Battle of Dun Nechtain 685
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
About the battle
The Battle of Dun Nechtain or Battle of Nechtansmere (Old Irish: Cath Dúin Nechtáin; Old Welsh: Gueith Linn Garan) was fought between the Picts, led by King Bridei Mac Bili, and the Northumbrians, led by King Ecgfrith, on 20 May 685.
The Northumbrian hegemony over northern Britain, won by Ecgfrith's predecessors, had begun to disintegrate. Several of Northumbria's subject nations had rebelled in recent years, leading to a number of large-scale battles against the Picts, Mercians and Irish, with varied success. After sieges of neighbouring territories carried out by the Picts, Ecgfrith led his forces against them, despite advice to the contrary, in an effort to reassert his suzerainty over the Pictish nations.
A feigned retreat by the Picts drew the Northumbrians into an ambush at Dun Nechtain near the lake of Linn Garan. The battle site has long been thought to have been near the present-day village of Dunnichen in Angus. Recent research, however, has suggested a more northerly location near Dunachton, on the shores of Loch Insh in Badenoch and Strathspey.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Dun Nechtain (revision 1370439482), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Stracathro 1130 · 15 km
- Battle of Barry 1010 · 15 km
- Siege of St Andrews Castle 1546 · 32 km
- Battle of Mons Graupius AD 83 · 34 km
- Battle of Dunsinane 1054 · 34 km
- Battle of the North Inch 1396 · 46 km
Browse more: battles in Scotland · Europe · Medieval battles