The Wars of Alfred the GreatAlfred the Great was a brilliant military leader and organiser. Throughout the870s, Wessex was beset with a sustained series of Viking raids, which costamong other things Alfred's brother, King Aethelred. After assuming the throneand carrying on the fight, Alfred negotiated a peace and used the time purchasedby his tribute to turn Wessex into a heavily armed citadel. When the Vikingsreturned in 892, Alfred held them in place with his fortified burghs and drove themoff with his mobile field army. By the time of his death in 899, Alfred ruled much ofEngland, and had secured his Wessex throne against the Vikings...

The campaigns of the Great Heathen Army 865-879.

Heathen Raiders from Across the Sea

The first recorded Viking raid upon England occurredin the year 793.The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports:

Here terrible portents came about over the land ofNorthumbria, and miserably frightened the people:these were immense flashes of lightning, and fierydragons were seen flying in the air. A great famine, andafter that in the same year the raiding of the heathenmiserably devastated God's church in Lindisfarneisland by looting and slaughter.'

For the first half of the ninth centu4r, the Vikingssporadically raided the English coast. While costly,these raids were never more than a nuisance. Butin 865 a great wave of Viking marauders arrived inEngland, settling first in Kent before plundering theirway north. The Anglo-Smon Chronicle calls themthe 'great heathen army'. They ravaged East Anglia,Mercia, and Northumbria, sacking cities like York,killing kings and nobility, and taking everything ofvalue. Having exhausted the resources ofnorthern andeastem England, the Vikings looked west to Wessex,the kingdom of the West Saxons.

Armies and Weapons in the$truggle for England

To defend Wessex, Aethelred andAlfredhad the furd. The furd was an Anglo-Saxon militia led by ealdormen andthegns. The latter were the rich landowners and nobility who were rewardedwith the king's favour in exchangefor military service. They were oftenarmed with swords and outf,tted withmall byrnies and conical helmets. Thefyrd's rank and file was lower-classfreeholders and commoners. These mencarried a simple spear, which could bethrust or thrown, and a small, roundwooden shield. covered in leather andringed by a metal band. In combat, theywould lock shields and form a wall. Intheory the shield wall would stand firmin defence or press forward in atlack.2

The Vikings, who did not start usingtheir infamous two handed battle axe

until the tenth century used similararms and equipment. They were alsoorganized along similar lines. Raidingparties would form around kings whopromised great glory and plunder. Thekings delegated much authority to jarls;nobility and prominent men in commandof raiding parties or sections of raidingparties. The Vikings were accomplishedsailors who used their longboats forstrategic mobility (though they surelywould never have called it that). Theycould be brutal and recreationallycruel. Contemporaries often substitutethe word Dane for Viking, though theyhailed from all over Scandinavia.3

The Vikings come toWessex

In late 870 the 'great heathen army'invaded Wessex. Led by the Vikingkings Bagsecg and Halfclan, the army

An evocation of the Saxon shield wall.

crossed the Thames and made campat Reading, about thirty miles up theThames from London. The Vikingsfortified the camp and sent raidingparties against the counhyside. In theNew Year the local fyrd, commandedby an ealdorman named Aethelwulf,was heavily defeated at Englefield.A few days later, King Aethelred andAlfred arrived with the rest of the WestSaxon furd and united with Aethelwulf'sremaining forces. The combined armymarched on Reading. Here a bloodybattle was fought and the West Saxonsinflicted great slaughter upon theVikings who then retreated to theirfortified camp. But when Aethelred andhis men reached the gates the Vikingsstormed out in a furious charge 'likewolves' says Asser, Alfred's biographer,and routed the West Saxons. Aethelwulfwas killed, but Aethelred and Alfredescaped.a

Four days after the battle of

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Alfred's f inal campaigns, 892-896.

Reading, Aethelred and Alfrccl attackedBagsecg's forces at Ashclorvu. aboutflfteen rniles northwest of thcir Reaclingbase. Bagsecg held the high ground ancic'leployed his troops in two sectior.rs alonga ridge; one division he cotlmandedrvith Halfdan. while the other was ledby their izr'l lieutenants. Aethelred andAlfled agreed to split their forces intu,o. Aethelred wor.rld attack Bagsecgand Halfdan: Alfi'ed would deal withthe.jut'ls. Alfi'ed led his men into battlefirst. br-rt Aethelred did not follow.Apparently he refused to attack beforehe finished his prayers, so Alfred foundhimself confronting the entire Mkingarmy on his own. Alfred ordered hismen to close ranks and charge. Alfredpersonally led the assault, Asser tells us

'l ike a wild boar', and held the Vikingsin check unti l Aethelrecl's forccs arrivedand fell upon the Viking flank and rear.clriving them frorn the field. Not onlyhad 1he Vikings fled; King Bagsecg andl:re jurl.s rvere kil led. Alfi 'ed and hisbrother won a great victory for Wessex.

