On this day in 910, the last of the Viking army to raid England was defeated at the Battle of Tettenhall. In early August AD910, a Viking force under King Olaf the White, led by a large flotilla of ships, attacked Nottinghamshire and raided Northampton. But on 5 August, their army was routed by a small Anglo-Saxon force led by Alfred the Great at Tettenhall, west of Burton-on-Trent.
The Vikings had been landing in England for approximately a decade. The Vikings had already destroyed or taken many settlements on the east coast. Olaf the White, the son of King Harald Hardrada of Norway, who was killed in battle at Stamford Bridge in 1066, led them. In 911, the Vikings sailed up the Humber estuary to York and established naval bases at Riccall, Grimsby, and Kingston upon Hull.
Facts about the Battle of Tettenhall 910
- The battle of Tettenhall was recorded as the first significant victory of King Alfred against the Vikings. It was a battle that would lead the Scandinavian England settlers to accept Alfred as King.
- The Vikings occupied most of East Anglia, Mercia, and Northumbria by 909 AD before moving onto Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and Staffordshire in summer 910. They ransacked many towns such as Derby, Nottingham, and Stamford.
- Alfred the Great led an army against the Vikings in early August AD910 at Tettenhall, west of Burton-on-Trent. A small Anglo-Saxon force led by Alfred the Great defeated a powerful Viking army led by King Olaf the White. The invaders were driven back to their fortified camp at Chester, but two days later, this was stormed and burnt.
- The English victory caused many Scandinavian settlers to accept Alfred as their King rather than Olaf II.
- The result of the battle left a small number of Vikings in England that had fled the brawl, whom several former military commanders led.
- When Alfred returned to London, he was met with a large procession of Norsemen that had fled the carnage at Tettenhall. The Norsemen met him in London, where they were given sanctuary. From then on, most Norse settlements on the upper Thames developed into towns such as Kingston upon Hull and Grimsby.
Are you sure the Vikings had only been raiding England for a decade? They did it for hundreds of years under many different rulers from what I understand.
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how can Olaf the White who led the Viking forces in this battle in 910AD, be the son of a man killed in a battle in 1066? You need a better editor/fact-checker
how can Olaf the White who led the Viking forces in this battle in 910AD, be the son of a man killed in a battle in 1066? You need a better editor/fact-checker
Grimsby and Hull are first described as being on the Humber river and then later as being on the Thames!
Olaf the White was killed in 1066 ? 155 years after the Battle of Tettenhall in 910? Those Vikings were certainly hardy!
Loved reading this.
How could Alfred lead an army in 910, when he had died in 899? As for Olaf the White, born about 820? Leading a battle in his 80s? Something is whong here.
Something wrong with date of death of King 156 years after this battle. The King Harold that died in 1066 was in the battle of Hastings, where William the Conqueror conquered England.
King Harald was defeat by the Saxon King Harald a few weeks before the battle of Hastings, which the Saxon Harold lost and in which he died.