Alfred the Great and Athelstan, the Kings that made England (ALL PARTS-ALL BATTLES) FULL DOCUMENTARY

“The saddest thing about any man is that he be ignorant, and the most exciting thing is that he knows.” Alfred the Great’s life had been one of great success for the Anglo-Saxon people. In the face of overwhelming odds, he united the Anglo-Saxons into one nation and beat back those who sought to end Anglo-Saxon England. His reign paved the way for the future unified Kingdom of England. Alfred’s grandson, Athelstan, cemented his legacy by finishing off the Viking threat and forming the Kingdom of England.

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📢 Narrated by David McCallion

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#vikings #history #ragnar

It’s January 8th, somewhere in Berkshire Downs region. The invading Viking army had divided their force, the division on the right under direct command of Halfdan and Bagsegc, and the left under the remaining jarls. Mirroring the heathen formation, King Æthelred assumed command of the Saxon left,

While his younger brother Alfred led the division on the right. With the cold winter’s day passing quickly, the Vikings wasted no time. Advancing at pace, their experienced warriors were confident of crushing the Wessex army. Alfred brought his force forward to meet their foe, steeling the men to

Defend their homes against the heathens. Locked in shield walls several ranks deep, the two armies closed in. The battle of Ashdown, had begun… The Britain of the mid-ninth century was certainly no stranger to Viking incursions. Descriptive of their bloody vocation rather than any ethnic term, the peoples inhabiting the region now housing

The modern folk of Norway, Denmark and Sweden had maintained trading links with the ports of Britain and Francia for centuries prior to the infamous opening attack of the Viking Age at Lindisfarne. The rich ports, settlements and kingdoms of their future victims were thus well-known to them.

Though Lindisfarne casts the longest shadow down to us today, it’s clear other incidents blew up beforehand. In the year 792, a Charter of the great Mercian king Offa specifically references ‘sea-borne pagans with migrating fleets.’ Ironically, the major Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of the time around 865 were themselves centuries-forged

Products of sea-borne raiders and invaders in the form of Angles, Saxons, and Jutish folk who had settled and conquered southern Britain in the decades following Rome’s effective withdrawal. In what is likely a mixture of factors, including advancement in ship-building technology, the main

Impetus for these earlier attacks in Britain and Ireland may simply have been that the rich and practically undefended monasteries held vast wealth almost crying out to be plundered. Following Lindisfarne, the Viking attacks intensified, with Jarrow being plundered a year

Later. 795 saw the sacred site of Iona and other monasteries in the Irish Sea region attacked. The Kingdom of Wessex, further south, also had the misfortune to experience the heathen menace sometime before 802 at Portland, the local reeve of King Beorhtric was killed by a band of Vikings after confusing them for merchants.

Indeed, the relatively young House of Ecgberht was very aware of the Viking threat. By the brief reign of King Æthelred, the struggle was already three generations old. Indeed, the very founder of the future King Alfred’s house had himself fought against the heathen hosts.

The ascendency of Ecgberht in 802 was, with hindsight, fortunate for the Anglo-Saxon folk of Britain. Ecgberht had already contested the throne previously, but had been driven into exile by a Mercian puppet, only to secure the kingship following his death.

Ecgberht proved to be a strong ruler, not only breaking the Mercian hegemony over southern England at the Battle of Ellendun, but also assuming overlordship over the formerly-Mercian dominated southern kingdoms of Sussex, Essex, and Kent. King Alfred’s grandfather in a glimmer

Of future West Saxon dominance even managed to briefly conqueror Mercia and have his lordship acknowledged in Northumbria, the West Saxon monarch, in theory at least, a Bretwalda. In 836, Ecgberht was uncharacteristically bested at Carhampton by a Danish force. However, in a show of his kingdom’s powerful position, he gained victory two

Years later at Hingston Down, besting an alliance of Danish and Cornish foes. At his death a year later, Ecgberht left a strong and rich kingdom to be smoothly inherited by his own son Æthelwulf. Æthelwulf and his sons would continue the fight through their reigns,

Alfred and Æthelred’s father defeating a Danish force at Aclea in 851 in what was described as “the greatest slaughter of a heathen army that we have ever heard of.” By the key year of 865, the torch had truly passed to the next generation in the succession

Of Æthelwulf’s younger son Æthelred. As with his own successor, Alfred, Æthelred took up the mantle of kingship during a dark time. The danger was now undoubtedly more severe. Over the decades, the bolder Viking forces had begun overwintering in the land, but had

Eventually departed; yet by 865, this so-called ‘great heathen army’ had darker ambitions. An alliance had coalesced of Norse, hailing from the Northern Isles and Ireland, Danes, and Swedes, as well as Frisians and those from Francia and further afield, their intention was conquest.

