Battle of Two Rivers

Moncrieffe Island near Perth; suggested location of the Battle of Two Rivers

Date	671
Location	uncertain
Result	Northumbrian victory

Belligerents

Picts

Northumbrians

Commanders and leaders

Drest VI

Ecgfrith

The Battle of Two Rivers was fought between the Picts and Northumbrians in the year 671. The exact battle site is unknown. It marked the end of the Pictish rebellion early in the reign of Ecgfrith, with a decisive victory to the Northumbrians. Attestation of the battle is limited to the account in Stephen of Ripon's Vita Sancti Wilfrithi.

During the 7th century, the Northumbrians gradually extended their territory to the north. The Annals of Tigernach record a siege of "Etain" in 638, which has been interpreted as Northumbria's conquest of Din Eidyn (Edinburgh) during the reign of Oswald, marking the annexation of Gododdin territories to the south of the River Forth.

To the north of the Forth, the Pictish nations consisted at this time of the kingdom of Fortriu to the north of the Mounth, and a "Southern Pictish Zone", to the south, stretching as far as the Forth. Evidence from the 8th century Anglo-Saxon historian, Bede points to the Picts also being subjugated by the Northumbrians during Oswald's reign, and that this subjugation continued into the reign of his successor, Oswiu.

Ecgfrith succeeded Oswiu as king of Northumbria in 670. Ecgfrith's kingdom was said to have been 'weak' on his ascent to the throne. In 671, word reached Ecgfrith that the Picts, under the command of the Verturian king, Drest mac Donuel, were preparing to rebel and overthrow the Northumbrian hegemony.

The record and description of the battle is limited entirely to Stephen of Ripon's account in his Vita Sancti Wilfrithi. According to this account, Ecgfrith became aware of the Picts plans to overthrow the Northumbrian suzerainty and he hastily assembled an invasion force of horsemen. He headed north, aided by his subking Beornhæth, who historian James Fraser suggests may have ruled the southern Pictish kingdom of Niuduera, identified as being located in present-day Fife.

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