Welcome to the British History Podcast. My name is Jamie and this is episode 221, Alfred

and Guthram, The Price of Peace. This show is ad-free due to member support and as a way

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When we left off, Guthram had marched into the heart of Wessex without being noticed. He led

his forces right past Alfred's hold in Winchester and he seized the Royal Tone of Warram.

In response to this, Alfred raised the fird, marched upon the southern port town and besieged it.

Now all of our surviving sources are silent on how long this siege lasted. Alfred might have

tried to end it quickly, but it's just as likely that he and his army camped on the edge of

Warram for a very long time and Guthram's army might have been running low on supplies.

Looking at the record, our best guest is that the siege lasted until winter and only came to a

conclusion at either the end of 876 or an early 877. But this is one of those details that

will never really know for sure. But eventually, negotiations were opened and Alfred stated that he

would pay a dangle in exchange for Guthram's promise to leave Wessex and establish an everlasting

peace with Alfred. He added that, in order to ensure this bargain, Guthram had to provide the

Wessex and King with high status hostages and swear upon Christian relics and his own arm ring

that he would uphold the bargain. It was a big ask, especially when you consider who he was asking

it of. Guthram was not a man to be trifled with. In seizing Warram so quickly, he demonstrated that

he was both a powerful warlord and also one who had a terrifying understanding of military strategy.

In fact, the audacity of this strike had clearly set back Alfred on his heels in front of both

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