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Yet after Reading, the West Saxons knewonly setbacks. A few weeks later anotherbattle was fought at the royal estate ofBasing, ten miles south of Reading.After what Asser calls 'a violent clashon all fi'onts' the Vikings prevailed. Inlate March another battle was fought atthe royal estate of Merettn. The West

Saxons fought savagely and pusir. ' .back the Vikings. But the Viking-regrotrped and counterattacked an.overwhelmed the Anglo-Saxons. Wor:.a gleat f leet arrived. Under the colnmdnLlof the Viking kings Gr.rthmrn. Oscetcl.and Anwencl, the fleet etnbarkecl fi'orrthe continent as word filterec'l back thltWessex was ripe for plunder and lightl. 'clef'cnc1ed. Wessex was to suffet'auothcrblow when, after Easter, Aethelrecl clicdAt thc age ol'twenty two. with Wesscrunder firrious attack, Alfi'ed 'witlt thcapproval of divine wil l ancl accorcliug tt,the unanin.rons wish of all the inhabitantsof the k ingdorn. ' (o l so Asser te l ls us) .assurnecl the throne.

A n.ronth afler taking thc throne. Alfi'cdled his fblces into battlc at Wilton, aboutseventy-fivc nri les south of Readirtg.The batl lc lasted all clay, with neitheLsicle gaining a clear advantage. Finall l,.the Vikings withdrew frorn the ficldand Alfi 'ecl pursued with a srnall bancl.Seeing that Alfl'ecl lackecl the lnanpowclto overwheltn thcrn. the Vikingscounterattackccl aud def-eatccl Alfi'ed'sfbrce. Thc Vikings continued to infl ictclepravaliotis uport the countrysicle.But All iecl would t.tot go qtrictly. hrall, the year' 871 saw no less than nincbattlcs between the West Saxons ancl thcVikings. Accorcling to Asscr:

' . . . the Saxons were virtually annihilatcd

to a man in th is s ingle year . . . leavingasidc the inuumelable skimrishes byday and night which Alfi 'ed...hadfought ceasclessly and intently againstthe Vikings. How rnany thottsands c'rlthe Viking army were killed in thescfrequent skinnishes (Quite aparl frontthose who were slaughtered in the eightbattles mentioned above) is not krown.except to God alone.'

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Even so, the Vikings proved to be totrmuch for Wessex and by the end of theyear Alfred's resources were exhansted.Alfred was forced to make peace withthe Viking invaders and paid them ttr

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Landings of the Great Armyand of HasteinnRrids of 893

Campaigns of894

Campaigns of 895-6 and thedlspersal of the Great Army

rl Saxon vlctory

,l Norse fortlficatlon

I Alfred's burghs

abandon their base at Reading and leaveWessex altogether. After Alfred boughtthem off, the Vikings spent 872-875ravaging Mercia and Northumbria,after which they returned to Wessex andcamped at Wareham. Remembering thechaos brought about by the last Vikingraid, Alfred was in no mood to fightand negotiated terms with the Vikingswhereby he paid them tribute in returnfor leaving Wessex alone.

Viking Treachery

In December of 876 the Vikings broketheir word - Asser calls it 'their usualtreachery'- marched into Devonshire,and occupied the forhess of Exeter.Alfred rallied the fyrd and surroundedthe forhess. With their fleet largelydestroyed in a violent storm off Devon,thereby cutting them off, the Vikingsagreed to terms and left Wessex forMercia. But the Vikings would be back.This agreement only bought time.

In 878 Guthrum led an army intoWessex and seized the royal estate ofChippenham, northwest of Wiltshireon the River Avon, where Alfred heldcourt. Alfred was unprepared forGuthrum's attack. At the same time. aViking fleet of twenty-three ships, ledby a brother of Halfdan, raided alongthe coast of Devon and besieged thefortress of Countisbury. Rather then bestarved into submission, the local fyrdburst from their fortifications, caughtthe Vikings unaware, and defeatedthem. Nevertheless. it must have beena drain on the already weak resourcssof Wessex, for the Viking raids fromChippenham were unusually fierce; somuch so that many of the West Saxonsfled their lands or pledged allegiance toGuthrum. No longer could Wessex resistthe heathen onslaught and most of thecounkyside fell into Viking hands.

