The Siege of Exeter or the Siege of Caer-Uisc was a military conflict that took place in or around AD 630

630

Year 630 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 630 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Byzantine Empire :* Croats and Serbs settle in the...

, between the Mercians

Mercia

Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...

, led by Penda of Mercia

Penda of Mercia

Penda was a 7th-century King of Mercia, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom in what is today the English Midlands. A pagan at a time when Christianity was taking hold in many of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Penda took over the Severn Valley in 628 following the Battle of Cirencester before participating in the...

, and Britons occupying Caer-Uisc (Exeter

Exeter

Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...

) in the kingdom of Dumnonia

Dumnonia

Dumnonia is the Latinised name for the Brythonic kingdom in sub-Roman Britain between the late 4th and late 8th centuries, located in the farther parts of the south-west peninsula of Great Britain...

. Penda laid siege to the settlement until the exiled British High King

King of the Britons

The Britons or Brythons were the Celtic-speaking people of what is now England, Wales and southern Scotland, whose ethnic identity is today maintained by the Welsh, Cornish and Bretons...

 Cadwallon

Cadwallon ap Cadfan

Cadwallon ap Cadfan was the King of Gwynedd from around 625 until his death in battle. The son and successor of Cadfan ap Iago, he is best remembered as the King of the Britons who invaded and conquered Northumbria, defeating and killing its king, Edwin, prior to his own death in battle against...

 of Gwynedd

Gwynedd

Gwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although the second biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated...

, arrived to confront him. An alliance between British and Mercian forces followed, secured by Cadwallon's marriage to Alcfrith, Penda's sister, and they marched north to face the armies of Northumbria (who were occpying Gwynedd) at the Battle of Cefn Digoll

Battle of Cefn Digoll

The Battle of Cefn Digoll, also known as the Battle of the Long Mynd, was a battle fought at Long Mountain near Welshpool, Powys, in 630. The battle was fought between the Northumbrian army of King Edwin of Deira an anti-Northumbrian alliance between King Cadwallon of Gwynedd and Penda of Mercia...

.

The Flores Historiarum

Flores Historiarum

The Flores Historiarum is a Latin chronicle dealing with English history from the creation to 1326 . It was compiled by various persons and quickly acquired contemporary popularity, for it was continued by many hands in many manuscript traditions...

 (attributed incorrectly to Matthew of Westminster

Matthew of Westminster

Matthew of Westminster, long regarded as the author of the Flores Historiarum, is now thought never to have existed.The error was first discovered in 1826 by Francis Turner Palgrave, who said that Matthew was "a phantom who never existed," and later the truth of this statement was completely proved...

) recalls that the Britons were still in possession of Exeter in 632, when it was bravely defended against Penda of Mercia until relieved by Cadwallon, who engaged and defeated the Mercians with great slaughter to the their troops. Geoffrey of Monmouth

Geoffrey of Monmouth

Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...

 also paints a particularly colourful account of the siege in his pseudo-historic Historia Brittonum, stating Cadwallon made an alliance with the British nobility.