The Dark Age History

The West Saxons fight several battles after Ashdown in rapid succession as Halfdan continues to attack and raid into Wessex territory. All of them are defeats for the West Saxon forces and King Æthelred is mortally wounded, leaving his brother Alfred to take up the throne.

A rebellion is launched in Northumbria due to Ivar's absence raiding and King Halfdan's absence for over 2 years. Local nobles attempt to take control and expel those that were working with the Danes.   Halfdan is forced to abandon his raid and return to Northumbria to put down the rebellion and make peace with a few of the nobles to prevent further rebellion.

The Vikings, now re-enforced by the Summer army head back into Mercia to raid and end up taking over the city of Lindsey. Upon taking the city, they ask King Burgred to pay yet another Danegeld for them to leave.   They return to Northumbria after the winter.

Having been paid twice by King Burgred, Halfdan returns to get paid again and instead of paying, King Burgred rather than pay a third time asks for his brother in law King Alfred to send troops to face the Danes.   The Danes sack the Mercian stronghold of Tamworth and fortify it. When the troops from Wessex arrive, they realize the Danish forces are too well dug into Tamworth and refuse to assault. King Burgred is forced to pay the Danes again to leave.   King Burgred, rather than risk paying the Danes again, abdicates and leaves Mercia on a pilgrimage to Rome. He never arrives and dies on route.

King Burgred of Mercia abdicates his Throne to go on a spiritual journey to Rome. He will never return, leaving Mercia to fend for itself.

The body of St Cuthbert is removed from Lindisfarne and begins to be moved around Northumbria going on a tour of various religious institutions. The reason for its move is that the Priests fear that it will be destroyed by Pagan leaders and hope to keep it in places of strong faith.

The King of Cornwall dies by drowning in the River Fowey. Many Christian writers claim that it is God's judgement for working with the Northmen and offering them safe harbor. His death occurs while he is out with his men and is considered deeply suspicious.   Cornwall is thrown into civil war.

Guthrum with three other Jarls, leads the great army south wintering in Mericia. The Great army is a shadow of its former self and leadership is greatly divided. Guthrum consolidates his control of the army, driving away or killing the three other Jarls leaving himself in sole command.

Guthrum took his forces in a lightning march all the way to the fortifications at Exeter, taking them by surprise and overwhelming them. King Alfred was in hot pursuit, but Guthrum knew that Halfdan's relief force was on its way and would sail to meet him in Exeter so he dug in awaiting relief.   But the Gods abandoned Guthrum "the Unlucky" as he would come to be known. And the fleet sent to relieve him was caught in a terrible storm near Dorset. Few were able to arrive and they were far from the force that Guthrum needed to defeat Alfred.   Guthrum was forced to make another peace with Alfred, with fresh hostages offered by him. Guthrum took his forces north to Mercia where he occupied Gloucester as a unwelcome 'guest' of Ceolwulf.

King Ceowulf, fresh off his victory is able to convince the sons of Rhodri that they should submit to Mercian hegemony in their Kingdoms Æthelredand pay tribute. They reluctantly agree and King Ceowulf leaves Æthelred in charge of collecting the payment and bringing the last of the resistance to an end.   Guthrum's forces are freed to return to his service.

Alfred from the swamps of Athelney sent out word that he was still alive and began gathering forces. He sent the forces out in small numbers to conduct raids and harry Guthrum's forces while sending priests out to convince Alderman and Thegns to join his cause.

Having regained their military position and consolidated their seperate rule over their new kingdoms, the sons of Rhodri turned their attention towards Mercia. Now with much of their old territory seeded to the Danes and the Danish forces unlikely to support King Ceowulf, the brothers decided to refuse to continue to bow to the King of Mercia or pay his tribute.   They declared the Briton Kingdoms independent and began efforts to consolidate their own power in the region.   King Ceowulf was forced to mobilize some of his men under Æthelred to raid the Briton Kingdoms and try to return them to heel.

After several raids with Gwynedd, the sons of Rhodri were able to gather their armies near Conwey at a place called Cymryt and make camp. Eager to bring a quick end to the conflict and re-establish Mercian dominance in the region, Æthelred lead the Mercian forces to attempt to break up the forming army.   In the ensuing battle, the Mercian's were crushed and forced to yield the field to the Gwynedd forces. This essentially reinforced the autonomy that the Kingdom of Gwynedd had been practicing since the time of Burgred, but established it decisively; Mercia no longer held dominance like it once had.