The Battle of Wippedesfleot was a battle in 466 between the

Anglo-Saxons The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

(or

Jutes The Jutes (), Iuti, or Iutæ ( da, Jyder, non, Jótar, ang, Ēotas) were one of the Germanic tribes who settled in Great Britain after the departure of the Romans. According to Bede, they were one of the three most powerful Germanic nation ...

), led by Hengest, and the

Britons British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mod ...

. It is described in the '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' thus: :465: :465: Here Hengest and Æsc fought together against Welsh (= Britons) near Wippedesfleot and there slew 12 Welsh leaders, and one of their

thane Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra, India. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven taluk ...

s was slain, whose name was Wipped. This battle is said to have resulted in much bloodshed and slaughter on both sides, to the extent that hostilities abated for a while thereafter. Some historians believe in a Saxon victory, but that is not what is mentioned in the text. The limited number of casualties is an indication that the battle was a small one. The number of ''warriors'' involved must not have reached 200 men. Wippedesfleot is thought to be Ebbsfleet in Kent, near Ramsgate. Its location made the author of the ''

Historia Brittonum ''The History of the Britons'' ( la, Historia Brittonum) is a purported history of the indigenous British ( Brittonic) people that was written around 828 and survives in numerous recensions that date from after the 11th century. The ''Historia B ...

'' think that all Saxons had now been driven out of Britain. ''Wippedes'' is possibly a corruption of Latin ''oppidis'' in reference to the creek's position by the twin forts of Rutupiæ and Rutupiæ alteræ (Regulbium). Ramsgate is the main place upon the former Island of

Thanet Thanet may refer to: *Isle of Thanet, a former island, now a peninsula, at the most easterly point of Kent, England *Thanet District, a local government district containing the island *Thanet College, former name of East Kent College *Thanet Canal, ...

, "which was given to the Saxons by

Vortigern Vortigern (; owl, Guorthigirn, ; cy, Gwrtheyrn; ang, Wyrtgeorn; Old Breton: ''Gurdiern'', ''Gurthiern''; gle, Foirtchern; la, Vortigernus, , , etc.), also spelled Vortiger, Vortigan, Voertigern and Vortigen, was a 5th-century warlord in ...

". It was the very place where, according to the ''Historia Brittonum'', the Saxons first landed.

Gildas Gildas ( Breton: ''Gweltaz''; c. 450/500 – c. 570) — also known as Gildas the Wise or ''Gildas Sapiens'' — was a 6th-century British monk best known for his scathing religious polemic ''De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae'', which recount ...

does not mention the battle.

References

466 460s conflicts Battles involving the Britons Battles involving the Anglo-Saxons Battles involving Kent 5th century in England {{battle-stub