The invaders were commanded by the three sons of the semi-legendary Ragnar Lothbrok – Ivar, Halfdan and Ubba. They landed near Thetford in the Kingdom of East Anglia, though to the relief of its people were content to take payment and support. With their demand

For horses for the next campaigning season, the goal of the invaders became crystal clear. In 866, they made their move, crossing the Humber to fall like a storm on the city of York. Unfortunately for the people of Northumbria, their ruling elite were already embroiled in

A war all of their own; Osbert fought Aelle, to the point that no serious resistance to the Vikings was mounted initially. With such a sobering existential threat, however, the rivals reluctantly joined forces to march on York, the two armies ferociously contending

In and outside of the walls; however, when the mist of battle cleared it was Ivar’s warriors who stood triumphant, king Osbert, Aelle and a large number of nobles lying dead. News of the fall of the ancient kingdom of Northumbria likely struck south like a

Hammer blow, but Ivar was far from through; there were richer lands ripe for plunder and his hoard moved south to engage Mercia. Their target was Nottingham, which was taken before King Burgred could even muster a response. Unlike the situation in Northumbria,

However, Burgred had additional support. The Mercians were not an island to themselves; Burgred had married Æthelswith a few years before, making him King Æthelred and Alfred’s brother-in-law. Burgred perhaps had hoped to avoid the wrath of the Great Heathen Army

Heading through his lands towards York, doing nothing to impede its march through his lands; now he faced the terror he called upon his rich neighbours to the south. The Allied West-Saxon and Mercian army surrounded Ivar’s men within Nottingham, however, the siege

Was arguably more precarious for the allies. Ivar’s warriors were a professional fighting force, used to living off the land, moving from place to place and given the siege was not so tight as to prevent foraging parties to resupply the besieged, conditions within were not dire.

In contrast, though both Burgred and Æthelred’s armies had a professional core of household troops, the vast bulk of their forces were made up of fyrd, part-time fighting farmers to whom time was a factor; the ordinary folk of the allied army needed to return to their farms to keep them in

Order and bring in the harvest. Perhaps cognisant of this time pressure, Ivar’s response was to simply wait behind Nottingham’s walls. It appears King Burgred blinked first, Asser writing that he brokered a peace with Ivar, which likely included a hefty payment to leave his kingdom. As for the West Saxon brothers, they returned south.

Their disappointment at the fruitless siege may have been soothed by knowledge that the Wessex-Mercian alliance would receive an added boost in the marriage of Alfred to Ealhswith. Returning north in 868, the Great Heathen Army wintered in York, resting for the majority of 869,

Before Ivar cast his ambitious eyes on another unfortunate kingdom. Wheeling back on themselves, while keeping their word to the Mercians, Ivar’s army pushed back south into East Anglia. The East Anglian response was weak, King Edmund either too slow to muster a force sufficient to

Resist or perhaps facing a two-pronged invasion – from Ivar, but also from sea by a separate force under Ubba. If so, his fighting forces may have been stretched to breaking point. Whatever the exact circumstances, King Edmund was in over his head and Ivar,

Likely sensing this, sent an infamous message to the beleaguered king: “Ivar, our king, bold and victorious on sea and land, has dominion over many peoples, and now has come to this country with his army to take up winter quarters with his men. He commands that you share your hidden gold-hoards and your ancestral

Possessions with him straightaway, and that you become his vassal-king, if you want to stay alive, since you now don’t have the forces that you can resist him…” Perhaps to the initial surprise of Ivar, King Edmund showed a glimmer of defiance;

He would submit as suggested, but only if the great warlord would submit to his Christian God. Possibly somewhat amused, Ivar had no intention of conceding anything and now moved to crush his East Anglian foe. Despite his fame as a Christian martyr, the exact circumstances of King Edmund’s demise are

Not known for sure. He may simply have fallen in battle, though a more gruesome possibility is that he was taken and tortured by the wrathful Ivar. Initially beaten with sticks and then whipped, the Vikings finally tired of their sport, binding Edmund to a tree they shot him full of arrows.

By the opening of 870, then, two Anglo-Saxon kingdoms had fallen, with Mercia having teetered on the brink. Arguably the most powerful kingdom – Wessex – remained uncowed. Fortunately for the fate of the West Saxons, it is around this time that Ivar fades from the southern theatre.

He evidently saw his own future in the North, as he is recorded campaigning against the Picts. Yet Ivar’s removal did not mean peace for Wessex or Mercia. Where Ivar left others eagerly took up the mantle of leadership. Now the part of the Great Heathen Army that remained in East

Anglia fell under the sway of a warlord named Bagsecg and Ivar’s own brother Halfdan. This duo made their move and by the autumn of 870 word reached the ears of King Æthelred and Alfred that the Great Heathen Army had crossed into Berkshire, their new target was Reading.

