in Maelienydd near Knighton'.
Glyndwr divided his army with his archers armed with the powerful longbow placed on the slopes of the hill while the remainder were concealed in a valley to the left of the hill.
As the battle waged several Welsh archers in Mortimer's army defected and loosed arrows against their former comrades with several prominent nobles loyal to the new king falling in battle.
Mortimer was captured and King Henry abandoned him to his fate which ironically led to the Marches noble renouncing his allegiance and married Glyndwr's daughter.
Legend says the corpses of the fallen English soldiers were mutilated by women who had accompanied the Welsh solders as revenge for past invasions on Welsh soil.
However, historians claim this could well have been propaganda as the English nobles sought to deflect the impact of defeat which saw more than 1,000 English soldiers killed.
The English dead lay unburied and the stench caused the area to be avoided for months and war continued for another 13 years.