Alfred Fights On

But Alfred was unwilling to concede.Tn March 87R Alfred fled his esfAfes

with a small band to the marshlands ofSomerset and made a camp on the Isle ofAthelney near Taunton. From hereAlfredcontinued to resist, sallying out of themarshes to wage a partisan war againstthe Vikings. Word spread throughoutWessex that West Saxon resistancewas not at an end. In early June Alfredled his men out of the marsh with theobjective of raising the fyrd andbingngabout a pitched battle against Guthrum.Alfred marched to Egbert's Stone onWiltshire's southern border: here heissued a call to arms. In all Alfred seemsto have gathered one thousand men.Leaming of Alfred's sortie out of themarsh. Guthrum hunkered down amidsthis fortifications at Edington. Readyfor war, Alfred marched to Guthrum'scamp and offered battle. The Vikingssallied out from their fortifications anda fierce battle erupted. This time, WestSaxon manhood prevailed over theGreat Army; the Vikings fled the fieldand Alfred pursued, inflicting greatsuffering upon the Vikings as he went.What was left of the Viking force tookrefuge inside their fort which Alfredbesieged for two weeks, eventuallybringing about their surrender. Alfred'svictory resulted in a diplomatic coup. Heconverted Guthrum to Christianity andsigned a treaty of friendship. Guthrumleft Wessex, promising to plunder it nomore. and settled in westem Mercia onmore or less friendly terms withAlfred.

Alfred Consolidates HisPower

Alfred was not fool enough to count onthe good intentions of the Vikings; hehad to find a way to stop them militarily,but how? While it is true that heexperimented with naval forces againstthe Vikings he eventually decided thatthe main effort must come on land.To solidiff his land based defence,Alfred took possession of London. Itis unclear how this came about, thoughmilitary action is one possibility. Withthis move, Alfred gained conhol ofEnolish Mercia nnd from there cnrrld

dominate the Thames. As a result,Alfred concluded a more advantageoustreaty with Guthrum. In return forceding Essex, East Anglia, and theEastem Midlands to Guthrum, the latterrecognised Alfred's undisputed conholover Cornwall and everything south ofthe Thames. Alfred also exerted somecontrol of the western Midlands andEnglish Mercia from Wales to WatlingStreet, and north to the River Mersey. Indescribing Alfred's growing power, theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle claims that 'allthe English race turned to him...'. Thenew territorial arrangement gave Alfreda stable kingdom with defined bordersthat could be defended. At this time, theVikings were ravaging the Franks, butthis could not last forever and. sooneror later, the Vikings would once againturn their attention to Alfred's kingdom.When they did, Alfred intended to beready for them.

One of ours, or one of theirs?- a fearsome question for ninth-century saxons.

IYIIII

On the Gontinent Viking armies built substantial fortified bases,yet in Britain apparently did not find it so necessary - why? Areconstruction of Trelleborg in its heyday.

arrived at the mouth of the Thames witha fleet of eigbty ships. Hasten quicklyconstructed a fortified base at Miltonwhile the other raiding party operatedout of Appledore. The bases were insupporting distance of one another andin position to dominate the Thames.

The English rallied to Alfred, andthe Northumbrians and East Angliansswore allegiance to him. Now he wasmore than just King of the West Saxons;he was King of the Anglo-Saxons. Withhis new allies. Alfred mobilised thefyrd. He positioned his mobile fieldforce between the two Viking camps sothat the armies could not unite withoutfighting him first. The Chronicle speaksof constant skirmishing: '... [Alfred'stroops] went through the forest in gangsand mounted groups, on whichever edgewas without an army and also from thestrongholds...' Alfred's forces musthave been fearsome, his skirmishersexacting a heavy toll, because the

The wait is harder than the battle.

Alfred Readies for Anotherlnvasion

During the long interval betweensustained Viking attacks, Alfredreorganised his defences and preparedWessex for the inevitable Viking return.To hold off Viking attiacks, Alfredestablished a string of fortified strong-points called burghs. Burghs wereestablished along the southern coastand the border with Mercia. Severalburghs were also constructed alongkey waterways and roadways. In somecases, burghs were built on top of oldRoman bases; in others they were freshconstructions of wooden palisades,earthen ramparts, and ditches. Burghswere designed to slow down and bluntViking raids and to serve as refuges incase ofattack.

