Welcome to the British History Podcast.

My name is Jamie and this is Episode 209, The Battle of Reading.

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When we left off, the Danes had occupied Reading, fortified it for several days and then

sent a detachment west along the River Kennet.

In response, Ilderman Athawulf of Barkshire had raised the local ferd and he killed one

of the Danish lords in battle and for the first time in a very long time, at Angle

Field, the West Saxons defeated the Danes in combat.

Now Athawulf was wise and he knew that he wouldn't be able to overcome the full might

of the great heathen army all on his own.

And so upon winning victory, he turned his forces and headed to join King Atharid, Prince

Alfred and the army of Wessex.

But before we join him, I want to take a moment to discuss what it meant to lose an early

medieval battle.

Now obviously, it would be a blow from Aral and territory might be lost and if it's

in defense of a region, any local villages might get pillaged, also renowned and confidence

in the leader would be damaged.

And we speak frequently about these consequences of losing battles, but there are other consequences.

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