Treaty of Wedmore

2025-03-25T20:23:40Z

2A02:AA7:464C:60D5:312D:6B4D:71DD:CAAD: fixing a wrong comma

{{Short description|9th century accord between Alfred the Great and Guthrum the Old}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=June 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

The '''Treaty of Wedmore'''{{efn|Also known as the '''Treaty of Chippenham''' or the '''Peace of Wedmore'''}} is a 9th century agreement between King [[Alfred the Great]] of Wessex and the [[Viking]] king [[Guthrum the Old]]. The only contemporary reference to the treaty is that of a Welsh monk, [[Asser]], in his biography of Alfred, known as [[Asser#The Life of King Alfred|''Vita Ælfredi regis Angul Saxonum'']], or "The Life of King Alfred", in which Asser describes how after Guthrum's defeat at the [[Battle of Edington]], followed by his surrender some days later, he agreed to a peace treaty with Alfred. The treaty was conditional on Guthrum's being baptised to endorse the agreement, as well as to allow him to rule more legitimately over his [[Christian]] vassals but to remain [[pagan]] to his pagan vassals. Also, Guthrum and his army were to leave Wessex.

== Sources and historical context ==
[[Image:Statue d'Alfred le Grand à Winchester.jpg|thumb|Statue of Alfred the Great at Winchester]]

According to [[Asser]], in his biography of King [[Alfred the Great|Alfred]], known as [[Asser#The Life of King Alfred|''Vita Ælfredi regis Angul Saxonum'']], or "The Life of King Alfred", in 878 Alfred defeated the [[Viking Great Army]] at the [[Battle of Edington]]. [[Guthrum]], the [[Vikings|Viking leader]], retreated with the remnants of his army to their "stronghold", where Alfred besieged him.{{sfn|Wood|2005|pages=124-125}}

After fourteen days the Vikings, according to Asser:
{{quote|"..thoroughly terrified by hunger, cold and fear and in the end despair, sought peace on this condition: the king should take as many hostages as he wanted from them and give none to them.."|source={{harvnb|Asser|1983|pages=84–85}}}}

Alfred accepted Guthrum's surrender and the Vikings gave Alfred peace hostages:
{{quote|[They] "swore in addition that they would leave his kingdom immediately, and Guthrum, their king, promised to accept [[Christianity]] and to receive baptism at King Alfred's hand; all of which he and his men fulfilled as they had promised..."|source={{harvnb|Asser|1983|pages=84–85}}}}

Three weeks later Guthrum and thirty of his most important men went to Alfred at [[Aller, Somerset|Aller]], near [[Athelney]]. There Guthrum was baptised, with Alfred accepting him as his adoptive son. The unbinding of the [[chrisom]], part of a baptismal ritual, took place eight days later at the royal estate and church at Wedmore near [[Cheddar, Somerset|Cheddar]].{{sfn|Wood|2005|pages=124-125}}{{sfn|Asser|1983|pages=84-85}}

Guthrum adopted the baptismal name of Athelstan. The following twelve days Guthrum and his chiefs stayed with Alfred where they were honoured with gifts and feasting.{{sfn|Wood|2005|pages=124-125}} During the summer of 878, Guthrum's army remained in Chippenham. Then, as agreed Guthrum and his army moved out of Wessex, and travelled the relatively short distance{{efn|About {{convert|20|miles|km}}}} to Cirencester (in the [[Kingdom of Mercia]]) and then eventually on to [[East Anglia]].{{sfn|Wood|2005|pages=124-125}}{{sfn|Stenton|1971|page=257}}

