Alfred the Great vs. Guthrum the Viking - Battle of Edington, 878

the 9th century the viking age in england while most of britain fell to the fierce sea raiders from scandinavia the kingdom of the west saxons under alfred the great would resist in the 870s the vikings intensified their efforts and alfred's domain seemed doomed to fall finally in 878 at the battle of eddington the west saxons were facing annihilation king alfred led his troops in a desperate last stand the outcome of this battle would determine the future of not only the kingdom of the west saxons but of all england from the moment he became king of the west saxons alfred the great was confronted with the mortal threat of the vikings but alfred had considerable experience as a commander having fought alongside his brother in addition alfred was plagued throughout his life by a medical infirmity described by the king's friend and biographer bishop asser today historians believe this may have been crohn's disease a chronic illness that can go into remission for long periods but is terribly painful during flare-ups despite this ailment alfred was a very active and dutiful ruler the condition did not prevent him from fathering children joanna armin estimates that alfred's first child and firstborn daughter athaflood was born around this time in roughly 870 alpha the great was crowned during a period of profound turmoil to the english of the time it must have seemed like the end of days the vikings had destroyed all but two of the anglo-saxon kingdoms of britain kings had been martyred houses of god had been despoiled monasteries left in ruins the thriving trade of the 8th century had broken down learning was at a low point alfred would later complain that south of the river humber there was scarcely illiterate priest left a month after alfred the great took the throne in 871 he faced two viking armies on the battlefield near wilton the viking coalition was formidable indeed its ranks multiplied by the presence of the great summer army in this engagement the anglo-saxons were defeated and alfred concluded that he could not eliminate the immediate threat to his kingdom without buying off the invaders this was an old but never permanent solution to viking attacks it often only invited further hostility and increasingly alfred was not capable of maintaining this financially ruinous policy the king's own estates could not produce the dane guild and so it had to be raised from the people of wessex and from church estates the following year the great heathen army took steps to consolidate their gains under the viking chiefs in halfton they moved into murcia here the vikings set up base in repton during the winter of 873-74 northumbria and east anglia were already under their control in the past wessex had brought aid to murcia but not this time the mercians were powerless to overcome the danes king bergrid and his wife were deposed and went into exile bergrid fled to rome where he died the following year his wife king alfred's own sister finished her days in a nunnery never again would an independent king rule mercia instead the danes established their own puppet ruler the following year the danish host divided helped and marched north to consolidate power in northumbria the anglo-saxon chronicle simply states halfton shared out the lands of the northumbrians and they proceeded to plow and support themselves this passage has invited much debate did the vikings seize land from the locals or did they purchase estates from native lords with the treasure now weighing down their coffers whatever the case it's clear that halfton's company settled in york as a permanent home here the land was fertile and opposition non-existent this was an ideal place for these danish adventurers to settle in and put down roots place names of the region today indicate the mixing of scandinavian and anglo-saxon language as the former raiders became cultivators of the land there was also an interaction of peoples even cooperation and trade vikings were marrying into the local population and it was not just warriors arriving from the scandinavian homeland there is evidence that the danes were bringing their women with them as well another sign that the vikings were settling in as farmers and no longer acting as mere raiders meanwhile the summer host under guthrum remained in murcia they established a base at cambridge for the year in age 76 guthrum's army entered the kingdom they evaded alfred's army seizing wareh and dorset at first alfred besieged the enemy in their stronghold he was forced to withdraw when he learned of a large viking fleet cruising along the coast of wessex intent on reinforcing guthrum once again the king had to negotiate guthrum swore to leave wessex and gave hostages as assurance this time however alfred wanted a stronger guarantee guthrum agreed to swear the oath on a holy ring this was a solemn practice among the vikings and the ring used on this occasion has been identified as a ring of thor a large gold band worn on the chieftain's arm used by the danes themselves in the exchanging of oaths nevertheless alfred's effort at appealing to viking piety proved useless guthrum did not keep to his vow perhaps the viking leader was adopting the advice of odin from the sayings of the high one if there's a man whom you don't trust but from whom you want nothing but good speak fairly to him but think falsely guthrum and his men murdered their west saxon hostages then slipped away by night to exeter the fleet mentioned earlier was at this time destroyed in a storm off the coast of swannage this resulted in the loss of some 120 ships a serious blow to guthrum's efforts following the storm alfred and his forces encamped before exeter the king refused to attack the town to dislodge the invaders but the saxons were well positioned and guthrum was unable to resupply his army once again the two sides came to terms having terrorized wessex for more than a year guthrum finally withdrew in august 877 meanwhile discontent was brewing among the west saxons many were frustrated with alfred's handling of the viking menace the archbishop of canterbury wrote to the pope complaining of the king's practice of paying off the danes recently some historians have suggested that high-ranking members of the west saxon nobility may have even tried to depose alfred this may be why the kingdom was so woefully unprepared when guthrum attacked again the king was celebrating christmas at chippenham when the danes arrived and began spreading havoc the vikings had executed the maneuver brilliantly achieving total surprise and if in fact alfred's regime was collapsing and a coup was in progress this would have left the king and his inner