That Reading was the destination made sense from the Viking perspective. It was situated at the confluence of two rivers, making withdrawal easy if events turned against them; the town was also a royal centre with good access to the old Roman road network that snaked into Wessex itself. This

Is also not mentioning the fact that as a royal centre, it would be aptly supplied, the matter of supplying a mobile army used to living off the land no small consideration during the winter. Taking the place was not difficult for this professional force, and by year’s end Halfdan’s

Men were settled; however, just three days later on the final day of the year unwelcome news made its way there. The West Saxons had met and bested a part of their army. Likely confident that over the twelve-day Christmas period their foragers were relatively safe from counter-attack, the invaders were ambushed and broken

By the local ealdorman Æthelwulf, the remnants pursued back to Reading. Perhaps wishing to form a larger host to confront their enemy, Æthelwulf joined his king and Alfred, the West Saxon army marching to Reading. This time though circumstances favoured the

Defenders. Halfdan’s men had been busy digging a rampart connecting the Thames and the Kennet. Within Reading too, the West Saxons now faced – not an unawares foraging party – but a fully-prepared and furious foe. With their fyrd, the royal brothers managed to catch

Many foes outside of their camp; however, as the Saxons settled into their own, Halfdan abruptly ordered his own attack. Asser writes that: “Like wolves, they burst out of all the gates and joined battle with all their might.” Both armies suffered heavy losses, however,

It was the West Saxon fyrd that broke this time, with both Æthelred and Alfred only escaping the defeat due to their knowledge of the surrounding lands. Fleeing westwards with the remnants of their army, Æthelred and Alfred halted somewhere in the hills

West of Reading on the fourth day. Halfdan and Bagsegc, having their West Saxon enemy on the backfoot were eager to shatter their resolve completely with a finishing blow. The two armies eventually resolved to do battle. The invaders had divided their numbers into two

Main divisions, one under the direct command of Halfdan and Bagsegc, the second under the remaining jarls. Mirroring this, King Æthelred retained command of one division of his army, while Alfred commanded the other. Asser writes that Alfred had initially been

Tasked with taking on the Jarls’s division, while the king would contend with Halfdan and Bagsegc’s. Despite these well-laid plans, however, Alfred had not reckoned on his brother’s piety and while marching to close on his opposing division, Æthelred remained in his tent hearing Mass,

Declaring that he would not “forsake divine service for that of men,” and would not leave alive before the priest was done. Having decided to engage his Viking foes regardless, Asser writes that “acting courageously, like a wild boar,” and with God’s help, Alfred pressed on regardless, his division formed into the tight shieldwall.

The enemy possessed the higher ground, though – as Asser points out – Alfred’s warriors were spurred on to fight for their lands, loved ones and their very lives! The battle raged, Asser assures us, around a small and solitary thorn tree, the Saxon and

Viking lines clashing to and thro for many hours. As for the delaying Æthelred: his Mass concluded, he too joined the battle after Alfred had already engaged with both heathen divisions. This dimension of the battle is somewhat arguable.

Asser is a good source, yet firmly Alfred’s man and likely to play down his elder brother’s role to the benefit of his hero. It’s entirely possible that the delay was deliberate; however, whatever the case Æthelred’s intervention arguably turned the tide.

During the frenzied melee Bagsegc himself was slain, along with five jarls. Halfdan survived the day, ordering his warriors to retreat back to Reading. Asser states that many were slain into the night, though the battle failed to utterly destroy the Viking force.

Ashdown, however, was an undoubted West Saxon victory, though the cheers of victory may have been dampened with news of a new offensive. Having sufficiently rested for a fortnight, Halfdan struck southwards towards the royal vill of Basing. Though battered and perhaps unbelieving at this turn of ill-fortune Æthelred

And Alfred once more led their fyrd to engage the invaders. However, this time, as Asser succinctly states: “…after a long struggle the Vikings gained the victory.” Asser then has Guthrum’s reinforcements arriving; however, as he also wrote before that many of

Halfdan’s host had been lost at Ashdown, this means the Vikings won an impressive victory with lesser numbers at Basing, assuming they had yet to be reinforced. Whatever the case, West Saxon luck did not improve. Later in March, Æthelred and Alfred

Fought their last battle together at a place called Maeredun or Merton. Here they suffered a defeat comparable to that of Halfdan’s at Ashdown, in that many important Saxon leaders fell. Two more dark events then proceeded to shake the kingdom of Wessex to its core: first,

Was the aforementioned news of the arrival of a so-called ‘Great Summer Army’ at Reading; but secondly was the loss of the king. Though somewhat smeared by his depiction at Ashdown, King Æthelred had undoubtedly fought a gruelling and brave defence of his people.

