24 min
Viking England Ep.2: The Crushing of Alfred‘s Wessex 871-878 Bitesize Battles
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- History
When the Viking warlord, Guthrum, ambushed King Alfred the Great of Wessex while he was celebrating Christmas at Chippenham, Alfred had no choice but to run with his family and a few guards.
Hearing that Guthrum's forces were spreading out all over Wessex, the only safe place for Alfred to go was the marshland of Somerset which he knew as a boy.
Alfred was now a fugitive in his own kingdom, hiding out in a swamp with his family and just a few guards. Mercia had fallen four years earlier, crushed by the Vikings just as Northumbia and East Anglia had been before it.
It seemed Wessex was going the same way.
Subscribe to us here on your favourite podcast channel, follow us on Instagram and Facebook @bitesizebattles, and visit our website at www.bitesizebattles.com. Thanks for listening.
When the Viking warlord, Guthrum, ambushed King Alfred the Great of Wessex while he was celebrating Christmas at Chippenham, Alfred had no choice but to run with his family and a few guards.
Hearing that Guthrum's forces were spreading out all over Wessex, the only safe place for Alfred to go was the marshland of Somerset which he knew as a boy.
Alfred was now a fugitive in his own kingdom, hiding out in a swamp with his family and just a few guards. Mercia had fallen four years earlier, crushed by the Vikings just as Northumbia and East Anglia had been before it.
It seemed Wessex was going the same way.
Subscribe to us here on your favourite podcast channel, follow us on Instagram and Facebook @bitesizebattles, and visit our website at www.bitesizebattles.com. Thanks for listening.
24 min