The Battle Of Holme

13th December 902

On the 26th October 899, one of England's greatest Kings, King Ælfrēd  The Great died. His son, Ēadweard, was expected to succeed him on the  throne of England. This would have gone to plan, except for a challenge  to Ēadweard's succession from his cousin, ætheling Æthelwold, son of  Ælfrēd's brother, the late King Æþelræd of Wessex, who thought, being  the son of an earlier King than Ælfrēd, he had more right to the throne.

Æthelwold & his force took control  and occupied the resting place  of his father, Æþelræd - Wimborne in Dorset. He followed up by seizing  land at Christchurch in Hampshire, that belonged to the crown, before  returning to Wimborne. Ēadweard travelled to the pre-Roman earthwork at  Badbury in Dorset (now known as Badbury Rings), just four miles  north-west of Wimborne, with an army he had assembled. His intention  being meeting Æthelwold in battle, but it seems Æthelwold was not  prepared to fight - he, his men & a nun they had captured to rile  the King & bishops stayed within Wimborne, preparing for a stand  off. Word possibly reached Æthelwold that Ēadweard would soon attack.  The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us that Æthelwold rode North in the  night. When he reached Danish land in Northumbria, he appealed for help,  and the Danes, knowing of Æthelwold's possible power and claim to the  throne, pledged their allegiance. It is possible he was crowned at  Jórvík (modern day York), King of Northumbria.

Back in the south, Ēadweard was crowned King at Kingston upon Thames on  8th June 900. Æthelwold was busy building a force to attack England. In  the Autumn of 901, he sailed round the East coast in ships he had  collected overseas, and by 902, with an East-Anglian Danish force he had  gathered, attacked Mercia and northern Wessex, raiding as far as  Cricklade in Wiltshire.

Later that year, in retaliation, King Ēadweard attacked East Anglian  territory, between the Cambridgshire Dikes and the River Wissey, as far  north as the Fens. The King and the troops under his command turned back  south, having done what they intended, though a section of the force,  the Kentishmen, disobeyed the order to retreat despite several messages  sent to them from the King. They were caught up with at a place called  Holme (the exact location cannot be identified as Holme is a common  place name), by the Danes, under the leadership of Æthelwold and Eohric,  the King of East Anglia. A battle ensued on 13th December 902. The  Danes were victorious - to a degree. They held onto the land, but among  the most distinguished dead, both their king, Eohric, and their ally and  Northumbrian King, Æthelwold along with Beorhtsige, son of Beorhtnoð  the Æthling, and Ysopa and Oscytel, Scandinavian barons. More Danes were  killed than Englishmen. Among the slain on the side of King Ēadweard's  England were ealdorman Sigewulf- son of Sigeræd, Prince of Kent,  ealdorman Sigehelm, Eadwold- thegn of King Ēadweard, Abbot Cenwulf,  Sigeberht- Sigewulf's son and Eadwold- Acca's son.

Ēadweard, after surviving ætheling Æthelwold's revolt, was in a strong  position for the coming years, with no challenges to his crown. A few  years later, in 906, King Ēadweard made peace with East Anglia and  Northumbria, though the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles mention that this was out  of necessity - possibly from increased harrying by the Danes.

Copyright: 2009 Penda of Teotta's Halh AKA N. Hodgkiss. Reference wikipedia.org  & Anglo-Saxon England by Frank Stenton