Battle of Buttington 893
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 893 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | Wales | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Viking activity in the British Isles | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Kingdom of Mercia, Kingdom of Wessex, Vikings, Welsh people | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 52.6720, -3.0900 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Buttington was fought in 893 between a Viking army and an alliance of Anglo-Saxons and Welsh.
The annals for 893 reported that a large Viking army had landed in the Lympne Estuary, Kent and a smaller force had landed in the Thames estuary under the command of Danish king Hastein. These were reinforced by ships from the settled Danes of East Anglia and Northumbria, some of this contingent sailed round the coast to besiege a fortified place (known as a burh) and Exeter, both in Devon. The English king Alfred the Great, on hearing of Exeter's demise, led all his mounted men to relieve the city. He left his son-in-law Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians and ealdormen Æthelhelm, Æthelnoth, and others in charge of defending various towns and cities from the rest of the Viking army.
The king's thegns managed to assemble a great army consisting of both Saxons and Welsh. The combined army laid siege to the Vikings who had built a fortification at Buttington. After several weeks the starving Vikings broke out of their fortification only to be beaten by the combined English and Welsh army with many of the Vikings being put to flight.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Buttington (revision 1370435653), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Cefn Digoll 630 · 3 km
- Siege of Exeter (c. 630) 630 · 3 km
- Relief of Montgomery Castle 1644 · 13 km
- Battle of Mechain 1069 · 14 km
- Battle of Maes Moydog 1295 · 16 km
- Battle of Maserfield 642 · 21 km
Other battles of the Viking activity in the British Isles
- Battle of Englefield 871
- Battle of Reading (871) 871
- Battle of Chippenham 878
- Battle of Cynwit 878
- Battle of Edington 878
- Battle of Tettenhall 910
- Battle of Tempsford 917
- Battle of Corbridge 918
- Battle of Brunanburh 937
- Battle of Stainmore 954
All 20 battles of the Viking activity in the British Isles →
Browse more: battles in Wales · Europe · Medieval battles