Battle of Lüneburg Heath

{{short description|880 battle between the Duchy of Saxony and the Norse Great Heathen Army}}

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The Battle of Lüneburg Heath (also called the Battle of Ebstorf) was a conflict between the army of King Louis the Younger and the Norse Great Heathen Army fought on {{CE|2 February 880|link=yes}}, at Lüneburg Heath in today's Lower Saxony.

File:Lüneburger Heide 109.jpg]] Following defeat by Alfred the Great at the Battle of Edington,[http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=4767 Martyrs of Ebsdorf] at catholic.org. the Norse Great Heathen Army moved from England to pillage the Duchy of Saxony.Tony Jaques, Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A–E, (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007) [https://books.google.com/books?id=3amnMPTPP5MC&dq=Martyrs+of+Ebsdorf&pg=PA324 p. 324]. The army of Louis met the Norsemen at Lüneburg Heath. The Saxons were routed in a snowstorm, with the army being destroyed or captured.{{fact|date=December 2020}}

Known combatants include Marquard of Hildesheim, Theodoric of Minden,[http://saints.sqpn.com/martyrs-of-ebsdorf/ Martyrs of Ebsdorf] at sqpn.com. Lothar I, Count of Stade, an unidentified count named "Bardonum"Gesta Francorum and Bruno, Duke of East Saxony{{Page needed |date=November 2024}} who, according to the chronicles {{lang|la|Annales Fuldenses}}{{Page needed |date=November 2024}} and the {{lang|la|Gesta Francorum}},{{efn |Bruno, son of Liudolf, died in one of two battles (one at the river Scheldt and one in Saxony) which are reported separately in the Annales Fuldenses. The Gesta Francorum lists "Bardonum...alterum Bardonum [et] tertium Bardonum" as three of the twelve counts who were killed fighting the Danes in 880 [120]. The other two counts named "Bardo" or "Bruno" have not been identified.}} drowned in a river during the Saxon retreat. Those killed were recognized by the Catholic Church as the Martyrs of Ebsdorf, whose feast day is 2 February.{{fact|date=December 2020}}

The Norse army was subsequently defeated at the Battle of Thimeon later that month and finally checked at the Battle of Saucourt.{{fact|date=December 2020}}

File:Bruno dux.jpg]]