User:Harrias/Cynwit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Battle of Cynwit, also spelt Cynuit, was a battle fought in early 878 in Wessex between the West Saxons and the Vikings. The location of the battle is uncertain; a variety of places have been suggested, more prominent among which are Cannington Hill in Somerset and Countisbury Hill in Devon. The battle features in Asser's Life of King Alfred, though the details are meagre. Most accounts describe a Viking attack from the Bristol Channel, led by Ubba. With a fleet of 23 ships, he landed on the north coast near a fortification known as Arx Cynuit, a repurposed Iron Age hillfort. The fort was considered to be impregnable other than from the east, and so Ubba settled down to establish a siege.
Battle of Cynwit | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Viking invasions of England | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
West Saxons | Vikings | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Odda, Ealdorman of Devon | Ubba † |
The Saxons, who had no water source within the fort, launched a dawn attack on the besieging army. Commanded by Odda, an ealdorman of Devon, the attack overwhelmed the Viking army, killed their leader, and captured the Raven banner, Hrefn. It was a rare victory over the Vikings for a Saxon army not commanded by Alfred the Great, and was followed shortly after by the Battle of Edington, where Alfred defeated Guthrum, which led to a treaty dividing England between the West Saxons and the Vikings.