The fyrd of Wessex had fought four battles by the time of Basing and at this fifth encounter, Æthelred may have been mortally wounded, and died soon after. Yet not all was lost. Likely prior to his last battle at Merton, Æthelred, Alfred and the Witan

Had retired to the unknown location of Swinbeorg where it was resolved that Alfred would succeed as king if his brother fell. With Æthelred buried with all honour at Wimborne it was thus Alfred –

The Wild Boar of Ashdown – that took up the mantle and sword of kingship. He would have much to do. On a May day of 878, King Alfred of Wessex marches determinedly towards the clash that may decide both his destiny and the survival of his kingdom. Alfred roars his own encouragement,

Raising the spirits of the nearby fyrd, while insults and war cries are exchanged from two solid shield-walls that inch ever closer towards the bloody struggle. The battle was about to begin. Perhaps few men in the dark days of the April of 871 would have envied the task

Before King Alfred of Wessex. The last living son of King Æthelwulf – himself a scion of Ecgberht, the founder of their line – indeed the survival of both Alfred’s House and of an independent Wessex hung by a fragile thread. With two of the major Anglo-Saxons kingdoms

Conquered, part of the Great Heathen army had infiltrated south in late 870, though not without incident. With his elder brother and King, Alfred had fought four battles, being bested at Reading, and later Basing and Meredun, though the brothers battered the heathens

Into defeat at Ashdown between the first two. Indeed, Alfred had certainly proved his mettle, as both a warrior and leader, holding his own with his smaller force just long enough for King Æthelred to enter the fray and complete the victory. For his heroic courage and defence of

His kingdom that day, the young ætheling earned his sobriquet: ‘the Wild Boar of Ashdown.’ Yet despite their success, the Heathen army was far from vanquished. Though reduced at Englefield and Ashdown, Halfdan’s men were reinforced by the timely arrival of a ‘Great Summer Army.’

Compounding their misfortune, King Æthelred himself was wounded in a later battle and died of his wounds by April of 871. Alas, the beginning of Alfred’s own kingship was not marked by some great decisive victory in the field.

Just a month after his accession, the king fought a hard, day-long battle on a hill above Wilton. Despite his grit and undoubted courage, Alfred and his people were being ground down to defeat. Following Wilton, Alfred sent word to Reading that he would buy his peace. Though not outright

Admitted, it’s almost certain the king won his peace through a substantial payment. However, this process would not have endeared him to his own folk. After decades of raids, the southern British economy was flat, the coinage of the kingdoms debased to the extent that peace was likely bought

With portable items, such as crosses, chalices, rings and torques, among many others. Having wrung what they could from the battered West Saxons, Halfdan and his men withdrew east to London. Yet if the West Saxons had initially given them a bloody nose,

Any such concern about King Burgred’s Mercia would have quickly evaporated. Burgred was keen to buy off the heathens once more, rather than endure any battle and perhaps similarly eroded his own authority and support that much more as cartloads of precious goods flowed into occupied London.

Yet as 872 progressed, the invaders would not have it all their own way. The puppets installed in conquered Northumbria had been overthrown. Client King Egbert and Archbishop Wulfhere of York fled into the arms of Burgred in Mercia, however, though acting swiftly to stamp out resistance

In York itself, the entirety of the Heathen host was ominously not committed to the effort. Halfdan in fact moved the bulk of his men to Torksey in the former kingdom of Lindsey. The aristocracy of the area had – over time – been subsumed into the Mercian orbit

Through intermarriage, making Halfdan’s choice of camp there alarming to Burgred. Continuing to receive tribute here, Burgred must have eventually concluded that this latest headache was not going to subside. Indeed, Halfdan had a plan for the meek Mercians. Having installed another English puppet on the Northumbrian throne,

Burgred may have breathed a sigh of relief when informed Halfdan had struck camp from Torksey; however, his heart must have been in his mouth at the news of their destination. Having continually bled Burgred dry throughout 873, the invaders rooted themselves in the

Mercian royal centre of Repton. This act was a deafening message to both the kingdom, and to the long-reigning Burgred in particular, that his days were done. Despite his twenty-two-year reign, the royalty buried at Repton were not of his dynasty. The implication was clear: they affiliated

Themselves with the older kings and even buried some of their own dead at the place. From Repton, waves of raiding continued to plague the kingdom and with no serious resistance offered, King Burgred ultimately fled to Rome, along with Alfred’s older

Sister Æthelswith. As in York, the invaders favoured installing a puppet for the time being, described as a “foolish king’s thegn.” Having now toppled three of the four major Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, the Great Heathen Army brooded throughout 874 on their next move.

Halfdan felt his future lay in the north and with a portion of the army headed to a base on the Tyne, from where he could attack the Picts and the Celts of Strathclyde. Meanwhile, the rest of the army – now under the trio of Guthrum,

Oscetel and Anwend – headed south to Cambridge. Yet unfortunately for Alfred, Guthrum had designs on this last defiant kingdom. The first ominous sign of a resumption of war was a naval action in the summer of 875. Alfred himself led his men against seven enemy vessels; capturing one and driving the others to

Flight. A small victory to be sure, but one soon overshadowed by a much greater threat. At some time either later that year or earlier in the next, Guthrum’s army made its move. Alfred had not been negligent of the danger, as is indicated by timing of the invasion.

