Seeking a new law and order approach, Alfred insisted on judges with certain desirable qualities, such as being literate, having a sharp mind, a good education and astute knowledge of the law. World History Encyclopedia - Alfred the Great. Alfred explained his aims in a moving preface to the translation (893) of St. Gregory's Pastoral Care. The theory that Viking raids were the wrath of God had gone unchallenged since the Lindisfarne raid in 793 CE as there was no better available, and Alfred most certainly believed it. It was during this period that Asser, formerly of Wales, came to Alfred's court as his personal tutor. //]]>. Alfred, also spelled Aelfred, byname Alfred the Great, (born 849died 899), king of Wessex (871899), a Saxon kingdom in southwestern England. As Alfred had five older brothers, it seemed unlikely that he would inherit his father's throne. . By March, according to Asser, he was waging a successful guerrilla war against the Danes. In time, Alfred himself would translate works from Latin to English, serving as a role model for his subjects. Another important step taken by Alfred was in his approach of unifying kingdoms that had previously operated separately. He was the first king from the British Isles to call himself the 'King of the Anglo-Saxons' and so he is sometimes said to be the first English king. He successfully halted the advance of Danish armies seeking to conquer the English, and he stimulated a revival of learning among his war-ravaged people. [22] Wessex was the only remaining kingdom not destroyed by the Vikings. Encyclopedia.com. Year 4 Why was Alfred the Great famous? The Anglo-Saxons were a group of Germanic tribes who had migrated to the island of Britain in the 5th and 6th centuries and had wrested control of what is now England from the native Britons. Sensing that they could not drive out the Danish invaders from their land, he was forced to make peace with them instead. This was a royal house, to be sure, but subservient to the neighboring kingdom of Mercia until the closing years of his father Ethelwulf's reign. . For the full article, see. Some Rights Reserved (2009-2023) under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license unless otherwise noted. JOHN CANNON "Alfred In 886 CE Alfred captured London in a stunning victory, and all the English people that were not under subjection to the Danes submitted to him (Keynes & Lapidge, 38). Also useful is the chapter on Alfred in Christopher Brooke, The Saxon and Norman Kings (1963). Alfred's Burghal System seems to have been adapted from the Carolingian precepts. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. By May of 878 CE, he had assembled a large enough force to meet the Vikings in battle. Edward's son, Aethelstan, would in time become the first King of England, reigning over a united land, and continue his grandfather's legacy. He was born in the year 846 A.D. The fourth brother in line was Ethelred. Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, a defender against Viking invasion and a social reformer; just few of the reasons why he is the only English monarch to be known as the Great. It may be that Alfred's family had low expectations of him as a warrior-king as he was more given to books than action and was often ill as a young man (possibly afflicted with Crohn's disease). 30 Jul 2023. He was the son of Aethelwulf of Wessex and was preceded by. Two years later, at the Battle of Merton in March 871, Alfred and his brother suffered a serious defeat by the Danes. One of the most famous Anglo-Saxon kings was Alfred the Great. After this success, an agreement was negotiated by Alfred known as the Danelaw. Alfred was still only a young boy when on 13th January 858 his father died, leaving Alfreds older brothers to take control. Alfred, known as Alfred the Great, (born 849died 899), King of Wessex (87199) in southwestern England. [19] So far all the brothers had been childless and so the succession was passed from brother to brother. died 12 June 0918 Tamworth, St. Peters, Gloucestershire, England. Being the fourth or fifth child in line to the throne, it had seemed unlikely that Alfred would ever reign over his kingdom. He is said to have had six children, one of whom was Alfred, born at Wantage, Oxfordshire. [27] There were still Viking attacks, so Alfred was still telling his people to continue fighting and not give up. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. After an unsuccessful battle at Wilton he made peace. In 878 AD, he again defeated the Danes in the Battle of Edington. Beginning in 880 CE, Alfred reorganized his kingdom and implemented educational, legal, and military reforms which would transform Wessex and eventually the whole of Britain. While Alfred and his father were in Rome and France, 855-856, his older brother Athelstan died. For unknown reasons, the Vikings broke the treaty, killed the hostages, attacked, and then retreated to Exeter where they wintered. In considering what is true happiness and the relation of providence to faith and of predestination to free will, Alfred does not fully accept Boethius position but depends more on the early Fathers. Wessex, a prosperous land of scattered farmsteads and hamlets, seemed doomed to annihilation at the hand of marauding armies of piratical Vikings, heathen warriors that had already devastated . Wessex was secure for the time being, but there is no evidence that Alfred thought Eddington had put an end to his Viking troubles. Sign up for our free weekly email newsletter! Alfred becomes king of Wessex following Aethelred's death. His most important achievement was to prevent an island-wide invasion from the Danes and establish a united Anglo-Saxon culture. They took control of York and moved south into Mercia then made their winter camp in Nottingham. [18] For a time they were more interested in Northumbria. He established the practice of translating classical works from Latin into English, set up public schools, reformed the military, and revised and expanded the law code. