Penda

Nennius says Penda slew Oswald at the "battle of Cocboy," and that "he gained the victory by diabolical agency."

A similar interpretation will equally apply to Winwidfield, near Leeds, the scene of Penda's subsequent defeat and death.

Penda remained its rallying point; and the long reign of the Mercian king was in fact one continuous battle with the Cross.

But so far as we can judge from his acts, Penda seemed to have looked on the strife of religion in a purely political light.