West Saxon scouts had long observed the enemy camp, however, Guthrum ordered the advance into Wessex during the night and given Alfred’s swift mustering of the fyrd to resist them the arrival at Wareham was impressive. Guthrum’s occupation of Wareham must have

Been both a shock and humiliation to Alfred and his army. Around 140 miles from Cambridge, Guthrum thus successfully avoided direct confrontation, riding through the heart of Alfred’s domain and now occupying this important royal centre. Yet as audacious as this was, Alfred could have

Been forgiven a moment of confused amusement as now his enemy was bottled up deep within his own heartland and far from overland supply. However, appearances were deceptive as news soon trickled in that a large Viking fleet had been sighted off the south coast.

With the scales balanced so, Alfred once again turned to negotiation to rid Wessex of his foe. As in 871, an agreement was reached that Guthrum would leave the kingdom, the usual hostages exchanged, and the deal sealed with an unusual pledge of faith. Whereas before the Heathens

Had sworn upon Christian relics, this time Guthrum swore upon his own peoples’ holy ring. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, this was something never before conceded to any folk. Another source, Æthelweard, suggests a more unbalanced arrangement in which payment was

Once again offered to encourage their departure. Whatever hopes Alfred may have had following the talks though they were shattered at the news of Guthrum’s swift betrayal. Instead of marching back to East Anglia or Mercia, the enemy moved by night west to Exeter. The ancient walled city provided further shelter to the invading army,

But may also have presented a greater threat still given Guthrum could potentially link up with disaffected Cornishmen to the west. The Cornish were certainly no friends of the House of Ecgberht, their fathers suffering defeat at Hingston Down decades before. Certainly a new Viking-Cornish alliance was not entirely unthinkable.

Whatever Guthrum’s plans, however, Fortune’s Wheel now scuppered them; his fleet setting out from Poole harbour had been smashed to bits in a storm of truly Biblical proportions. Barely a few miles into their voyage, a great storm struck the 120-strong fleet

Near Swanage, with a loss of all hands. At a stroke, Guthrum’s leverage vanished. Encircling Exeter, an enraged Alfred – now reassured he was in the right – now had Guthrum over the metaphorical barrel. The Chronicle reports that Guthrum conceded as

Many hostages as Alfred demanded and specifically men of enough import to deter another reneging of their agreement. So, by the summer of 877, Guthrum and his army finally retired from Wessex. At Gloucester (within Ceolwulf’s Mercia), Guthrum activated the previous arrangement

Agreed after Repton. Part of the kingdom would remain under Ceolwulf, with Gloucester itself and the east distributed among Guthrum’s men. This cultural and legal splitting of the ancient Middle-Kingdom would endure for centuries, Watling Street effectively setting the Danelaw boundary in the immediate future. Back south, Alfred may have thinly hoped the

Dismantling of Mercia had satisfied Guthrum, but if so, he was to be brutally corrected. Previously, though negotiations had eventually forced Guthrum’s withdrawal from Exeter, the heathen leader had been in no great hurry to depart, his occupation lasting several months and it’s entirely possible that during this period Guthrum entertained the more

Disaffected elements of Alfred’s subjects. Up to Christmas of 877, Alfred had survived as the last remaining free king of Anglo-Saxon England through a mix of grit, bribery, and good fortune; however, where brute force alone had failed him in the past, Guthrum also now employed

Deception to oust the last free king. Alfred’s payments to the enemy, while expedient and – in the short-term – effective, also inevitably alienated some of the Witan upon whom the burden would fall to provide payment. Events came to a head at Chippenham, which Guthrum with

His characteristic stealth fell upon during the Twelfth Night Christmas Celebrations. By the time of the attack Alfred and his closest followers had fled. As it is later recorded that Alfred survived alone for some months, we can assume no support sufficient for the king to immediately muster the fyrd in response to Guthrum’s attack.

Asser himself describes Alfred’s state of existence following Chippenham: “King Alfred, with his small band of nobles, and also with certain soldiers and thegns, was leading a restless life in great distress amid the woody and marshy places of Somerset. He had

Nothing to live on except what he could forage by frequent raids, either secretly or openly, from the Vikings as well as from the Christians who had submitted to the Vikings’ authority.” Whether or not treachery in the West Saxon court was afoot, the result was undoubtedly

The same. With Alfred and his few remaining followers fleeing from Guthrum, the entirety of Wessex was now at the pagan warlord’s feet. With his men overrunning Wessex and the leadership of the kingdom effectively neutralised, thoughts of Alfred skulking across the

Channel in imitation of Burgred’s flight may have occurred to Guthrum. Indeed, Asser writes this was the fate of many nobles during the time, choosing flight to the fight. It’s true that such a devastating set-back would have broken most men, however, King Alfred was not “most men.”

