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Glyndŵr's First Victory: The Battle of Hyddgen, 1401
The battle of Hyddgen (1401) was Owain Glyndwr's first great victory - crucial in the success of the famous rebellion. Ian Fleming explains lucidly the background and all known details of the battle where 500 Welshmen outfought 1500 Flemish soldiers.
80 pages, Paperback
First published August 3, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 21, 2025
The Battle of Mynydd Hyddgen is known to us by only one historical source, which says:
The next summer after that, Owain rose up with six score wicked men and thieves, and he brought them as to war into the uplands of Ceredigion. And fifteen hundred men from the lowland of Ceredigion and Rhos and Pembroke assembled there and they came to the mountain to try to capture Owain. And on Hyddgant Mountain was the encounter between them, and as soon as the English host turned their backs to flee, two hundred of them were killed. And then great praise came to Owain, and there rose up with him a great part of the youth and the wicked men from every region of Wales until there was a great host with him.
That is all. There are no supporting muster roles nor dispatches, nor reports of ransom or casualties. Some historians have wondered if it even happened, although the general consensus is that it did (owing to its explanatory power for later responses from Henry IV).
All the same, on such meagre information, it would be hard to write a whole book about this battle. Yet Fleming has a good go at it. He reviews a wide range of (rather old) secondary sources, and incorporates apparent oral traditions. Various opinions have been expressed about the babttle (such as the number of Welsh men at arms would, one Victorian antiquarian points out, have been supplemented by archers). Such detail is well researched and incorporated, and inasmuch as Fleming has diligently searched this out and presented it with attribution, it is all good. But then he launches into his own theory, that has the Welsh surprised in thier own domain, forced into a siege, and eventually breaking out of that siege. That is all just speculation. It doesn't follow from the secondary sources, and clearly isn't in the primary one. It's just an idea he likes.
For a much better theory, written by an actual military historian, one might prefer to read Michael Livingston's article in the Journal of Medieval Military History: Volume XIII, or this article he wrote in Medieval Warfare: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/4857... .
Nevertheless, read critically, Fleming's book has its place as he does find a lot of what has been said about this battle. If it ever happened.
The next summer after that, Owain rose up with six score wicked men and thieves, and he brought them as to war into the uplands of Ceredigion. And fifteen hundred men from the lowland of Ceredigion and Rhos and Pembroke assembled there and they came to the mountain to try to capture Owain. And on Hyddgant Mountain was the encounter between them, and as soon as the English host turned their backs to flee, two hundred of them were killed. And then great praise came to Owain, and there rose up with him a great part of the youth and the wicked men from every region of Wales until there was a great host with him.
That is all. There are no supporting muster roles nor dispatches, nor reports of ransom or casualties. Some historians have wondered if it even happened, although the general consensus is that it did (owing to its explanatory power for later responses from Henry IV).
All the same, on such meagre information, it would be hard to write a whole book about this battle. Yet Fleming has a good go at it. He reviews a wide range of (rather old) secondary sources, and incorporates apparent oral traditions. Various opinions have been expressed about the babttle (such as the number of Welsh men at arms would, one Victorian antiquarian points out, have been supplemented by archers). Such detail is well researched and incorporated, and inasmuch as Fleming has diligently searched this out and presented it with attribution, it is all good. But then he launches into his own theory, that has the Welsh surprised in thier own domain, forced into a siege, and eventually breaking out of that siege. That is all just speculation. It doesn't follow from the secondary sources, and clearly isn't in the primary one. It's just an idea he likes.
For a much better theory, written by an actual military historian, one might prefer to read Michael Livingston's article in the Journal of Medieval Military History: Volume XIII, or this article he wrote in Medieval Warfare: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/4857... .
Nevertheless, read critically, Fleming's book has its place as he does find a lot of what has been said about this battle. If it ever happened.
December 24, 2020
Evokes the area beautifully. One of my favourite running areas, much like Culloden you can feel the history as you venture into this timeless wilderness. The book is a great companion piece for anyone with an interest in both Welsh and British history.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews