Retrieved October 18, 2020 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/edington-battle. Battle of the Spurs:1 Fought in 1302 near Courtrai, Belgium, between the rebellious Flemish towns, led by Bruges, and an army sen…, Vimeiro The chronicle was compiled during the reign of Alfred the Great and is thus a contemporary record. From there they marched in force to Edington, where Alfred challenged Guthrun to do battle. File:Asser facsimile.png The primary sources for the location of the battle are Asser's Life of King Alfred, which names the place as "Ethandun" and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which has Eðandune. "Edington, battle of This started in 875 when Guthrum's army “eluded the West Saxon levies and got into Wareham”. [27] A charter records a meeting of the king's council at Eðandun, although a later scribe has annotated the same document with Eðandune. After the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of East Anglia, Mercia, and Northumbria had been conquered by the Danish army, Wessex in southern England held out against the invaders. [34][35] Arguments for the alternative sites were generally name-based, although with the large interest in everything Alfredian in the 19th century, any site that had an Alfred connection could be guaranteed large numbers of tourists, so this was also a driving force to find a link. [4] In 836, Ecgberht of Wessex met in battle a force of thirty-five ships at Carhampton,[4] and in 838 he faced a combined force of Vikings and Cornishmen at Hingston Down in Cornwall. Surely, even at a distance of 1100+ years, these numbers are pure speculation. Announcing our NEW encyclopedia for Kids! Alfred's fyrd used a tactic familiar to the Roman infantry, called a shield wall. The first major battle of the Peninsular War. BY DAVID ROSS, EDITOR. [29] The Domesday book has an entry for Romsey Abbey holding land at Edendone (Wilt'schire) at the time of Edward the Confessor and also in 1086, and this is known to be at Edington, Wiltshire. [3] After the sacking of Lindisfarne the raids around the coasts were somewhat sporadic till the 830s, when the attacks became more sustained.
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[45], In 885 Asser reports that the Viking army that had settled in East Anglia had broken in a most insolent manner the peace they had established with Alfred, although Guthrum is not mentioned.
WHEN May, 878 AD WHERE Ethandun (Edington), near Trowbridge, Wiltshire WHO Danes under Guthrum vs. Saxons under King Alfred of Wessex WHY
When Spring arrived, he summoned his forces and marched to Edington, where he challenged the Northmen to a battle. The kingdom of Mercia was divided up, with part going to Alfred's Wessex and the other part to Guthrum's East Anglia. Only the victory of Alfred the Great at Edington saved Anglo-Saxon independence.
The battle soon resulted in the Treaty of Wedmore later the same year. The battle features in several historical novels and dramas: TO COMMEMORATE THE BATTLE OF ETHANDUN FOUGHT IN THIS VICINITY MAY 878 AD WHEN KING ALFRED THE GREAT DEFEATED THE VIKING ARMY, GIVING BIRTH TO THE ENGLISH NATIONHOOD.
The Oxford Companion to British History. Hastings, battle of, 1066. [22] In 1904 William Henry Stevenson analysed possible sites and said "So far, there is nothing to prove the identity of this Eðandune [as named in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle] with Edington" but then goes on to say that "there can be little reason for questioning it".
After the disaster at Chippenham in January 878, Alfred was reduced for some months to guerrilla warfare from the marshes around Athelney. The Viking king of East Anglia, Guthrum, had launched invasions of Wessex in 875 (taking Wareham) and 876-877 (targeting Exeter), but he was twice bribed to retreat by King Alfred in order to buy time. WHY Ethandun (Edington), near Trowbridge, Wiltshire, WHO The short term result of the victory at Edington was the withdrawal of Guthrun and his Danish forces to the area we now call The Danelaw.
Skorpa then rode in between the shield walls and threw Iseult's severed head at Uhtred, taunting him about showing no mercy. [8] He made several attacks on Wessex, starting in 875, and in the last nearly captured Alfred in his winter fortress at Chippenham. When spring came, Alfred sent out a call to his fyrd, or army, to assemble at an unknown place called Egbert's Stone. The first we read of Alfred after the disaster at Chippenham is around Easter, when he built a fortress at Athelney.
[7] So he retreated to the south, preparing himself and his forces for another battle, and then defeated Guthrum and his host.
Britain Express is a labour of love by David Ross, an avid historian, photographer, and 'Britain-ophile'. By 878, after a decade of war between the pagan Great Heathen Army of Vikings and the Christian Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England, Wessex was the only remaining Anglo-Saxon kingdom in Britannia. Simon Adams is a historian and writer living and working in London.