During the earlier months of 878, far from succumbing to defeatism and despair, Alfred fought back as much as he could, biding his time in his fastness of Athelney. Despite military defeat and treachery, he was still the king of Wessex and during this time,

Alfred sent messages throughout Wessex, gathering support from those unwilling to bend the knee to Guthrum and his collaborators. He was going nowhere, and he would fight for his crown. “I embrace the purpose of God and the doom assigned.” – Alfred the Great

It was also during this lowest ebb for Alfred that the legend of the burning of the cakes originates. Yet if this incident really did occur, it certainly marked Alfred’s nadir in fortune. As had happened near Swanage with the enemy fleet, God would once again thwart a finishing blow to the House of Ecgberht.

Guthrum had not merely rested on his laurels and planned a two-pronged push into western Wessex. Now Ubba – the brother of Halfdan – would sail from southern Wales to land behind Alfred’s position, while Guthrum himself closed the trap from land.

It was a decent plan, but had not reckoned on the actions of one who had remained loyal to his king. Odda, the ealdorman of Devon, had rallied his men to the defence of Wessex in the previous weeks and settled his force at the stronghold of Cynwit.

Ubba with his fleet of twenty-three ships and around 1200 men landed nearby and set about encircling Odda. Apparently convinced the Saxons would be forced into surrender given the lack of water on the hill. Odda nonetheless gave every impression of hunkering in for the siege.

In truth, the ealdorman had a simple plan: in the distance below perhaps he saw the Raven banner, bold and menacing in the breeze; as Halfdan’s warriors had done to his lord at Reading, so Odda would sally down in a surprise attack, his target was that banner and the person of Ubba himself.

So it was that Odda’s charge smashed into Ubba’s ranks and indeed around 800 of the invader’s army lay dead. Ubba himself was among the slain and now the sacred Raven banner was in the hands of one of Alfred’s loyal ealdormen. The slaying of Ubba – last son of Ragnar – must

Have chilled the hearts of Guthrum and his host, while inspiring those of Alfred and his men. It must have been an unambiguous beacon to arms for the battered loyalists of Wessex. If not before, perhaps more and more messages of support began to flood into the Alfredian camp,

And as winter gave way to spring it would be Alfred who struck the next blow. Asser writes that, around the 4th-10th May, Alfred rode to King Ecgberht’s Stone, on the eastern end of Selwood. Alfred would be forgiven for holding his breath as he approached the mustering point,

Could such a reversal in support from the betrayal of Chippenham be possible? Greeting him as in answer were some four thousand men of Hampshire, Wilshire, and Somerset, all who had answered the call. Camping at Selwood for a night, Alfred moved to Iley the next day. The location

Of another well-known gathering point, perhaps Alfred meant to bolster his army further. Guthrum himself marched to intercept him at a place called Edington. As with Ashdown several years before, the exact location of one of the more important

Battles of English history is not known for sure. Whether at Edington Hill or Bratton Camp itself, Guthrum awaited Alfred’s onslaught. Frustratingly, Asser skimps on the specific details of the action that day, though he writes: “Alfred moved his forces and came to a place called Edington 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.” Though describing battles of this period as long-lasting is quite typical, we have no solid reason to doubt this; if Guthrum’s warriors held the ground advantage, but the fyrd

Had that of numbers, the fight could easily have devolved into an hours-long slugging match. The fighting, then, was likely long and hard, the two tightly-knit shield walls hacking away at each, the scrum of sword, shield and muscle shifting to and thro until finally chinks began

To fracture Guthrum’s line and the momentum decidedly shifted into Alfred’s favour. With his warriors faltering or simply determining that defeat was certain, Guthrum must have decided to call a general retreat. That the melee of battle swung decisively to the West Saxons is plain, Asser writing: “Alfred destroyed the Vikings with

Great slaughter, and pursued those who fled as far as the stronghold, hacking them down.” The aforementioned lines imply much damage was inflicted before the general flight and without the death of Guthrum himself, we can assume a major breach in the line or a severe

Drop in morale that preceded the collapse. Though inflicting heavy casualties before pursuit, Alfred mercilessly hunted the remnants to the very gates of Chippenham itself. Alfred’s wrath may have been understandable; for months he had been a fugitive in his own lands; perhaps forced

To flee by treachery from within the ranks of his own great men and had now snatched victory from the very precipice of defeat. Fortune’s Wheel now revolved full-circle. Surrounding Guthrum’s remaining men within Chippenham, the West Saxons killed any man

Caught outside, and seized all goods and animals in the vicinity. Encamping at Guthrum’s doorstep, Alfred settled down, content to wait for either the surrender or starvation of his foes within. Two weeks into their ordeal, Guthrum finally accepted defeat. Unlike earlier encounters

There would be no negotiation or talk of hostage exchange; Guthrum alone would yield what hostages the king demanded and would receive not a single coin in payment. In addition, Alfred required Guthrum and his leading men to convert to the Christian faith.