circle all the more vulnerable the surprise of the attack along possibly with the revolt of the west and nobility left alfred no option but to retreat into the forest with his family and his personal retinue of warriors and followers alfred made the difficult journey through the woods of somerset he and his companions were reduced to living off what they could forage and hunt throughout the bitter winter months they lived as fugitives asser describes the virtual chaos of this period by strength of arms the vikings forced many saxons to sail overseas through both poverty and fear and very nearly all the inhabitants of that region submitted to their authority alfred was determined to bounce back from this defeat after easter 878 he established a fortress at athlete amidst the somerset marshes from here he dispatched intelligence gathering missions trying to rouse the spirits of his people and to discover who would rally to his call against the enemy he also sent bands of warriors to execute hit-and-run raids on the vikings who weren't numerous enough to control the whole of the territory in may 878 with spring turning the world green again alfred departed athlete and rode to egbert stone east of selwood in a great expanse of woodland here the king met with those shire forces on whose support he could still rely astr describes the relief of the west saxons at the sight of their king despair had been widespread in wessex but now here was alfred alive and rallying his men to fight back his intelligence sound and his army assembled alfred now acted decisively the king marched out with his men guthrum an excellent commander in his own right was well aware of alfred's movements the viking leader prepared his own forces to deal with the west saxon counter-offensive it was guthrum who selected the site of the battle positioning his forces on a hilltop surrounded by ditches this would oblige alfred to fight uphill and also would prevent the vikings from being outflanked the west saxons now arrived at eddington in wiltshire here they met guthrum and his viking army battle began joanna armin writes that despite television portrayals saxons and vikings used similar weapons and equipment large rounded shields with metal bosses were held in front to form a hopefully impenetrable wall swords were high status weapons owned only by the very wealthy most men would have used a long spear stabbing with it over the shield wall in an effort to penetrate enemy ranks as the shield walls met both sides would have hacked and stabbed at one another trying to exploit gaps in the opponent's formation asser describes the engagement when the next morning dawn alfred moved his forces and came to a place called eddington and fighting fiercely with a compact shield wall against the entire viking army he persevered resolutely for a long time at length he gained the victory through god's will he destroyed the vikings with great slaughter and pursued those who fled as far as the stronghold hacking them down max adams writes that alfred's advantages lay in his command of an army defending its homeland and in the tactical superiority anglo-saxon open field warfare against a marine assault force honed to perfection and the art of raiding alfred pursued the defeated danes all the way to their fortress at chippenham the west saxon seized the enemy's livestock and settled in for a siege after a fortnight the vikings capitulated guthrum surrendered entirely on alfred's terms the vikings gave hostages alfred gave none the invaders also promised to evacuate wessex immediately the terms were sealed three weeks later near athony when guthrum and his leading men submitted to baptism as christians no doubt from the perspective of the west saxons the ceremony was a powerful symbol of christian triumph over danish heathenism this was a dramatic turning point aser tells us that never before had the vikings made such a capitulation alfred's triumph at eddington achieved nothing less than the salvation of his kingdom he'd been on the verge of losing everything but this victory restored his position no doubt alfred understood that the viking offensive was aimed at nothing less than the total conquest of wessex he knew that his only option was to fight and win a complete victory the actual course of the battle remains obscure to historians but certainly alfred and his men rose to the occasion it's possible that the west saxons had the numerical advantage over guthrum's army as the viking forces appear to have been fewer than during previous attacks after the decisive west saxon victory at eddington the viking army withdrew from chippenham the following year they returned to east anglia where they settled and shared out the land this marks the final stage in the establishment of the danelaw the viking ruled territories of england no longer content to simply extract tribute from the local populations the danes now tried to enforce their own political rule total subjugation of the island proved impossible so they contended themselves to consolidating their hold of eastern and northern england distinctly danish political structures would leave a lasting if subtle influence in these regions meanwhile alfred's victory at eddington marks the beginning of a period of respite for the kingdom of wessex which would last throughout the 80s alfred took full advantage of this situation he recognized that his kingdom had not been prepared for the ravages of the danes at once he implemented programs of military cultural and civil reform that transformed and strengthened wessex this period proved that alfred was not only a capable commander but a truly wise and creative ruler his innovations would not only fortify his people against future viking aggression but elevate the intellectual and spiritual lives of the west saxons we'll learn more about this in our next video also a special thanks to zach t mark george yankovic and alessandro for signing up to support this channel on patreon you can also support real crusades history by joining us on patreon patreon supporters at the 3 tier get access to the rch discord server i am creating a live action historical drama tv series about the crusades called knights of 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Channel: Real Crusades History

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Keywords: alfred the great, vikings, viking england, alfred the great vikings, alfred vikings battle, battle of edington 878, battle of edington history, alfred the great history, vikings history, vikings documentary, viking battle, viking wars, guthrum the viking, vikings west saxons

Id: txxpsaOIy-k

Length: 16min 12sec (972 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 12 2020