[14] The Danes promptly slipped off to Exeter, even deeper into Alfred's kingdom, where they concluded in the autumn of 877 a "firm peace" with Alfred,[13] under terms that entailed their leaving his kingdom and not returning. The Danes attacked Chippenham "in midwinter after Twelfth Night",[13] probably during the night of 67 January 878. The decisive victory of the Wessex levies forced Guthrum to sue for peace and give hostages. The Oxford Companion to British History. Update now. This post on the Battle of Ethandun is adapted from, and provides additional materials for, my book, King Alfred: A Man on the Move, available from Amazon and book shops. The Oxford Companion to British History. The Vikings return to Norway but banish Hvitserk. Other writers place the battle near Starveall, a short distance north of the village of Aldworth and south east of Lowbury Hill. George Brayton Biography, Ivar, with a small party of warriors and shield-maidens, went to steal horses for the army. This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Viking Invasion of British Isles across 26 in-depth pages. Battle of Edington - Battle in Wiltshire at which Alfred the Great defeated a Danish army, forcing them to withdraw from Wessex into East Anglia Battle of Edington, 878 Home - Book Shop - Wars - Battles - Biographies - Timeline - Weapons - Blog - Full Index - Subjects - Concepts - Country - Documents - Pictures & Maps Once a sufficient force of levies had been raised, they marched to Edington, where Alfred engaged Guthrum's warriors in one final, definitive battle. In Search of the Dark Ages. https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/edington-battle, "Edington, battle of In 878 Alfred the Great, king of the Wessex, attacked the Danish territory of England. The Tudor historian Polydore Vergil appears to have misread the ancient texts for the battle site as he places it at Abyndoniam (Abingdon) instead of Edington. [11] In the spring of 878, he summoned his West Saxon forces and marched to Edington, where he met the Danes, led by Guthrum, in battle. "Episode 1.8" At one point, Ragnar is knocked to the ground by a Saxon, but Uhtred saves him by knocking the Saxon down. By May he was ready to attack again and encountered Guthrum's Danes at Edington, near Westbury on the Wiltshire downs. This fabulous KS2 Anglo Saxon Kings and Vikings lesson pack contains everything you need to teach an amazing History class. [27], The location of the battle accepted by most present-day historians is at Edington, near Westbury in Wiltshire. [4].mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}, "This year dire forwarnings came over the land of the Northhumbrians, and miserably terrified the people; these were excessive whirlwinds, and lightnings; and fiery dragons were seen flying in the air. The importance of the Battle of Edington, A.D. 878: a lecture given at the annual meeting of the Friends of Edington Priory Church, August 27th, 1977 Title: The importance of the Battle of Edington, A.D. 878: a lecture given at the annual meeting of the Friends of Edington Priory Church, August 27th, 1977 Author: Whitelock, D. Location: Edington Battle of Edington was an event which occurred in The Saxon Stories novel series, and The Last Kingdom television series. Frna . Wessex had always been the focal point for Viking raids and invasions. The Danes attacked Chippenham "in midwinter after Twelfth Night", probably during the night of 67 January 878. All over the battlefield, warriors were dying in droves and heads flew, but no side seemed to really take the upper hand. The indicates that the character died during the battle. Three weeks after the battle, Guthrum was baptised at Aller in Somerset with Alfred as his sponsor. These forces began "a new stage, that of conquest and residence". Alfred and the battle of Edington: how the King of Wessex became great; . It was under Alfred that the Viking threat was contained. 229 - The Battle of Edington. (January 18, 2023). The primary reason for Alfred's victory was probably the relative size of the two armies. After Alfred left Athelney, he went via Egbert's Stone and Iglea to Ethandun where he fought against the Vikings and won. So he retreated to the south, preparing himself and his forces for another battle, and then defeated Guthrum and his host. Artistic map showing the principal movements of troops leading to the Battle of Edington and the Siege of Chippenham. Their leader: Alfred the Great. Map from Laborde's original 1925 paper suggesting the location of the Battle of Maldon. Guthrum and his men had adopted the usual Danish strategy of occupying a fortified town and waiting for a peace "treaty", involving money in return for a promise to leave the kingdom immediately; Alfred shadowed the army, trying to prevent more damage than had already occurred. Select from premium Battle Of Edington of the highest quality. Burkitt suggests that