With little choice, it was agreed. Just three weeks after the siege had concluded, Guthrum was indeed baptised, close to where just weeks before Alfred had languished in internal exile. The event was more than just a spiritual conquest of the Christian God over Guthrum’s pagan idols, Alfred

Too was demonstrating his own earthly superiority over his defeated foe, sponsoring Guthrum himself, acting as godfather and conferring precious gifts on him and his lieutenants. The later Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum divided up Mercia between Danish and West Saxon spheres, an arrangement that would endure. For Alfred, it was better to have

A reformed friend than a dead pagan enemy. Alfred recognised Guthrum as the Christian King of East Anglia and he would indeed rule East Anglia as Æthelstan, this arrangement granting Alfred and Wessex a crucial relative peace in the years to come, though other Viking incursions would have

To be faced, the long reconquest of former Anglo-Saxon lands had only just begun. When we think of famous English medieval battles, Hastings or Bosworth Field may come to mind, both of these being dynasty-ending events, with other battles like Agincourt,

Crécy and Poitiers of the Hundred Years War also featuring heavily in the public consciousness. Arguably, however, the most important battle of medieval England was fought well over a hundred years before Duke William’s conquest, with the year of 937 perhaps as deserving of recall and renown as that of 1066.

For it was the Battle of Brunanburh that effectively settled the question of England and defined the countries of Britain, to this day. Alfred the Great’s remarkable reign, in which he settled and fortified the old kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia ended in 899, which saw further Saxon expansion north and east

Under his son and daughter, Edward the Elder and Æthelflæd, the Lady of the Mercians. The Elder’s reign saw him inherit Alfred’s title of “King of the Anglo-Saxons,” which his father took upon taking London and accepting Ethelred, Lord of the Mercians, as his vassal in 886. Edward

Expanded the realm from this unified territory and to the border of the Kingdom of York. Upon the death of his father in 924, however, Æthelstan – the Elder’s eldest son – was hailed as king in Mercia, though his succession was initially challenged in Wessex by Ælfweard,

Edward’s son by a different wife. Since questions over the legitimacy over Edward’s first marriage lingered at the time, many saw Æthelstan as the inferior atheling. Luckily for Alfred’s dream of a united England, Ælfweard did not long outlive his father, dying mysteriously just a couple of weeks later. Thus, with his half-brother’s demise Æthelstan

Took lordship of all his father’s domain. Æthelstan was crowned in Kingston-upon-Thames, located on the border between Mercia and Wessex; likely a deliberate act designed to demonstrate that – like his father and grandfather – he was lord of all the Anglo-Saxons. In addition,

Archbishop of Canterbury Athelm created a new religious service in which the king wore a CROWN rather than the traditional helmet. Opposition still plagued the early reign of Æthelstan, with another plot emerging by an obscure lord known as Alfred,

Who schemed to blind the king and replace him with his younger brother Edwin. But, during a sea voyage in 933, Edwin too MYSTERIOUSLY perished in a shipwreck designed to result in his death. With his rivals being prone to accidents, Æthelstan managed to strengthen his position,

And perhaps the most significant event of his reign came early on in 927 when Æthelstan took the title “King of the English,” and discarded his former title “King of the Anglo-Saxons.” Though the reigns of his grandfather Alfred and especially his father Edward had seen the

Spectacular rise of the House of Ecgberht, from the lowest ebb of Alfred’s internal exile in 871 to his victory at Edington and then to the borders of the last Viking strong-hold of York just a generation later, neither Æthelstan’s father or grandfather claimed this land or the title.

So it was that in 926, the king had made inroads into incorporating York, by arranging the marriage of his sister to Sihtric. In another lucky twist of fate, however, Sihtric died just a year into their accord, presenting King Æthelstan with a golden opportunity to absorb

This last bastion of Danish domination into his own kingdom, which he gleefully did. The Danes reluctantly accepted Æthelstan’s lordship, though this new enlarged Saxon kingdom unnerved other powerful men in Britain, including Constantine II, King of Alba. Constantine, as well as King Owain of Strathclyde, the King of Deuherbath and the lord of Bamburgh

All acknowledged Æthelstan’s overlordship, but this stability would not last. This new kingdom presented a dangerous shift in power, that could in theory overwhelm any of the smaller kingdoms. However, Constantine and the others wagered that Æthelstan’s might was not yet equal to all of them combined. Constantine formed an alliance with the

Strathclyde Celts. He forged another alliance with the kingdom of Dublin, by marrying his daughter to Olaf Guthfrithsson, who sought to retake Northumbria, which was briefly ruled by his father less than a decade prior. Meanwhile, thinking that the North was secured, Æthelstan reaffirmed his suzerainty over the kings of Wales, who had previously submitted

To both Alfred and his aunt Æthelflæd, and he now in turn inherited this. Further afield, Æthelstan proved he was not a mere warlord, but a clever politician and diplomat. Building on the old tradition of the West Saxon court, he maintained relations with

The Carolingian court. For it was Æthelstan’s great-grandfather Æthelwulf that married Judith, a Carolingian princess, with his own father Ecgberht, the family’s founder, even living within Charlemagne’s court during a period of exile before the rise of his own House.- Thus, Æthelstan, like Æthelwulf, claimed the prestige of marrying into the Carolingian dynasty.

