Battle of Crug Mawr

Part of the Norman campaigns in Wales

Date	October 1136
Location	Crug Mawr, two miles from Cardigan 52°05′46″N 4°37′16″W / 52.096°N 4.621°W / 52.096; -4.621Coordinates: 52°05′46″N 4°37′16″W / 52.096°N 4.621°W / 52.096; -4.621
Result	Decisive Welsh victory

Belligerents

Welsh forces from Gwynedd and Deheubarth

Norman forces from all the south Wales lordships

Commanders and leaders

Owain Gwynedd Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd

Gruffydd ap Rhys

Robert fitz Martin, Robert fitz Stephen and

Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Lanstephan

Strength

6000 infantrymen

2000 cavalrymen

Several thousand

Casualties and losses

Said to be light

3,000 killed

Owain Gwynedd Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd

Robert fitz Martin, Robert fitz Stephen and

6000 infantrymen

The Battle of Crug Mawr ('Great Barrow') took place in September or October 1136, as part of a struggle for control of Ceredigion which had been captured by the Normans.

A Welsh revolt against Norman rule had begun in South Wales, where on 1 January 1136 the Welsh won a victory over the local Norman forces at the Battle of Llwchwr between Loughor and Swansea, killing about 500 of their opponents. Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare, the Norman lord of Ceredigion, had been away from his lordship in the early part of the year. Returning to the borders of Wales in April, he ignored warnings of the danger and pressed on towards Ceredigion with a small force. He had not gone far when he was ambushed and killed by the men of Iorwerth ab Owain, grandson of Caradog ap Gruffydd (the penultimate prince of Gwent).

The news of Richard's death led to an invasion by the forces of Gwynedd, led by Owain Gwynedd and Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd, sons of the king of Gwynedd, Gruffudd ap Cynan. They captured a number of castles in northern Ceredigion before returning home to dispose of the plunder. Around Michaelmas (11 October in the Julian Calendar used at the time) they again invaded Ceredigion and made an alliance with Gruffydd ap Rhys of Deheubarth. The combined forces headed for the town of Cardigan. This army was said to include hundreds of armoured horsemen, a style of warfare which the Welsh had learnt from the Normans.

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