On this day the Vikings were here where i live and they were pissed.
22 March 871 … the Vikings defeat the West Saxons at the Battle of ‘Meretun’.
This battle, between the Great Heathen Army and the West Saxons, was hard fought with neither side delivering a knock-out blow to the other. The West Saxons had the better of the battle of ‘Meretun’ until the Danes managed to regroup and it was they who possessed the battlefield at day’s end.
Many ‘important men’ were killed, including Bishop Heahmund of Sherborne. His death was commemorated each year on 22 March, which therefore gives us the likely date of the battle.
Of more long-term significance, King Æthelred of Wessex was probably among the wounded.
Æthelred died on 15 April 871 and his younger brother Alfred, still only 22, succeeded as king of Wessex.
