England Was Born in Reaction to the Vikings
The newly crowned King Alfred’s reign commenced inauspiciously, with two defeats. The second defeat in particular, at Milton in May, 871, was a bad one, and it smashed all hopes of driving the Vikings from Wessex by force of arms. Alfred was thus forced to make peace with the invaders, and had to pay them a hefty sum to withdraw from his kingdom – which they did, by the autumn of 871. The Vikings returned in 876, and Alfred was forced to make a new peace with them, whose terms the invaders soon violated. In 878, a sudden Viking onslaught overran Wessex, and forced Alfred to flee to the marshes of Somerset. He led a guerrilla resistance, before he emerged in May, 878, to rally the surviving Wessex forces and lead them to a decisive victory at the Battle of Edington.
Alfred then pursued and besieged the Vikings at Chippenham. He starved them into surrender, and forced their leader, Guthrum, to convert to Christianity. In 885, Vikings from East Anglia attacked Kent, but Alfred beat them back, then went on a counteroffensive that captured London. That victory led all Anglo-Saxons not then under Viking rule to accept Alfred as their king – a major step towards the unification of England. London acted as a springboard and base of operations for Alfred’s successor, his son Edward the Elder (reigned 899 – 924). By the end of his reign, Edward had decisively defeated the Vikings, and extended his authority over nearly all of today’s England.