870-889 All England Except Wessex Conquered by Danes

This twenty year period covers the West Saxon King Ethelred I, king of the English, who died in 871 and was succeeded by Alfred (pictured), King Egbert's grandson.

At that time, only Wessex stood between the Danes and the conquest of the whole of England. The kingdoms of Northumbria, East Anglia and Mercia had already fallen.

A strong leader was needed, but Alfred had already been given the blessing of Pope Leo on a previous visit to Rome and that was more important than anything else to him.

In 878 Guthrum the Dane launched a surprise attack on Alfred's palace at Chippenham and he was able to escape with his family to the Isle of Athelney in Somerset, protected by swamps and fenland where he burnt cakes, saw a vision of St. Cuthbert prophesying victory and, disguised as a minstrel, he spied on the enemy camp.

As most of the Danes had settled down and merged with the local population there was not much the ordinary English man or woman had to fear from them, and nobody expected more invasions.

The Danish settlers were more antagonistic to the aristocrats like Alfred and the church leaders than to ordinary people.

Indeed, ordinary English men and women were also suspicious of Alfred's motives in taking power, but he proved them wrong and earned his title of Alfred the Great in the following period.

During this period, Norway had united under King Harald I by 870 and by 874 the Norsemen had settled in Iceland.