Wessex battles the Vikings; Danes occupy part of England

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

Resources

The English Kingdom of Wessex opposes the Danish Vikings in a series of battles: Englefield, Berkshire (31 Dec. 870); Reading (4 Jan. 871), Ashdown (8 Jan. 871), Basing (22 Jan. 871), Merton (22 March 871), Wilton (May 871). At Ashdown the English win their first significant victory of the war; nonetheless, it proves impossible to recapture Reading. Wessex, like the other English kingdoms, makes peace with the Danes, and rule over England is divides between the Danes and the Kingdom of Wessex, now ruled by Alfred (the Great).

77 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Wessex battles the Vikings; Danes occupy part of England". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 May 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=6977, accessed 19 March 2024.]

6977 Wessex battles the Vikings; Danes occupy part of England 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.