52°28′33″N0°14′33″W / 52.47588°N 0.242472°W /52.47588; -0.242472

TheBattle of the Holme took place inEast Anglia on 13 December 902 where theAnglo-Saxon men ofWessex andKent fought against the Danelaw and East Anglian Danes.^[2] Its location is unknown but may have beenHolme inHuntingdonshire (now administratively part ofCambridgeshire).^[3]

Following the death ofAlfred the Great in 899, his sonEdward the Elder became king, but his cousinÆthelwold, the son of Alfred's elder brother, KingÆthelred, claimed the throne. His bid was unsuccessful, and he fled to the Northumbrian Danes, who, according to one version of theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle, accepted him as king.^[4] 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 theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle they "kept the place of slaughter".^[5] However, they suffered heavy losses including Æthelwold,Eohric, probably the Danish king of East Anglia, Brihtsige, son of theætheling Beornoth, and twoholds, Ysopa and Oscetel. The battle thus endedÆthelwold's Revolt.^[4] Kentish losses included Sigehelm, father of Edward the Elder's third wife,Eadgifu of Kent.^[6] 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.^[3]

• Campbell, James (2001). "What is not known about the reign of Edward the Elder". In Higham, N. J.; Hill, D. H. (eds.).Edward the Elder 899–924. Routledge.ISBN 0-415-21497-1.
• Keynes, Simon (1999). "England, c.900–1016". In Reuter, Timothy (ed.).The New Cambridge Medieval History. Vol. 3. Cambridge University Press.ISBN 0-521-36447-7.
• Miller, Sean (2004)."Edward (called Edward the Elder) (870s?–924), king of the Anglo-Saxons".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/8514. Retrieved16 July 2012.(subscription orUK public library membership required)
• Stafford, Pauline (2004)."Eadgifu (b. in or before 904, d. in or after 966), queen of the Anglo-Saxons, consort of Edward the Elder".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/52307. Retrieved10 June 2012.(subscription orUK public library membership required)
• Stenton, Frank M. (1971).Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford: Clarendon Press.ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5.

• Battles involving the Anglo-Saxons
• Battles involving the Vikings
• 900s conflicts
• 902
• 10th century in England

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