== Misinterpretation and confusion ==
The ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' for 878 has a similar description to Asser. It details Alfred's movements before, during and after the Battle of Edington. It describes Guthrum's surrender, his baptism at Wedmore and the twelve days of celebration. {{sfn|Gransden|1996|page=36}} The only reference to an accord at Wedmore is that from Asser's "Life of King Alfred". If there was a formal treaty, contemporary with the events at Wedmore in 878, no such document still exists. A truce was made and, at a later date,{{efn|name=date|The actual date is not known. The latest possible date is agreed as 890 as this is the year Guthrum died; however, the earliest date varies according to historians. For example, Giles Morgan suggests 879 and David Horspool 886.{{sfn|Morgan|2018|page=113}}{{sfn|Horspool|2006|page=123}} The treaty of Alfred and Guthrum ascribes Viking-held London to Alfred, so some historians have suggested that the treaty would not have been finalised until Alfred reoccupied the city in 886. The ''Anglo Saxon Chronicle'' for 885 says that "... the army from East-Anglia broke their peace with Alfred," which might indicate that the treaty had been signed earlier.{{sfn|Smyth|1995|pages=92-93}}}} a formal treaty was agreed. This one was known as the [[Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum]] and it defines the boundaries between Alfred and Guthrum's territories, as well as agreements on peaceful trade and the [[weregild]] value of its people. This document still survives{{efn| There is an [[Old English]] version at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge MS 383, and in a legal collection compiled and translated into Latin during the reign of [[Henry I of England]], known as the ''[[Quadripartitus]]''. {{sfn|Whitelock|1996|pages=417-418}} {{sfn|Asser|1983|page=311}}}} and is part of the [[Laws of Alfred]].{{sfn|Attenborough|1922|pages=96-101}} The treaty is seen as a precursor to the formation of [[Danelaw]].{{efn|The "Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum" was probably just a way to manage the border between the two kings, rather than have any long term objectives, such as the foundation of Danelaw. See Lesley Abrams in ''Edward the Elder: 899-924'' for a discussion on the subject.{{sfn|Abrams|2001|p=132}}}}{{sfn|Ayto|Crofton|2005|page=1176}}

The Treaty of Wedmore and the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum have often been confused with each other.{{sfn|Keynes|1999|pages=225-356}} It is possible that the Treaty of Wedmore in 878, by which Guthrum had to accept baptism and leave Wessex, was a verbal agreement. The formal, written Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum, dividing up the kingdoms, followed some years {{efn|name=date}} later.{{sfn|Morgan|2018|page=113}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book |editor1-first=N. J. |editor1-last=Higham |editor2-first=D. H. |editor2-last=Hill |title=Edward the Elder 899–924 |first=Lesley |last=Abrams |chapter=Edward the Elder's Danelaw |location=Abingdon, UK |publisher=Routledge |year=2001 |isbn=0-415-21497-1}}
* {{Cite book |last=Asser |author-link=Asser |contribution=Life of King Alfred |editor-first=Simon |editor-last=Keynes |editor2-first=Michael |editor2-last=Lapidge |title=Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred & Other Contemporary Sources |publisher=Penguin Classics |year=1983 |isbn=978-0-14-044409-4}}
* {{Cite book |editor-last=Attenborough |editor-first=F.L. Tr |editor-link=Frederick Attenborough |contribution=Treaties with the Danes |title=The laws of the earliest English kings |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1922 |oclc=460226655}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Ayto |first1=John |last2=Crofton |first2=Ian |title=Brewer's Britain and Ireland |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nichoson |location=London |year=2005 |isbn=0-304-35385-X}}
* {{Cite book |last=Gransden |first=Antonia |author-link=Antonia Gransden |title=Historical Writing in England: c. 500 to c. 1307 |isbn=0-415-15124-4 |publisher=Routledge |year=1996 |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Horspool |first=David |author-link=David Horspool |year=2006 |title=Why Alfred Burned the Cakes |location=London |publisher=Profile Books |isbn=1-8619-7786-7}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Keynes |first=Simon |title=The Cult of King Alfred the Great |journal=Anglo-Saxon England |volume=28 |year=1999 |pages=225–356 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/S0263675100002337 |jstor=44512350 |issn=0263-6751}}
* {{Cite book |last=Morgan |first=Giles |title=Short History of the Anglo Saxons |publisher=Oldcastle Books |location=Somerton, Somerset |isbn=978-0-85730-166-6 |year=2018}}
* {{Cite book |last=Smyth |first=Alfred P. |title=King Alfred the Great |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1995 |isbn=0-19-822989-5}}
* {{Cite book |last=Stenton |first=F. M. |year=1971 |author-link=Frank Stenton |title=Anglo-Saxon England 3rd edition |publisher=OUP |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-280139-5 |page=257}}
* {{Cite book |editor-first=Dorothy |editor-last=Whitelock |editor-link=Dorothy Whitelock |title=The treaty between Alfred and Guthrum |series=English Historical Documents |volume=1 |edition=2 |year=1996 |isbn=0-203-43950-3 |publisher=Routledge |location=Oxford}}
* {{Cite book |last=Wood |first=Michael |year=2005 |author-link=Michael Wood (historian) |title=In Search of the Dark Ages |publisher=BBC |location=London |isbn=978-0-563-52276-8}}

== External links ==
* Britannica History [https://www.britannica.com/place/Danelaw ''Danelaw'']

{{Viking Invasion of England}}

[[Category:Anglo-Norse England]]
[[Category:Anglo-Saxon treaties|Wedmore]]
[[Category:History of Somerset]]
[[Category:9th-century treaties]]
[[Category:Alfred the Great]]

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Treaty of Wedmore