Alfred the Great's victory at Edington and the Danelaw
- Date
- 878 CE
- Category
- Military & conflict
- Region
- England (Wessex)
- Era
- Post-Classical / Medieval
- Significance
In 878, after years of Viking conquest that had overrun most of Anglo-Saxon England, Alfred the Great of Wessex emerged from hiding in the Somerset marshes, rallied the West Saxon levies, and decisively defeated the Great Heathen Army under Guthrum at the Battle of Edington.
Besieged afterwards, Guthrum sought peace; under the resulting settlement, often called the Treaty of Wedmore, he and leading Danes accepted Christian baptism, with Alfred standing as godfather and Guthrum taking the baptismal name Athelstan. The Danes withdrew from Wessex, and a subsequent boundary agreement formalised the division of England, leaving the north and east under Scandinavian rule as the Danelaw while Wessex and English Mercia remained under Alfred. The victory preserved an independent English kingdom, allowing Alfred to reform the army, build fortified burhs and a navy, and promote learning and law. It laid the foundation for his successors' tenth-century reconquest of the Danelaw and the eventual unification of England.
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Empires active in 878 CE
- Byzantine Empire330 CE – 1453 CE
- Samanid Empire819 CE – 999 CE
- Tang Dynasty618 CE – 907 CE
- Abbasid Caliphate750 CE – 1258 CE
- Kanem-Bornu Empire700 CE – 1900 CE
- Caliphate of Córdoba756 CE – 1031 CE
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- Battle of Manzikert Opens Anatolia to the Turks26 August 1071
- Battle of Lechfeld ends Magyar raids on the West10–12 August 955 CE
- Viking raid on Lindisfarne opens the Viking Age8 June 793 CE
Further reading
The wider story
Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire
Vivid, thematic popular history by a top Byzantinist.
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