Alfred the Great

Most of our Monarchs are known by their number, but only Alfred is popularly known as 'the Great'.  (Sometimes Cnut [Canute] is also described by the title). He was a remarkable, and unusual King. The Victorians stressed his role as a warrior, but he was a learned man - dedicated to promoting education. Whilst King of Wessex, he is remembered as an essentially English King. Yet he had a very European outlook - and had visited Rome and the court of  Charles the Bald, King of the Franks.  He encouraged scholars from across the continent. His step-mother was the daughter of Charles.



Many books have been written about him. The first - and a major source for later writers was written by Bishop Asser, who spent time at Alfred's Court. I very much enjoyed reading David Horspool's book.



The tale of the burning of the cakes, sadly, has no basis in fact. What we do know is that he was born in Wantage in 848 or 849. He was the youngest of five sons and a daughter of Aethelwulf, King of the  West Saxons (reigned 839-858) and the grandson of King Egbert, whose defeat of the Mercians in 825, brought an end to their domination of England - and the establishment of Wessex as the greatest (and ultimately only remaining) kingdom of England. All of Alfred's brothers preceded him as King.

Alfred's reign was dominated by the struggle with the Vikings. Raids by these sea-faring folk from Scandinavia began in 789, but Alfred faced invasion. Most of England succumbed to the invaders, and at a low point in his reign, Alfred fled to Athelney, an island in the 'very great swampy and impassable marshes' of the Somerset Levels. From there he launched the fightback - eventually forcing the invaders out of his kingdom and liberating London. He re-established the city within its original walls.

He was a reformer in many fields. He reorganised the defences of the country, establishing a series of burhs (boroughs) across the south of England. These fortified towns were key to his military success.

A BBC webpage describes his other great contributions - "As an administrator Alfred advocated justice and order and established a code of laws and a reformed coinage. He had a strong belief in the importance of education and learnt Latin in his late thirties. He then arranged, and himself took part in, the translation of books from Latin to Anglo-Saxon."

His main capital was at Winchester, where he died in 899 - and was buried firstly in the old Minister, then ultimately in Hyde Abbey.