Battle of Basing

Part of the Viking invasions of England

Date	22 January 871
Location	Old Basing, Hampshire
Result	Viking victory.

Belligerents

West Saxons

Danelaw Vikings

Commanders and leaders

Ethelred of Wessex

Coordinates: 51°16′13″N 1°02′50″W / 51.2704°N 1.0473°W / 51.2704; -1.0473

The Battle of Basing was a battle on 22 January 871 at Old Basing in what is now the English county of Hampshire. It was one of a series of battles that took place following an invasion of the then kingdom of Wessex by an army of Danes. Both battle and campaign are described in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

The Danes had established a camp at Reading, and the previous battles of Englefield, Reading and Ashdown had proved indecisive, with victories to both sides.

Two weeks after the Saxon victory at Ashdown, the armies met again at Basing. The Saxon army, led by King Ethelred, was beaten by the Danes. But just like its predecessors, this battle was indecisive, and it was followed two months later by the Battle of Marton, where the Vikings again prevailed. In April Ethelred died, to be succeeded by Alfred the Great, and much of King Alfred's 28-year reign was taken up with the Danish conflict.

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