Æthelred of Wessex of Mercia, appealed to him for help against the Vikings. Æthelred and his brother, the future Alfred the Great, led a West Saxon army to Nottingham, but there was no decisive battle, and Burgred bought off the Vikings. In 874 the Vikings defeated Burgred and drove him into exile. In 870 the Vikings turned their attention to Wessex, and on 4 January 871 at the Battle of Reading, Æthelred suffered a heavy defeat. Although he was able to re-form his army in time to win a victory at the Battle of Ashdown, he suffered further defeats on 22 January at
Battle of Ringmere period the Danes wasted East Anglia, burning Thetford and Cambridge. Battle of Ringmere The Battle of Ringmere was fought on 5th May 1010. Norse sagas recorded a battle at "Hringmaraheior"; "Old English Hringmere-hūō", modern name Ringmere Heath. The sack of Thetford occurred in 1004. Sigvat records the victory of King Ethelred, allied with Saint Olaf, over the Danes under Sweyn Forkbeard during the latter's campaigns in England. The Battle site was located in lands under the control of Ulfcytel Snillingr, thegn of East Anglia, at a site once thought to be near Wretham, but now thought to be at Rymer