Somme (river) invasion fleet of William the Conqueror assembled in the Bay of the Somme, at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme. The river also featured in the 1346 withdrawal of Edward III of England's army, which forded the river at the Battle of Blanchetaque during the campaign, which culminated in the Battle of Crécy. Crossing the river also featured prominently in the campaign which led to the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. In 1636, a Spanish army led by Thomas Francis, prince of Carignan, crossed the Somme defeating a French army during the Thirty Years War threatening Paris. Most famously, the Battle of the Somme, during
Battle of the Winwaed Battle of the Winwaed The Battle of the Winwaed (Welsh: "Maes Gai"; ) was fought on 15 November 655 between King Penda of Mercia and Oswiu of Bernicia, ending in the Mercians' defeat and Penda's death. The battle marked the effective demise of Anglo-Saxon paganism. "Winwœd" or "winwæd" Old English, from the elements "winnan or win" ("strife", "fight") and "wæd" ("shallow water", "ford"). Although the battle is said to be the most important between the early northern and southern divisions of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain, few details are available. The two armies met on the banks of a river named