Of course, the burghs could nothold out indefinitely. One of their

main purposes was to pin down Vikingraiding parties until Alfred's reformedfyrd arived. Alfred reformed the fyrdin several ways. First, he divided themilitia in half. One half was designatedto garrison the burghs, the other to servein his mobile field army. The mobilefield army was to march to the relief ofbesieged burghs and battle the Vikings.Second, to facilitate quick marches totrouble spots, Alfred required men tokeep horses on hand and sixty days'rations. Alfred's reforms ensured that hehad a force ready to move out and marchquickly to the area of battle.

The Vikings Return

Wessex was as ready as Alfred couldmake it when in 892, fleeing the famineand pestilence among the West Franks,a large fleet appeared at the mouth ofthe River Andred. Not long after theirarrival, a Viking king named Hasten

Viking armies did not sally from theircamps en masse more than twice, oncebefore the fyrd had been mobilised andonce when they were trying to carrytheir booty to the fleet in Essex. Here,Alfred struck he sent his son. Edward,

with a strong force to intercept theViking army - a vulnerable target as itwas laden with booty. Edward overtookthe Vikings at Farnham and routed them.The survivors took refuge on an islet,which Edward besieged.

Alfred Prevails

Alfred was marching with his forceto join the siege when word reachedhim that a fleet of one hundred shipsthreatened Exeter while a smaller fleet offorfy ships menaced Devonshire. Alfredat once led most of his army to Exeter.En route he gathered reinforcementsat London. With his combined armyhe marched on Benfleet where Hastenhad made camp, housing the majorityof his army while he was personally outon a raid. Alfred and his men stormedthe base, routed the garrison and putit to the torch, then marching back toLondon with Viking treasure, women,and children. Among Alfred's prisonerswere Hasten's wife and two sons whomhe returned to the Dane. Alfred's gestureof goodwill was not reciprocated byHasten, who returned to Benfleet, builtanother camp, and once more took toraiding the countryside. While Hastenwas plundering, Alfred again struckhis base and destroyed it. Then Alfredmarched on Exeter and drove off thebesieging army. Meanwhile, Vikingforces gathered at Shoebury in Essexwhere they built a base and receivedreinforcements from bases in EastAnglia and Northumbria. From here,the Vikings moved up the Thames andthe Severn threatening Somerset. Earlsloyal to Alfred, including his son-in-law, gathered their forces to engage theVikings along the Thames and Severn.They marched against the raiding army,overtook it, and besieged it at Buttingtonon the Severn shore. The Vikings,short of food, sallied out from theirfortifications and attacked the Anglo-Saxons. The Vikings were defeated'and very great slaughter was made ofthe Vikings,'the Chronicle tells us. Thecrrnr irr ino \ / i l : incc taf leqlaA ln Elanf leaf

The Saxons and Norse had very similar cultures, and were bothimmigrants to Britain. Doubtless that made coexistence easier onceEnglish rule was restored. The excavation of the Sutton Hoo shipburial.

In early 894 Viking reinforcements Welsh border. The Anglo-Saxon armyarrived from East Anglia and pursued the Vikings and laid siege toNorthumbria, and marched north and this base. Viking parties were riddenwest and built a camp at Wirral or down and slaughtered and the land/ahacfar an nlr{ Pnman fnrf naar fLo or^"nn +Lam ro- ' .^- ,1 A l+lr^rrdla +L- f^#

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Far left: The weapon which seems to have giventhe Saxons their name - the seax. Yet 300 yearssettled in England's fields and forests seems to havegentled them a little by the time the Vikings arrived.Left: Pagan Viking burial practices mean that weknow more about the qualities of their belovedswords than possibly any other class of medievalartefact. A tool exquisitely suited to its purpose,and often a work of decorative art as well. @ RoyalArmouries.

was not stormed, the Vikings were driven out and forced intoWales. This band returned to EastAnglia and Northumbria. Butagain they sallied out and built a base on the island of Merseanear the mouth of the Thames. Meanwhile, the Viking armythat attacked Exeter marched north for a time, plundering intoSussex in the Chichester region but the Chronicle notes '...thegarrison put them to flight and killed many hundred of them,and took some of their ships.'

Alfred's Final Battles

In 895 the Viking band at Mersea ran out their boats, went upthe Thames and built a fortified base atLea, twenty miles aboveLondon. Tbelocalfurd attacked but was unable to dislodge theVikings. So that summer, Alfred arrived to supervise operationspersonally. He made sure that crops were harvested in orderto deny them to the Vikings. Then he fortified the river aboveand below'the Viking position, taking away their mobility.The Vikings abandoned their base and marched overland,arriving at Bridgenorth on the Severn, where they camped.Alfred contained the Vikings in the area. Tiring of Alfred andhis Anglo-Saxons, the raiding army retueated into East Angliaand Northumbria, and the next year, set out for the Seine. Thusended the crisis. As the Chronicle records, 'The raiding-army,by the grace of God, had not altogether utterly crushed theEnglish race; but they were a great deal more crushed in thosethree years. . . '. In the year 897 , Viking bands out of East Angliaand Northumbria would raid the south Wessex coast, but theydid not venture inland. Alfred died in 899.

