| Year | Day/Month | Title |
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849 | |  Alfred 'the Great' is born
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| | Alfred was the fifth son of Ethelwulf, King of Wessex. |
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853 | | Alfred goes to Rome
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| | Alfred is sent to Rome by his father to see Pope Leo IV. |
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855 | | Ethelwulf and Alfred visit Rome
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| | Ethelwulf and Alfred visit Rome to see Pope Leo IV. |
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865 | | Ethelred becomes King of Wessex
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| | Following the death of his elder brother, Ethelred became the King of Wessex. Alfred (the Great) became his deputy. |
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867 | | Danes are attacked and move south
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| | Armies from Northumbria attacked the Danes at York but were defeated. The Danes moved south attacking Nottingham and taking the city. The king of Mercia asked Ethelred and Alfred for assistance and an army from Wessex went to help. |
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868 | | Alfred marries Ealhswith
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| | Alfred marries the daughter of a Mercian nobleman. |
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| Autumn | A peaceful settlement is reached
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| | Ethelred and Alfred married Mercian noble women whilst assisting the King of Mercia with the Danes on his land. A peaceful settlement was reached with the Danes and a Danegeld was paid for them to leave. |
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| Alfred the Great (871 - 899) |
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871 | | Alfred rebuilds his defences
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| | During the period between 871 and 875 while the Danes were occupied in the north, Alfred had time to rebuild his defences. |
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| Qtr 1 | Battle of Ashdown
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| | Athelred and Alfred defeated the Danes at Ashdown. |
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| Qtr 2 | More Danes arrive in Britain
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| | Another army of Danes landed in London and were joined by those at Reading. The army defeated Alfred at Wilton and so the king decided to pay the Danes some money to keep the peace. |
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| Apr | Alfred 'The Great' becomes king of Wessex
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| | After fighting the Danes all winter Athelred died. He was only in his twenties. He was buried at Wimborne and was succeeded by his younger brother Alfred 'the Great'. |
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875 | | Alfred builds a small navy
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| | Alfred the Great organised a small number of ships to attack invading Danes. |
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876 | | Danes defeated in the south
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| | Led by Guthrum, an army of Danes moved to Wareham in Dorset where they were met by a new army from the sea who landed at Poole. Alfred trapped the army and demanded hostages in return for a peaceful settlement. The Danes divided, half fleeing to Exeter where they besieged the town while the other half escaped in their ships but were drowned in heavy seas. Those at Exeter were forced to surrender and were moved up to Gloucester. |
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878 | Jan | The Danes take the advantage
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| | After Exeter. Alfred was hoping that trouble with the Danes was over, but again led by Guthrum, an army headed for Alfred at his Chippenham residence. Alfred fled under overwelming odds leaving Chippenham in the hands of the Danes. |
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| Spring | Alfred burns the cakes
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| | During the winter and spring period Alfred was in hiding. He ran a guerrilla warfare style war against the Danes and set up his headquarters on the Isle of Athelney in Somerset. It was on one of his scouting missions (the story goes) that he took refuge and not being recognised as the King was asked to watch the cakes which he burnt. |
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| Apr | Battle of Edington
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| | Alfred called for his men to form an army and attack the Danes. He ordered the army to meet at a location known as Egbert's Stone and seven weeks after Easter an army was formed. Once formed the army quickly moved towards Guthrum and the Danes and the two armies met at Edington. The battle at Edington was won by Alfred and the Danes retreated to Chippenham. The Danes were surrounded and surrendered. Guthrum along with several other high ranking members of the Danish army were converted to Chistianity under Alfred's sponsorship. Guthrum and Alfred agreed on peace terms and the Danes returned to their holdings in East Anglia known as the Danelaw. |
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879 | | New Viking Invasion
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| | A new Viking fleet sailed up the Thames and and built a camp at Fulham. For Alfred this was a worrying situation as he was unsure if this new Viking army would move to join Guthrum. Alfred did not have to worry as the army soon broke camp and headed for France. |
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| | Start of reoganisation
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| | After the success at Edington Alfred decided to construct of a series of fortified villages or burhs to help protect Wessex. He set up a system that provided Wessex with both a standing army and defence at a local level. |
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882 | | Alfred attacks Viking ships
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| | Alfred had been increasing the size of his new navy and in 882 used it to good affect when he sailed out to attack four Viking ships. Two Viking ships were captured and their crews killed. |
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885 | | Vikings besiege Rochester
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| | An army of Vikings landed in Kent from the Continent and besieged Rochester. Alfred's work in improving the defences of the major towns paid off and the town held out long enough for Alfred to organise an army and force the Vikings to flee back across the Channel to the Continent. |
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886 | | Alfred captures London
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| | Alfred took full control of London and strengthened its defences in defiance against Viking attacks. London had not been a capital town before now but Alfred raised London's status. |
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890 | | Guthrum dies
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| | Guthrum died in 890 and his peace agreements with Alfred were maintained by his successor. |
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893 | | Danish Invasion
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| | A huge army of Danes travelled from from Boulogne using some 250 ships and crossed the Channel landing in Kent at the Lympne Estuary, now called the River Rother. The army found a half-completed Saxon fort at Appledore which they attacked and took control of. At the same time another Danish army led by Haesten had arrived in the Thames estuary and set up camp at Milton. Alfred was facing a serious threat but decided to position his army half way between the two enemy encampments and wait. |
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894 | | Battle at Farnham
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| | While Alfred concentrated his efforts against the Danes at Milton, the Danes at Appledore left their camp. Alfred's son Edward took an army and caught the Danes at Farnham. Edward dealt a heavy blow and forced the Danes to retreat to an island on the River Colne. At the same time Danes from East Anglia had sailed around to the Cornish coast and had besieged Exeter. Aflred, who had been on his way to help Edward deal with the Danes on the island, changed direction and headed for Exeter. Back in Essex Haesten had gained reinforcements and moved to a new fortified site at Benfleet, but the fort was attacked by the Saxons while the Danes were on a raiding trip and this forced Haesten to move to Shoebury. The Danes outside Exeter ended their siege and sailed around to the join Haesten at Shoebury. |
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895 | | Danes march west
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| | The combined Danish army left Shoebury and marched west up the Thames valley through Worcestershire and up the Severn valley finally reaching Chester where they were besieged by the Saxons who tried to starve the Danes out. The Danes managed to escape into Wales where they raided and left with a great deal of spoils. |
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| Edward the Elder (899 - 924) |
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899 | Oct 26 | Alfred dies, Edward 'The Elder' becomes King
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| | Alfred the Great died on October 26th and Edward, his son, became king of Wessex. Apart from the English people under Danish rule, Alfred had ruled over all the English in the country. |
