BATTLE OF READING (871)

:''See also Siege of Reading (1642-1643), Battle of Reading (1688)''
The first 'Battle of Reading' was a battle on January 4 871 near Reading in what is now the English county of Berkshire. The battle occurred when Ethelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred the Great attacked a Danish army, which was invading Britain and was camped near Reading. Although many Danes were killed, the Saxons under Ethelred were defeated and driven from the field with great losses.
According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a West Saxon ealdorman named Aethelwulf was killed here. Aethelwulf had been the victorious West Saxon leader four days earlier at the Battle of Englefield, where the Danish jarl Sidroc was killed.
The description of this battle in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is the first mention of the town of Reading.

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★ Berkshire History article