Vale of White Horse being removed to show the white chalky soil beneath. This figure gives name to the hill, the range and the Vale. It is 114 m (374 ft) long and highly stylised, the neck, body and tail varying little in width. The origin of the figure is unknown. Tradition asserted it to be the monument of a victory over the Danes by King Alfred, who was born at Wantage, but the site of the Battle of Ashdown (871 CE), has been variously located. Moreover, the figure has been dated to the Bronze Age, so it pre-dates the battle by many centuries.
Battle of the Sarno (1460) Battle of the Sarno (1460) The Battle of the Sarno (7 July 1460), also known as the Battle of Nola, was a decisive defeat of the forces of Ferdinand, king of Naples, by his dissatisfied barons supporting the claim of John of Anjou, duke of Lorraine. It was fought in the plain at the mouth of the Sarno River in Campania, south of Mount Vesuvius. John's forces were strengthened by reinforcements from Niccolo Piccinino, who on the 27th defeated papal and Milanese forces under Alessandro Sforzo and Federigo of Urbino near San Fabiano. Ferdinand escaped with only twenty men but,