May 878
Fourteen days before the stronghold
The Danish line breaks, and by Asser’s account Alfred destroys the Vikings with great slaughter. He pursues those who flee as far as their stronghold, cutting them down, and seizes everything he finds outside it, men, horses and cattle, killing the men. Then he camps with his whole army before the gates.
Bratton Camp in Sir Richard Colt Hoare’s Ancient History of South Wiltshire, 1812Wikimedia Commons, Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Public domain (Bratton Camp, in Richard Colt Hoare's Ancient History of South Wiltshire.jpg)
After fourteen days the Danes, worn down by hunger, cold and fear, ask for peace. They give Alfred as many hostages as he wants and take none in return, swear to leave his kingdom and promise that Guthrum will be baptised. Tradition places the stronghold at Bratton Camp, whose double ramparts enclose about 9 hectares, while other historians take it to be the Danish base at Chippenham.
The double banks and ditches at the south-west corner of Bratton CampWikimedia Commons, Ethan Doyle White, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Bivallate Bank and Ditches at the Southwest Corner of Bratton Castle (I).jpg)
Sources
- Asser, Life of King Alfred, chapter 56.
- Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, entry for 878.
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