Battle of Basing 871
Marker: recorded battle location (no official boundary).
Key facts
| Date (year) | 871 | Wikidata P585 point in time |
|---|---|---|
| Century | 9th century | derived |
| Period | Early medieval, Anglo-Saxon & Viking | derived |
| Country | England | derived |
| War / conflict | Viking activity in the British Isles | Wikidata |
| Participants | Danelaw, Kingdom of Wessex, Æthelred I | Wikidata |
About the battle
The Battle of Basing was a victory of a Viking army over the West Saxons at the royal estate of Basing in Hampshire on about 22 January 871.
In late December 870 the Vikings invaded Wessex and occupied Reading. Several battles followed in quick succession, Englefield, a West Saxon victory, Reading, a Viking victory and Ashdown on about 8 January, a West Saxon victory. Two weeks later, King Æthelred and his brother, the future King Alfred the Great, were defeated at Basing. There was then a lull of two months until the Battle of Meretun, when the Vikings again prevailed. Soon after Easter, which fell on 15 April in that year, Æthelred died and was succeeded by Alfred.
The Battle of Basing can be dated because Bishop Heahmund of Sherborne died in the Battle of Meretun, and it is known that he died on 22 March 871. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that the Battle of Basing was two months earlier, dating it to 22 January, Ashdown fourteen days before that on 8 January, Reading four days earlier on 4 January, Englefield another four days earlier on 31 December 870 and the arrival of the Vikings in Reading three days earlier on 28 December.
Visiting the battlefield
Location
- Recorded location (Wikidata; may be approximate): 51.2704, -1.0473
Battlefields are often on private farmland: please keep to public rights of way and respect landowners.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Basing (revision 1370433509), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations removed. No text added.
Battle location from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby battlefields
- Battle of Alton 1643 · 14 km
- First Battle of Alton 1001 · 14 km
- Battle of Englefield 871 · 20 km
- Battle of Reading 1688 · 21 km
- Battle of Reading 871 · 22 km
- Battle of Cheriton 1644 · 24 km
Other battles of the Viking activity in the British Isles
- Battle of York 867
- Battle of Ashdown 871
- Battle of Englefield 871
- Battle of Reading 871
- Battle of Chippenham 878
- Battle of Cynwit 878
- Battle of Edington 878
- Battle of Buttington 893
- Battle of Tettenhall 910
- Battle of Tempsford 917
All battles of the Viking activity in the British Isles →
Browse more: battles in England · Early medieval, Anglo-Saxon & Viking · 9th century battles