Background
When Cadafael's predecessor Cadwallon ap Cadfan came to the throne c. 625, the fortunes of the Kingdom of Gwynedd were at low ebb. Edwin of Northumbria was everywhere successful, having conquered and absorbed the Cymry of Elmet and decisively defeated the Welsh at Chester in 616. Edwin would launch a successful occupation of Lindsey in 625, and he invaded and defeated Wessex in 626. He would also invade and occupy Anglesey, besieging Cadwallon on Ynys Seiriol (English: Island of Saint Seiriol), off easternmost Anglesey, and forcing him to flee to Ireland.
When Cadwallon returned he was able to restore Gwynedd to a position of viability. This was largely accomplished through an alliance of the Welsh kings of Gwynedd, Powys, and Pengwern with the ambitious Penda, king of Anglian Mercia, who like the Welsh was threatened by Edwin's successes. Together they would contest Northumbria's rise, and the alliance would ultimately defeat and kill Edwin in 633 at the Battle of Hatfield Chase (Welsh: Gwaith Meigen) near Doncaster in South Yorkshire. Northumbria was then split back into its separate predecessor kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira, and Cadwallon defeated and killed their new kings, Eanfrith of Bernicia and Osric of Deira, as well. Northumbria's core lands were then devastated.
Cadwallon's success had brought renewed hope for a bright future, but it was transitory. Eanfrith's Bernician successor Oswald would reunite Northumbria into one kingdom, leading off at the Battle of Heavenfield (Bellum Cantscaul in the Annales Cambriae) near Hexham in 634, where he defeated and killed Cadwallon.
Read more about this topic: Cadafael Cadomedd Ap Cynfeddw
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