Alfred in the marshes of Athelney
878 · Event
From a fort on an island in the Somerset Levels, the king wages a guerrilla winter — and gathers, by secret messengers, the militias of three shires. The later legend of the burnt cakes lives here: a king brought so low a swineherd's wife could scold him, before the ride to Edington. It is the hinge of English history's oldest comeback.
On these timelines: Alfred and the Vikings, England, Master, United Kingdom (combined)
More from Alfred and the Vikings
- Battle of Edington (878)
- Great Heathen Army lands (865)
- Twelfth Night attack at Chippenham (878)
- Alfred takes London (886)
- Treaty of Wedmore / Danelaw (878)
- Danelaw established (886)
- York falls to the Great Army (866)
- Battle of Ashdown (871)
Around 878
- Reign of Alfred the Great (871)
- Holy Roman Empire (962)
- Khmer Empire (Angkor) (802)
- Song dynasty (960)
- Holy Roman Empire founded (962)
- Treaty of Verdun (843)
- Song invention of gunpowder (950)
- Viking Age (793)
- Coronation of Charlemagne (800)
- Diamond Sutra printed (868)