The Battle of Rocester occurred in 917 when the armies of Mercia and Northymbre, led by Lady Aethelflaed of Mercia, her general Uhtred of Bebbanburg, and King Sihtric Caech of Northumbria, met the invading army of Sihtric's brother and rival Ragnall ua Imair in battle at Hrothwulf's Farm (present-day Rocester, Staffordshire, England).
Background[]
Having secured the Northumbrian throne for Sihtric Caech and left York under the supervision of Orva Freyrsson, Uhtred of Bebbanburg and his force of 384 men and 9 women (including Uhtred's daughter Stiorra) took the Roman road south towards Lincoln, from which they could either march to London or the heart of Mercia. They found that the garrison of Lincoln had marched to join Ragnall, who was marching north with over 1,000 men. Upon finding Ragnall's scouts searching for him, Uhtred and his army took shelter at an abandoned Mercian fort at the steading of Egil, who lived in a hovel formerly part of "Hrothwulf's Farm" (present-day Rocester, Staffordshire). Egil's grandfather had killed Hrothwulf and taken the farm for himself, while Egil had left the steading on the morning of Uhtred's arrival, joining Ragnall. Uhtred and his party intended to make a stand against Ragnall's army at the fort until the Mercian army under Aethelflaed could join him. Uhtred's six scouts then returned, with two of them being wounded, and they warned him that Ragnall's vanguard had arrived across the river, and that Ragnall's men were assembling from all directions. Uhtred initially planned to attack the vanguard, but more and more of Ragnall's scouts appeared at the distant treeline and observed Uhtred and his men.
The first fire was lit not long after sunset, and Ragnall's scouts periodically appeared to ensure that Uhtred and the defenders would be unable to sleep. Uhtred decided that his men could not fight in the open pastureland, so they would form their own shield wall on what remained of the Roman rampart once the battle began. Sihtric and Stiorra refused to return to York, as Stiorra wished to fight alongside her father and husband, while Sihtric - now the King of Northymbre - sought to defend his new kingdom. Uhtred's army had 8 hostages, all of them the wives of Ragnall's jarls, taken captive in York, and he decided to use them to prevent the Norse from attacking.
At dawn, the besiegers sent out men to taunt the defenders, accusing them of being cowards and challenging them to fight them. Young Uhtred later arrived at the fort with several men dressed as Danes, and he informed Uhtred that Bishop Leofstan of Chester had died, causing Aethelflaed and a score of her men to return to Chester for his funeral. Cenlaf, Aethelflaed's favorite and Aelfwynn's lover, would lead the remainder of the army to aid Uhtred, but only so long as the battle did not occur in Northumbrian territory.
Battle[]
Ragnall led his men out of the trees in several lines, forming a great shield wall on the slopes of the hills near the fort, with 1,000 Northmen preparing to attack the fort from three sides. Uhtred's men were only able to hold one section of the fort at Rocester, as his men had just two banners: his banner and Sihtric's. Ragnall rode out to face off against his brother, and two men rode out of his ranks to challenge Uhtred's lieutenant Finan the Agile. Finan instead rode past them, and they taunted him, but did not attack. Finan decided to choose his enemy for himself, facing Ragnall's Irish allies beneath their banners. The men of Ailech sent out a tall and brutish warrior, and Finan threw away his shield; however, the big man kept his shield and charged Finan. The two men closed, but Finan quickly killed him after deceiving him into thinking that he had successfully rammed him to the ground. Finan then spoke to his countrymen again, walking within the reach of their swords and shields and speaking to his estranged brother Conall. Finan then returned to his horse, and Conall charged, his sword reaching for Finan's spine. Finan then spun, deflecting Conan's sword and slashing him across the face. Conall stepped back, blood on his face, and he attempted to attack Finan again, only for Finan to hit his brother in the face with his sword's hilt. Conall was now knocked to the ground, and Finan spoke to his brother's men while holding his sword to his brother's neck. He seized his brother's horse-tailed, royal helmet and sheathed his sword, and he then walked away and retrieved his shield from the grass. Conall was humiliated, and Finan rode his stallion across the face of Conall's line, challenging any of them to fight him; none did. Finan then cantered back to the thorn-fence of the fort and tossed Uhtred's helmet back to him, and he reported that Conall's men would no longer be willing to fight. Ragnall now only had 1,000 men in his army, and it was his task to fill them with anger and ale in order to fire them up for battle.
At sunset, both sides taunted each other with the clanging of shields and the shouting of insults. Ragnall tried to bribe the defenders, offering to buy Sihtric from them and leave them in peace. Ragnall rode back to his men after Uhtred's men continued to hit their shields, and Ragnall's men armed themselves on Ragnall's return. Sihtric then rode out with eight warriors and the eight hostages, and he signalled his eight men to cut the bonds on the women's wrists and release the women to their husbands. Ragnall, understanding that his men's loyalty might waver, ordered his men to charge. Only half of Ragnall's men cheered, while the other half were reluctant to attack; their jarls were now weighing their loyalty. The Irish contingent remained stubbornly still, not even picking up their shields. Rather than let the stragglers see Ragnall's army advance to victory, Uhtred decided to offer them hope by leaving his refuge and ordering his men to attack. Uhtred and his men advanced across the ridge's flat top, astonishing Ragnall's men. Uhtred had his men cry "For Mus! The best whore in Britain!", causing his men to repeatedly shout "Mus!" and laugh as they went into battle; this laughter showed a display of confidence which terrified Ragnall's men. Ragnall's men now looked at Sihtric, who encouraged the laggers to turn against Ragnall. Uhtred and Ragnall's shield walls then crashed into each other, and Ragnall's two front ranks were taken down as the third rank and those behind it began to falter. On the left, other men under Uhtred's Frisian lieutenant Fulkbald joined the fight against Ragnall's men, and Young Uhtred fought alongside them. Uhtred called out for Ragnall to face him, but he could not find him. The Irish and Ragnall's wavering men turned against Ragnall, who now had only 200 surrounded men. Sihtric ordered a stop to the fighting, and he fought his own brother in a holmgang and slew him. Sihtric took command of his brother's men and returned to York to give away land to his new men, garrison some of them in York, and help Uhtred conquer Dunholm. Finan chose to spare his brother and let him remain King of Ulaid, as he did not wish to commit fratricide. Peace was restored, with Conall and the men of Ailech returning to Ireland, and Sihtric and Ragnall's former men returned to Danish Northumbria, now as allies of Mercia.
Aftermath[]
Six days later, Uhtred returned to the great hall of Chester to reunite with Aethelflaed, Prince Aethelstan, and his lieutenant Osferth. Uhtred adopted the young Danish boy Rorik, whom he had wounded in the battle after slaying his father. Uhtred then announced to Aethelflaed that his daughter was now Queen of Northumbria, while his son-in-law Sihtric was now King of Northumbria, and would cede parts of unused Danish Mercia to the Mercians as a gesture of peace. Uhtred then accused Cenlaf of cowardice for not marching north of Chester, and Aethelflaed told Cenlaf that, as seen with Uhtred, there often came a time when one had to disobey orders. Uhtred then announced his intention to travel north and reclaim his birthright of Bebbanburg, now ripe for the taking.