Reading, Berkshire from the "Readingas", an Anglo-Saxon tribe whose name means "Reada's People" in Old English, or less probably the Celtic "Rhydd-Inge", meaning "Ford over the River". In late 870, an army of Danes invaded the kingdom of Wessex and set up camp at Reading. On 4 January 871, in the first Battle of Reading, King Ethelred and his brother Alfred the Great attempted unsuccessfully to breach the Danes' defences. The battle is described in the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle", and that account provides the earliest known written record of the existence of Reading. The Danes remained in Reading until late in 871, when
Battle of Mared Battle of Mared Battle of Mared was a battle in the Nordic Seven Years' War between the Swedish and Danish forces on 9 November 1563. The battle was held on the site of present-day locality Oskarström in Sweden. After the outbreak of the war, a Swedish army under the command of Eric XIV marched into Halland. The goal was to besiege Halmstad, but it failed because of the lack of artillery. Since the Danish king Frederick II was on his way with reinforcements, the Swedes pulled back. But they were caught up in Mared, where they were defeated. The Danes