[4] In 902 Æthelwold came with a fleet to Essex and the following year he persuaded the East Anglian Danes to attack Mercia and north Wessex.
Edward retaliated by ravaging East Anglia and the Danish army was forced to return to defend its own territory.
Edward then retreated, but the men of Kent disobeyed the order to retire, and they met the Danes at the battle of the Holme.
[5] However, they suffered heavy losses including Æthelwold, Eohric, probably the Danish king of East Anglia, Brihtsige, son of the ætheling Beornoth, and two holds, Ysopa and Oscetel.
[6] The West Saxon chronicler who gave the fullest account of the battle was at pains to explain why Edward and the rest of the English were not present, as if this had been a subject of criticism.