Īlfred fled the attack with a few retainers and took shelter in the marshes of Somerset, staying in the small village of Athelney. It being an important feast day in the Christian liturgical year, the Saxons were presumably taken by surprise-indeed it is possible that Wulfhere, Ealdorman of Wiltshire, allowed the attack through either negligence or intent, for, on Alfred's return to power later in 878, Wulfhere and his wife were stripped of their lands. On Epiphany, 6 January 878, Guthrum made a surprise nighttime attack on Alfred and his court at Chippenham. įollowing this victory, the Great Army split in two – one half under Halfdan heading north to fight against the Picts and Britons of Strathclyde, and the other half under Guthrum heading south to continue fighting against Wessex. It conquered Mercia in 874, with Burgred of Mercia being deposed and replaced by a Danish puppet-regent, Ceolwulf. The Army overwintered at Torksey, and was then reported as being in the Repton district a year later.
In the autumn of 872, the Great Army returned to Northumbria to quell a revolt against its puppet-regent Ecgberht I of Northumbria. Coins minted in London during this period bear the name Halfdan, identifying him as its leader. The combined army had several military engagements with the West Saxons before wintering in London in 871–872. Guthrum, a nephew of Horik II of Denmark and a failed candidate for a share of the Danish throne, was one of the leaders of the Great Summer Army, which in April 871 joined forces with the "Great Danish Army" based at Reading. Guthrum ruled East Anglia under his baptismal name of Æthelstan until his death. This treaty is seen as the foundation of the Danelaw.
The subsequent Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum set out the boundaries between Alfred and Guthrum's territories, as well as agreements on peaceful trade and the weregild value of its people.
Under the terms of his surrender, Guthrum was obliged to be baptised as a Christian and then leave Wessex. The Danes retreated to their stronghold, where Alfred laid siege and eventually Guthrum surrendered. The combined armies were successful in conquering the kingdoms of East Anglia, Mercia, and Northumbria, and overran Alfred the Great's Wessex, but were ultimately defeated by Alfred at the Battle of Edington in 878. Originally a native of what is now Denmark, he was one of the leaders of the "Great Summer Army" that arrived in Reading during April 871 to join forces with the Great Heathen Army, whose intentions were to conquer the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England.
890) was King of East Anglia in the late 9th century.
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