on philological grounds, Brixton Deverill may be a contender for the site. At the Battle of Edington, an army of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex under Alfred the Great defeated the Great Heathen Army led by the Dane Guthrum on a date between 6 and 12 May 878, resulting in the Treaty of Wedmore later the same Year. Where is Edington, the scene of Alfred the Great's great victory over the Danes? Although most early historians had sited the battle as in the Edington area, the significant interest in the subject encouraged many antiquarians to dig up Alfredian sites and also to propose alternatives for the location of the battle. . An engraving of Guthrum's baptism by James William Edmund Doyle, 1864 ( Wikimedia Commons ) But this wasn . Hastings, battle of, 1066. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. The Account Given By Ohthere; . Battle of Edington Also located in Wiltshire, England, one of the most fascinating battlegrounds to visit in the Viking Age Discovery Tour is Edington, home of the infamous Battle of Edington, the very first Viking raid on the English in the 8th or 9th century.. Find the perfect Battle Of Edington stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. 867: Macedonian Renaissance. Edmund Ironside (left) fights Canute the Great (right). ", After the sacking of Lindisfarne, Viking raids around the coasts were somewhat sporadic until the 830s, when the attacks became more sustained. Depicting scenes recorded using the strategy game A Total War Saga: THRONES OF BRITANNIA, the British studio Creative Assembly have made a short documentary charting the rise and fall of the Anglo Saxons, between Alfred the Great's victory over the Viking invaders at the battle of Edington, to King Harold's demise at the Battle of Hastings. A charter records a meeting of the king's council at Eandun, although a later scribe has annotated the same document with Eandune. The king was lucky to escape, taking refuge with a handful of followers in the depths of the Somerset marshes at Athelney. Early in 1314 Edward II assembled a large army to restore his crumbling authority in Scotland an, Edinger, Johanna Gabrielle Ottilie (Tilly), Edinboro University of Pennsylvania: Tabular Data, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania: Narrative Description, Edison College: Distance Learning Programs, Edison Community College: Distance Learning Programs, Edison Community College: Narrative Description, Edison State Community College: Distance Learning Programs, Edison State Community College: Narrative Description, Edison State Community College: Tabular Data, https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/edington-battle. Alfred seems at this time to have ineffectually chased the Danes around Wessex, while the Danes were in a position to do as they pleased. As with every major battle, the events preceding and following Ethandun were as important as the battle itself. Viking defeat. At the Battle of Edington, an army of the kingdom of Wessex under Alfred the Great defeated the Great Heathen Army led by the Dane Guthrum on a date between 6 and 12 May 878, resulting in the Treaty of Wedmore later the same year. Guthrum, with two other unnamed kings, "departed for Cambridge in East Anglia". Updates? But archaeologists now claim the site of the Battle of Brunanburh has been definitively established. The previous engagement has thinned both armies, but considerable numbers on either side were involved. Warriors don't show their heart until the axe reveals it. Primary sources locate the battle at "Eandun".Until a scholarly consensus linked the battle site with the present-day village of Edington in Wiltshire, it was . [21] Many of the men in the counties around (Somerset, Wiltshire, and Hampshire) who had not already fled rallied to him there. Articles such as this one were acquired and published with the primary aim of expanding the information on Britannica.com with greater speed and efficiency than has traditionally been possible. The West Saxon Army, now bolstered with fresh reinforcements from the Chichester garrison and Mercian soldiers, began moving towards the valley of Edington, where Ivar had stationed his troops to fight. What made this army different from those before it was the intent of the leaders. Battle between kingdom of Wessex and the Great Heathen Army in 878. But for the average person, I don't think much would have changed over time. Battle of Edington Conflict Viking invasions in England Date 12 May 878 Place Edington, Wiltunscire, Kingdom of Wessex Outcome Wessex victory Combatants Kingdom of Wessex Danelaw Vikings Commanders Alfred the Great Guthrum Strength 2,000-6,000 ~4,000 Casualties Unknown Thousands Over four thousand warriors embarked in two hundred ships and sailed for England. And in many ways, four months can pass in the blink of an eye. 