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Events on Thursday 8 January 871 1
871Battle of AshdownAlfred and Aethelred rout the Great Heathen ArmyOn 8 January 871, King Aethelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred defeated a large Viking force at Ashdown, killing a Viking king and several jarls. It was one of the few major West Saxon victories of the campaign and a formative moment in Alfred's later reputation as a war leader. The Vikings regrouped and resumed raiding into Wessex within weeks.