Æthelwold in 901 had sailed with a …

Years: 902 - 902
December

Æthelwold in 901 had sailed with a fleet to Essex.

He persuades the Danes in East Anglia in 902 to wage war against Edward and joins them in a raid on Mercia and Wessex.

Edward retaliates by ravaging the southern Danelaw, but when he withdraws, the men of Kent refuse to obey the order to retreat.

They meet the Danes in East Anglia on December 13 at the Battle of the Holme.

Its location is unknown but may be Holme in Huntingdonshire (now part of Cambridgeshire).

The Danes are victorious but suffer the heavier losses.

Æthelwold is among the leaders on the Danish side who are killed, as is a King Eohric, possibly of the East Anglian Danes.

Relations with the North for the next several years will prove problematic for Edward.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mentions that he made peace with the East Anglian and Northumbrian Danes "of necessity".

Related Events

Filter results