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 2 February 880 AD, at Lüneburg Heath in today's Lower Saxony.
Following defeat by Alfred the Great at the Battle of Edington,[1] the Norse Great Heathen Army moved from England to pillage the Duchy of Saxony.[2] The army of Louis met the Norsemen at Lüneburg Heath. The Saxons were routed in a snowstorm, with the army being destroyed or captured.[citation needed]
Known combatants include Marquard of Hildesheim, Theodoric of Minden,[3] Lothar I, Count of Stade, an unidentified count named "Bardonum"[4] and Bruno, Duke of East Saxony[5] who, according to the chronicles Annales Fuldenses[6] and the Gesta Francorum,[7] 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.[citation needed]
The Norse army was subsequently defeated at the Battle of Thimeon later that month and finally checked at the Battle of Saucourt.[citation needed]