The Yorkist leadership fled abroad after its ignominious and precipitate f…, Battle of the Spurs In addition, he and his captains were baptised into Christianity. Encyclopedias almanacs transcripts and maps. Questions or concerns? With his small warband, a fraction of his army at Chippenham, Alfred could not hope to retake the town from the Danes, who had in previous battles (for example at Reading in 871) proved themselves adept at defending fortified positions. The fact that his army could not defend the fortified Chippenham, even in "an age... as yet untrained in siege warfare"[10] casts great doubt on its ability to defeat the Danes in an open field, unaided by fortifications. In January 878, under their leader Guthrum, the Danes struck back with a surprise attack against Alfred at his winter fortress at Chippenham. Hist. The converted Guthrum took the baptismal name of Athelstan. In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. [4] In 865/866 it escalated further on the arrival of what the Saxons called the Great Heathen Army. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Free entry to English Heritage properties throughout England, plus discounted admission to Historic Scotand and Cadw properties in Scotland and Wales. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Alfred succeeded in forcing the Danes to withdraw to Mercia, but the reprieve was brief. A defeat at Ashdown had paused, but not halted their advance.
. The king was lucky to escape, taking refuge with a handful of followers in the depths of the Somerset marshes at Athelney. They launched a winter attack on a surprised King Alfred at his court of Chippenham. . [11] This they did, spending the rest of 877 (by the Gregorian calendar) in Gloucester. [9] They then gave hostages and oaths to leave the country to Alfred, who paid them off. Alfred was a realist; he realised that he could never hope to drive the Danes out of the rest of England. Battle of Edington -- (May 878) was a battle which took place near Edington (then known as "Ethandun") in the county of Wiltshire in South west England. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. Encyclopedia.com.
Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. In the 9th century, the Danes had been steadily invading England, pushing and prodding the Anglo-Saxon residents.
They then besieged Guthrum for two weeks, starving him into surrender.
January 13, 2020 Hunter Wallace Britain, Christianity, History, Identity 3. Meanwhile, the Danish raider Skorpa of the White Horse, dismayed at the loss of ground, led a raid on the Anglo-Saxon camp, slaughtering the camp followers, including Queen Iseult of Cornwall, Uhtred's lover. These tremendous tokens were soon followed by a great famine: and not long after, on the sixth day before the ides of January in the same year, the harrowing inroads of heathen men made lamentable havoc in the church of God in Holy-island (Lindisfarne), by rapine and slaughter.
The king of the Vikings was afterwards baptized into the Christian church. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Skip ahead to 27:00 in the first video. Bannockburn, battle of, 1314. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. The men of even one shire could be a formidable fighting force, as those of Devon proved in the same year, defeating an army under Ubbe Ragnarsson at the Battle of Cynwit.
Uhtred of Bebbanburg led the Anglo-Saxon shield wall as it pressed against the Danes, and, when the Danish warrior Ragnar Ragnarsson had his shield wall withdraw, Uhtred also had his shield wall hold its ground. Although these articles may currently differ in style from others on the site, they allow us to provide wider coverage of topics sought by our readers, through a diverse range of trusted voices. After hearing of Guthrum's success, the Frisian Viking leader Ubbe Ragnarrsson led a fleet of 23 ships from South Wales to northern Devon near the fortress of Arx Cynuit, intending to corner Alfred in a pincer movement.
Reinvading Wessex, they captured Wareham and, in 877, occupied Exeter. In the meantime, more information about the article and the author can be found by clicking on the author’s name. Edington, battle of, 878. [25][26] Edington, Wiltshire, is known to have been part of Alfred's family estate. Edington parish church. 18 Oct. 2020
In a fierce battle that lasted all day, Alfred's men wore down the Danes. Alfred stood godfather to him and raised him from the font. Fought on 14 October at what is now Battle (Sussex), where William the Conqueror ordered the construct…, Battle of Northampton
Alfred’s warriors, fighting on foot, confronted the Danes with a dense shield wall. The Battle of Edington (May 878) was a battle which took place near Edington in the county of Wiltshire in the south-west of England.. [47], Also in 879, according to Asser, another Viking army sailed up the River Thames and wintered at Fulham.
There was little that Alfred could do about the Danish menace between 875 and the end of 877, beyond repeatedly paying the invaders off.