Sverre could now take control over Viken and prepared to spend the winter in Oslo, but the countryside remained largely hostile. Early the next year, a spontaneous uprising took place as huge numbers of people started drifting towards Oslo to throw the Birkebeiners out. This peasant army was untrained and without organization and was no match for the battle-hardened Birkebeiners. In a battle on 6 March 1200 the peasants were defeated piecemeal. However, the Birkebeiners' grip on the region was still weak, and Sverre decided to sail back to Bergen.