Though he never married himself, he did have a number of sisters available to forge links across the Channel. Eadgifu was married to Charles the Simple himself, even mothering the future King Louis IV. The young king Æthelstan also did one better, by forging another prestigious marriage between his

Sister Eadgyth and Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor. Æthelstan also intervened directly in foreign affairs, harbouring the aforementioned Louis IV during a period of exile, and even helping to reinstate Alan II as Duke of Brittany, following the region’s conquest by Vikings in 936.

Indeed, Æthelstan’s court was most likely the most cosmopolitan of the Anglo-Saxon period, through such close links with other European courts. Extending King Alfred’s legal reforms and founding many new churches Æthelstan also proved to be a wise domestic ruler, maintaining West Saxon

Dominance in Wales by exacting a heavy annual tribute. Welsh and Scots leaders, including Constantine, even attended his charter meetings, with the king creating an effective central government, granting larger responsibilities to ealdormen of his kingdom, who traditionally had only governed shires as opposed to larger territories under the king.

And Æthelstan’s military success went from strength to strength. He pushed the Cornish out of the city of Exeter and fortified its walls, establishing a border at the Tamar. In 934, the king began a march on Scotland, perhaps to reinforce his authority over the north generally. One possible excuse, according to John

Of Worcester, is that Constantine broke his treaty with Æthelstan. The king was accompanied on campaign by four Welsh kings, as well as a retinue of eighteen bishops and thirteen earls. This campaign proved overwhelming, given that according to Simeon of Durham,

The English attacked in a two-pronged way, ravaging by land as far as north-east Scotland, and raiding by sea as far as Caithness and even possibly to the Norse-held Orkneys. 935 does have a charter attested to by Constantine, Owain of Strathclyde, as well as the Welsh kings.

Meanwhile, Olaf, the King of Dublin, and Owain of Strathclyde, made ready to aid their ally Constantine. By the autumn of 937, Olaf was ready and invaded northern England with Constantine and Owain, hoping to cut the overmighty English king down to size.

The timing of the attackers was unusual given campaigning typically took place in summer and caught Æthelstan off guard initially. Though once news began to filter through of this new threat, the king began to gather the fyrds of Mercia and Wessex together. Meanwhile the Northern coalition ravaged English-controlled land as they moved south.

Æthelstan’s own army finally moved to meet the coalition in what subsequent generations would merely call “the great battle,” so-called for its bloody ferocity. Bizarrely, for such an important battle, we actually don’t know for sure where it was fought, though the leading candidate is near

The village of Bromborough on the Wirral. The battle lasted all day and was hard-fought. According to the poem Battle of Brunanburh in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the two lines of men fought in the traditional shieldwall formation, with Æthelstan’s warriors eventually gaining the

Upper-hand by hewing their way through a part of the coalition shieldwall and breaking through. This breakthrough effectively ended the battle, with the coalition men fleeing. Olaf managed to flee the field back to Dublin, with Constantine also surviving the chaos, though Owain’s fate is not mentioned. The victory ultimately settled the matter

Of a unified and permanent kingdom of England, which would endure to its current form today. Æthelstan’s golden reign would end just two years later in 939, ushering in a quick series of kings, before the longer and more disastrous reign of King Æthelred the Unready.

Æthelstan’s England though would endure a renewed Danish conquest in 1016, by King Cnut the Great, in the battle of Assandun. The House of Wessex was temporarily restored in 1042, before a new foreign line under William the Conqueror seized the crown, after the far

More famous Battle of Hastings in 1066. The importance of Brunanburh though cannot be denied. If Constantine, Olaf and Owain had triumphed in 937, it’s possible that much of Æthelstan’s gains could have been reversed, with York and Northumbria breaking off once more under the Danes and perhaps more territory ceded to the others.

The principle of English overlordship would have been seriously damaged perhaps provoking further rebellions in Wales and Cornwall, likely fragmenting the young England irreparably. But the tide of history ultimately bent towards English unity. We shall never truly know,

Yet it’s not hard see how this battle was just as important for the history of England as the Battle of Hastings over a century later, with Æthelstan arguably creating the England that William would later conquer. And you can see both the battle of Assandun and

The battle of Hastings on our channel, find the links at the end of this video.