Alfred's Achievement

Alfred's victory was remarkable. He fought the Vikings, lost,retreated, counterattacked, and was ultimately victorious. Hewas personally brave. Moreover, he was forward - thinking;his vision united much of England. He founded a militaryestablishment that lasted until (and almost turned back) Williamthe Bastard. Alfred was the greatest Anglo-Saxon warrior king.

William Stroock

The text of the peace treaty between King Alfred and King GuthrumThis is the peace that KingAlfred and King Guthrum, and the Witan of al l the Engl ish nat ion, and al l the peoplethat are in East Anglia, have all ordained and with oaths confirmed, for themselves and for their descendantsas well for born as for unborn, who reck of God's mercy or of ours.

L Concerning our land boundaries - up on theThames, and then up on the Lea,and along the Leaunto its source, then straight to Bedford, then up onthe Ouse unto Watling Street.

2. lf a man be slain, we estimate all equally dear,Engl ish and Danish, at 8 half marks of pure gold;except lhe ceorlwho resides on rented land and their( the Danes') freedmen; they also are equal ly dear, ora t200. sh i l l i ngs .

3. And if a king's thegn be accused of manslaying,if he dares to clear himself on oath, let him do thatwith 12 king's fhegns. lf any one accuse that manwho is of less degree than the king's fhegn, let himclear himself with 11 of his equals and with one king'sthegn. And so in every suit which may be more than

4 mancuses. (equivalent to thirty pence)And if he

darenot, let him pay for it threefold, as it may bevalued.

4. And that every man know his warrantor in acquiringslaves and horses and oxen.

5. And we all ordained on that day that the oaths weresworn, that neither bondman nor freeman might goto the host without leave, no more than any of themto us. But if it happen that from necessity any of themwill have traffic with us or we with them, with cattleand with goods, that is to be allowed in this wise- that hostages be given in pledge of peace, and asevidence whereby itmay be known that the party hasa clean back.Adapted from Albeft Beebe White and WallaceNotestein, eds., Source Problems in English History,Harper and Brothers, New York: 1915.

Photo Credits Bibliography EndnotesOur thanks to Regia Anglorum forthe use of their copyright images.Regia is an international society,based in the UK, that seeks to re-create the life and times of the folkwho dwelt in and around the lslandsof Britain around a thousand yearsago. Website:- wwwregia.org.

Further ReadingFor further reading, Mr. Stroockrecommends contemporarysources on Alfred such as lheAnglo-Saxon Ch ronicle and Asser'sLife of Alfred. A good modern workis Richard Abels' Alfred the Great:War, Kngship and Culture in Anglo-Saxon England. ln The Viking Artof War, Paddy Griffith gives a goodtreatment of Alfred's antagonists.

Abels. Richard. Alfred the Great:War, Kingship and Culture inAnglo-Saxon England. (London:Longman,1998)Ducket, Eleanor Shipley. Alfred theGreat: The King and His England.(Chicago: University of ChicagoPress ,1956)Griffith, Paddy. The Viking Art ofWar. (London: Greenhill Books,1 e95)Hooper, Nicholas; Bennett,Mathew. Cambridge lllustratedAtlas: Warfare in the Middle Ages768-1487 . (Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press, 1 996)Keynes, Simon; Michael Lapidgeeds. Alfred the Great: Asser'sLife of King Alfred and OtherContemporary Sources. (London:Penguin Books, 1983)Swanton, Michael eds. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. (New York:Routledge, 1996)

1 Michael Swanton, ed. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. (New York:Routledge, 1996)2 Richard Abels. Alfred the Great:War, Kingship and Culture inAnglo-Saxon England (London:Longman,1998)3 Paddy Griffith. The Viking Art ofWar. (London: Greenhill Books,1995)a Simon Keynes; Michael Lapidgeeds. Alfred the Great: Asser'sLife of Kng Alfred and OtherContemporary Sources. (London:Penguin Books, 1983)5 Treaty with Guthrum Albert BeebeWhite and Wallce Notestein,eds., Source Problems in EnglishHistory. (New York: Harper andBrothers, 1915).