The Battle of the Holme took place in East Anglia on 13 December 902 where the Anglo-Saxon men of

Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

and

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

fought against the Danelaw and East Anglian Danes. Its location is unknown but may have been Holme in

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popu ...

(now administratively part of

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

).Keynes, p. 461 n.7 Following the death of Alfred the Great in 899, his son

Edward the Elder Edward the Elder (17 July 924) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death in 924. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. When Edward succeeded to the throne, he had to defeat a challenge from his cousin ...

became king, but his cousin

Æthelwold Æthelwold was a common Anglo Saxon name. It may refer to: Royalty and nobility *King Æthelwold of Deira, King of Deira, d. 655 *King Æthelwold of East Anglia, King of East Anglia, d. 664 *King Æthelwold Moll of Northumbria, King of Northumbria ...

, the son of Alfred's elder brother, King

Æthelred Æthelred (; ang, Æþelræd ) or Ethelred () is an Old English personal name (a compound of '' æþele'' and '' ræd'', meaning "noble counsel" or "well-advised") and may refer to: Anglo-Saxon England * Æthelred and Æthelberht, legendary prin ...

, claimed the throne. His bid was unsuccessful, and he fled to the Northumbrian Danes, who, according to one version of the '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', accepted him as king.Campbell, p. 21. In 902 Æthelwold came with a fleet to Essex and the following year he persuaded the East Anglian Danes to attack Mercia and north Wessex. Edward retaliated by ravaging East Anglia and the Danish army was forced to return to defend its own territory. Edward then retreated, but the men of Kent disobeyed the order to retire, and they met the Danes at the battle of the Holme. The course of the battle is unknown, but the Danes appear to have won as according to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' they "kept the place of slaughter". However, they suffered heavy losses including Æthelwold, Eohric, probably the Danish king of East Anglia, Brihtsige, son of the

ætheling Ætheling (; also spelt aetheling, atheling or etheling) was an Old English term (''æþeling'') used in Anglo-Saxon England to designate princes of the royal dynasty who were eligible for the kingship. The term is an Old English and Old Saxon ...

Beornoth, and two holds, Ysopa and Oscetel. The battle thus ended

Æthelwold's Revolt Æthelwold's Revolt was an attempt by Æthelwold ætheling to seize the Anglo-Saxon throne from Edward the Elder after the death of Alfred the Great in 899. It ended when Æthelwold was killed in battle in 902 while fighting alongside his Danish ...

. Kentish losses included Sigehelm, father of Edward the Elder's third wife,

Eadgifu of Kent Eadgifu of Kent (also Edgiva or Ediva) (in or before 903 – in or after 966) was the third wife of Edward the Elder, King of Wessex. Biography Eadgifu was the daughter of Sigehelm, Ealdorman of Kent, who died at the Battle of the Holme in 902. ...

.Stafford, Eadgifu The West Saxon chronicler who gave the fullest account of the battle was at pains to explain why Edward and the rest of the English were not present, as if this had been a subject of criticism.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{Authority control Holme 902 Holme 902

the Holme The Holme (Saxon: "river island") is a mansion located on Inner Circle by Regent's Park in the City of Westminster, London, England. It was designed by Decimus Burton, as a residence for the Burton family, and built in 1818, by the company of Ja ...

902 10th century in England