The Battle of Broughton was fought in the autumn of 884 AD between the armies of King Alfred the Great of Wessex and King Guttron of Ledeborg. Alfred and his army flanked and destroyed the Danish army in a great slaughter, killing King Guttron and effectively sealing Ledeborg's fate; Ledeborg was taken by siege in 885 AD.
Background[]
By the spring of 884 AD, with the West Saxon general Aelfwald's defeat of an invading army of Norwegian Vikings at the 882 Battle of Southampton in Hampshire, Wessex's southern border was now secure. King Alfred the Great and his army had been encamped at Northampton for two years, having ceased campaigning against the Danes of Ledeborg in order to reduce the number of concurrent battlefronts. However, the defeat of the Norwegian invasion allowed for Alfred to once again focus on conquering the Midlands. Alfred was encouraged by the vulnerability of several of Ledeborg's cities, so he elected to declare war on King Guttron of Ledeborg before marching north and taking Rocheberie (Rugby) without a fight. That summer, he also occupied the major city of Ligeraceaster (Leicester), again without resistance. In the autumn of 884, Guttron led his army into Leicestershire and marched on Leicester, hoping to reclaim his former capital. However, the approach of King Alfred's army convinced Guttron to retreat south, and his army encamped near present-day Broughton Astley to rest. King Alfred gave pursuit, and the two armies met in a decisive battle.
Battle[]
The West Saxon army was arrayed in a long line, while the Ledeborger army was arrayed in three compact rows. Alfred took advantage of this by having his army attack the Danes from three sides, boxing them in and slaughtering them from the front and from their flanks. Guttron himself was surrounded, forcing him to fight the West Saxon footmen until he was stabbed through the chest and disemboweled by a Saxon warrior. The Ledeborger army was destroyed, and its remnants under Berthun fled south across the River Avon before being hunted down and smashed by the pursuing Saxons.
Aftermath[]
The defeat at Broughton destroyed Ledeborg's only field army, allowing for Alfred to take his time with dealing with their last stronghold of Stamford. Alfred laid siege to the city in the summer of 885 AD and built siege works, and he proceeded to take the city by storm months later, ending Ledeborg and uniting the Fenns region.
