Alfred's engagements with the Vikings, 871-885

Question 1

What happened at Wilton in 871?

Answer 1

• Alfred’s first battle as king
• Lost to the Great Heathen Army
• gambled with the risk of ‘making peace’ with them on the condition that they left - this carries the risk that they may not stick to this order, but Alfred needed to do this because he needed time to regroup

Question 2

What happened at Wareham in 876?

Answer 2

• Second invasion of Wessex
• Guthrum takes over the fort of Wareham
• Alfred blocks the western approaches to the fort, hemming the Vikings in - creating a stalemate and the Vikings agree to make a peace deal
• Not only do they exchange hostages, but Alfred makes the Vikings swear on a sacred pagan ring
• Guthrum goes on to ignore the sworn oaths by immediately setting up camp at Exeter after leaving Wareham - in addition, Asser claims that Guthrum cut the throats of the hostages

Question 3

What happened at Exeter in 877?

Answer 3

• Guthrum’s fleet, on their way to join him in Exeter, is destroyed in a storm in Dorset, losing possibly over 3000 soldiers
• Alfred marches on to exeter
• Once again a peace deal an agreement is made between Alfred and Guthrum, exchanging hostages and taking oaths
• This time Guthrum sticks to the peace & leaves for Gloucester in Mercia

Question 4

What happened at Chippenham in 878?

Answer 4

• Guthrum broke the peace once again
• On the twelth night of Christmas (Jan 6th), Guthrum invades Wessex, and launches a suprise attack on Chippenham
• Alfred is forced to take refuge in Athelney

Question 5

What happened at Edington in May 878?

Answer 5

• By May, Alfred was confident enough to strike back
• He mustered men from the fyrds of Hampshire, Somerset and Wiltshire at Egberts stone (numbering around 4000 men in total)
• Alfred defeated Guthrum and the Danes in a great victory

Question 6

What happened after Alfred defeated Guthrum and the Danes at Edington?

Answer 6

• This time Alfred was in a position of power and therefore able to approach the peace deal differently:
• He forces Guthrum to accept a Christian peace by being baptised , giving him a new Anglo-Saxon name ‘Aethelstan’, and becoming his godfather - he was baptised at Wedmore
• Guthrum returns to East Anglia to set up a more permanent base and ceases attacking Wessex

Question 7

What was the purpose behind baptising Guthrum?

Answer 7

Designed to convince Guthrum of the benefits of living the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ way and to show him he had more to gain by allying with Alfred than fighting him

Question 8

What happened at Rochester and Benfleet in 885?

Answer 8

• A group of vikings from Francia arrive in England and attack Rochester
• The town’s defenders keep them at bay until Alfred arrives and attacks their camp
• They are forced to flee overseas, but some remain and start planning revenge raids with Guthrum’s forces in East Anglia
• Alfred attempts to pre-empt this and launches a naval attack at Benfleet in Essex, initially wounding Guthrum’s fleet badly, but ultimately is defeated