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. Hide Map Menu. At the other end of the country, in the Kingdom of Northumbria, during 793 the holy island of Lindisfarne was raided..mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}, "This year dire forwarnings came over the land of the Northhumbrians, and miserably terrified the people; these were excessive whirlwinds, and lightnings; and fiery dragons were seen flying in the air. [33] A charter records a meeting of the king's council at Eandun, although a later scribe has annotated the same document with Eandune. Before its destruction this version had been transcribed and annotated; it is this transcription on which modern translations are based. Consequently, in 879 the Viking army left Chippenham and made its way to Cirencester (in the kingdom of Mercia) and remained there for a year. Refusing to accept defeat, Ragnar proceeds to fight. BBC Radio 4 Archive Programme In Our Time: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Edington&oldid=1117190568, This page was last edited on 20 October 2022, at 11:27. [12], Guthrum and his men had adopted the usual Danish strategy of occupying a fortified town and waiting for a peace "treaty", involving money in return for a promise to leave the kingdom immediately; Alfred shadowed the army, trying to prevent more damage than had already occurred. Meanwhile, Hvitserk, after cutting down several Saxon warriors despite receiving several injuries, gradually began to tire and struggled to fight on. In the 9th century, the Danes had been steadily invading England, pushing and prodding the Anglo-Saxon residents. Burkitt, Annette, Burkitt suggests that on philological grounds, Iley, written by Asser as 'y glea', may refer to Old Welsh (Asser is writing, a Welshman) 'y lle' 'at the place'. After the sacking of Lindisfarne, Viking raids around the coasts were somewhat sporadic until the 830s, when the attacks became more sustained. World War 2 was a battle between two groups of countries - the 'Allies' and the 'Axis'. Battle of Ethandun 878. However, the location has been much debated over the centuries. 849: A charter referring to the district to the south-west of Birmingham mentions the boundary of a folk called the Tomsaetan, the dwellers by the Tame, or Tame settlers. The chronicle was compiled during the reign of Alfred the Great and is thus a contemporary record. There was little that Alfred could do about the Danish menace between 875 and the end of 877, beyond repeatedly paying the invaders off. They then gave hostages and oaths to leave the country to Alfred, who paid them off. Although the battle was indecisive the Vikings suffered huge It depicts the confrontation between the Vikings led by Ivar and King Harald and the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Wessex. [58], After the defeat of Guthrum at the Battle of Edington, Alfred's reforms to military obligations in Wessex made it increasingly difficult for the Vikings to raid successfully. [5], The raiding continued and with each year became more intense. This started in 875 when Guthrum's army "eluded the West Saxon levies and got into Wareham". Halfdan went back to Northumbria and fought the Picts and the Strathclyde Welsh to secure his northern kingdom. [25] It is believed that Asser's Life was originally written in 893; however, no contemporary manuscript survives. 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. YouTube. [29][30], The reasoning to support the Eandun of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the Ethandun of Asser's Life being Edington in Wiltshire is derived from a trail of information from ancient manuscripts. Recently, however, the charitable organisation Wirral Archaeology argued the case for it having . In May 878 in Edington, there was a greatest battle of this war. Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}511550N 020834W / 51.26389N 2.14278W / 51.26389; -2.14278. A map of the area around the battle positions Battle of Borodino summary. The map of strikes by state as of 1880 shows that the states with the highest number of strikes were. Result Of the nine battles mentioned by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle during that year, only one was a West Saxon victory. At a signal from Ivar, boulders were set aflame and loosed on the Saxon ranks, inflicting casualties. It tried to provide a framework that would minimise conflict and regulate commerce between the two peoples. King Alfred decides to follow Uhtred's advise and lead his men into one defining battle. Ragnar asks orders from Guthrum, who shows no desire to fight back, now believing that the Saxons truly do have God on their side. Result. Greswell, William Henry Parr 1848-1923 (Created by) Book Title: The Story Of The Battle Of Edington. 1939 Onwards Children were . This started in 875 when Guthrum's army "eluded the West Saxon levies and got into Wareham". 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