BattlefieldsSiege of Anderida (Pevensey) 491
Early Medieval

Siege of Anderida (Pevensey) 491

491
East Sussex, England
Also known as: Aelle takes Anderida 491 · Fall of Pevensey Roman fort 491
Era
Early Medieval
Battle Type
Siege
Location
East Sussex, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Romano-British garrison of Anderida
Forces
c.200–500 Romano-British garrison; siege of Anderida.
VS
Victor
South Saxons (Aelle and Cissa)
Forces
c.1,000–2,000 South Saxons
Outcome
Fort stormed; entire garrison and population massacred; Chronicle says not one Briton left alive
The Battle

History & Significance

The siege and storming of Anderida (the Roman fort of Anderitum, at Pevensey) by Aelle of Sussex and his son Cissa is one of the most explicit records of massacre in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The entry for 491 states that Aelle and Cissa besieged Andredesceaster and slew all the inhabitants so that not a single Briton survived. Pevensey Roman fort then lay desolate for centuries, occupied only by the Saxons who briefly used it, before the Normans built a castle inside its walls in 1066.

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