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. He died in October 899 AD and was buried at his capital city of Winchester. Narrator: In the year of the Lord's incarnation 849, Alfred, King of the Anglo-Saxons, was born at the royal estate of Wantage in the district known as Berkshire. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. He directed that all young freemen of adequate means must learn to read English, and, by his own translations and those of his helpers, he made available English versions of those books most necessary for all men to know, books that would lead them to wisdom and virtue. Both men were suffering from, The Mercians historically crowned queens. Alfred the Great - Wikipedia Alfred the Great Alfred the Great (alt. He prevented England from falling to the Danes and promoted learning and literacy. His educational reforms paved the way for public schools in England, his law code served as the basis for future legal reforms, and his restructuring of the cities, towns, and roadways changed the infrastructure of the country forever. In both works, additions include parallels from contemporary conditions, sometimes revealing his views on the social order and the duties of kingship. Ivar and his brothers Halfdan and Hubba invaded Great Britain in the year 865 at the head of a large Viking force described by fearful Christians as the " Great Heathen Army."The brothers' motivation was to avenge their father, who had died after being captured while raiding the kingdom of Northumbria.Ragnar supposedly had been cast into a pit full of venomous snakes by order of the . He also established a navy for use against the Danish raiders who continued to harass the coast. WARNING: SPOILERS.WATCH IN 1080p. All of these books had influenced Alfred personally for the better and so, he believed, would do the same for others. He was also one of the greatest kings to have ever ruled in England. N. P. Brooks, 'England in the Ninth Century: The Crucible of Defeat'. He has taught history, writing, literature, and philosophy at the college level. This page has been archived and is no longer updated. World History Publishing is a non-profit company registered in the United Kingdom. Mark, published on 24 April 2018. . This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. In 870 AD the Danes attacked the only remaining independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom, Wessex, whose forces were commanded by Alfred's older brother, King Aethelred, and Alfred himself. [22] Beginning about 886 Alfred claimed to be the king of all the English. [9] In 853, Alfred was sent with an escort and met Pope Leo IV. ." Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Having gained a respite from military crises, Alfred gathered around himself a dedicated group of English and foreign clerics. His brother, the king, died a month later and Alfred was left to rule as leader of the Saxon kingdom. Alfreds rendering of the Soliloquies of the 5th-century theologian St. Augustine of Hippo, to which he added material from other works of the Fathers of the Church, discussed problems concerning faith and reason and the nature of eternal life. Alfred the Great (c. 849 - 26 October 899) was King of Wessex from 871 to 899. Encyclopedia.com. King of the southern Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex and one of the outstanding figures of English history, as much for his social and educational reforms as for his military successes against the Danes. Three of Alfred's brothers, thelbald, thelberht and thelred, reigned in turn before him. Alfred had no opportunity to acquire the education he sought, however, until much later in life. Alfred also took tentative steps in establishing a navy to tackle the naval capacity of the Danes on the English coastline. thelfld, Lady of the Mercians, (d. 12 June 918) was the eldest daughter of Alfred the Great, king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex, and his queen, Ealhswith. Alfred is most exceptional, however, not for his generalship or his administration but for his attitude toward learning. Alfred, when he became King of the West Saxons, was monarch of Wessex, a wedge of southern England between the Thames Valley and the English Channel. As an administrator Alfred advocated justice and order and established a code of laws and a reformed coinage. ","contentUrl":"https://www.worldhistory.org/uploads/images/8265.jpg","copyrightNotice":"Philg88 - CC BY-SA - This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon a work even for commercial reasons, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. [22] The exception was those parts of England that were under Danish rule. Retrieved July 26, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/alfred. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so. . Later historians, especially during the Victorian Age, would consider him the most perfect king of the Middle Ages for his piety, justice, and noble vision of a better future for his people. By the close of the ninth century the four independent kingdoms of England had been reduced to just one. Building work took place, ensuring that the settlements across southern England would be fortified against possible future invasions. Corrections? Alfred was born at Wantage in Oxfordshire in 849, fourth or fifth son of Aethelwulf, king of the West Saxons. Alfred's courage and military skill, however, prevented the Danes from conquering England, although they were later successful, early in the 11th century. Perhaps a scholars life would have contented him. The Danes established themselves at Chippenham, and the West Saxons submitted, except King Alfred. He harassed the Danes from a fort in the Somerset marshes, and until seven weeks after Easter he secretly assembled an army, which defeated them at the Battle of Edington. Ethelflaeda reigned as queen alongside her husband, then after his death she reigned as. Alfred started the Royal Navy in the 9th century. Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE "Alfred The Life Continued It is believed that Alfred . World History Encyclopedia, 24 Apr 2018. In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. [CDATA[ Alfred's reign and achievements are recorded in G. N. Garmonsway, ed., The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (1953). It should not be thought, however, that this period was as has often been claimed a quiet time in which Alfred could devote himself to study and domestic policies. The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. [21] He left a young son named Ethelwald who later rebelled against Edward the Elder.[21]. He was a great scholar, translating classics for his people, and early on seemed destined for a career in the Church. Submitted by Joshua J. During his reign he insisted that freedmen of adequate means learn to read English, and he himself translated Latin texts into the vernacular for the benefit of his people. The productivity of a region was then taken into consideration when stationing a certain number of troops there. These initiatives are known as the Burghal System, in which improved roads linked a series of 33 burhs (fortified settlements) throughout his kingdom. Alfred started the Royal Navy in the 9th century, Alfred was the youngest son of King thelwulf of Wessex and Osburga. Although the proceeding years would be far from completely peaceful (the Danish still made regular raids in to Anglo-Saxon territory), a sense of normality and security was restored in Anglo-Saxon Britain. On his death in 899, he left a record of achievement which earned him his reputation as the greatest Anglo-Saxon king, as well as a legacy of military preparedness and strategy on which were based the victorious campaigns of his immediate successors against the Danes. The Oxford Companion to British History. He learned poetry by hearing it recited and then repeating it but could not read it himself until sometime in his teenage years and even then could not read Latin in which the most important works of his time were written. World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. He would be a nobleman who held the honorary office of butler. Facts. ","contentUrl":"https://www.worldhistory.org/uploads/images/8252.png","copyrightNotice":"Anonymous - Public Domain - This item is in the public domain, and can be used, copied, and modified without any restrictions. [24], In the 880s Alfred formed a marriage alliance with Mercia, still a powerful kingdom. Mother was Queen Osburga. Old forts were strengthened and new ones built at strategic sites, and arrangements were made for their continual manning. The main source of information about Alfred is Asser's Life of King Alfred, edited by William Henry Stevenson (trans. The invaders swore to leave Wessex, and Guthrum was baptized a Christian. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. [25] After his death Ethelflaeda ruled as Queen of Mercia. Omissions? Encyclopedia of World Biography. ","creator":{"@type":"Person","name":"Anonymous"},"creditText":"Anonymous / Wikipedia","dateModified":"2023-07-28T14:22:52+0000","datePublished":"2018-03-05T09:59:45+0000","encodingFormat":"image/png","headline":"Aethelflaed","height":284,"isAccessibleForFree":true,"isBasedOn":{"@type":"CreativeWork","url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%C3%86thelfl%C3%A6d_as_depicted_in_the_cartulary_of_Abingdon_Abbey.png"},"isFamilyFriendly":true,"isPartOf":"https://www.worldhistory.org#website","license":"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.worldhistory.org/image/8252/aethelflaed/","publisher":"https://www.worldhistory.org#organization","representativeOfPage":false,"url":"https://www.worldhistory.org/image/8252/aethelflaed/","width":189}. Encyclopedia.com. brother About Alfred the Great, king of The Anglo-Saxons Alfred the Great (Old English: lfrd [a], lfrd, "elf counsel" or "wise elf"; 849 - 26 October 899) was King of Wessex from 871 to 899. His success in quelling the attacks was largely due to his superlative defensive strategy. JOHN CANNON "Alfred Elrington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon, University of Cambridge, 195769. Bones which some believe could be those of Alfred the Great have been exhumed from an unmarked grave in Winchester to protect them from the enthusiasm of . Alfred earned the name 'the Great' by defending the kingdom from Viking invasions. Alfred, 84999, king of Wessex (87199), sometimes called Alfred the Great, b. Wantage, Berkshire. Corrections? Alfred was born in 849 CE, the son of King Aethelwulf of Wessex and his wife Osburh. The Vikings plundered Winchester the chief city of Wessex and obtained a great deal of plunder. What were Alfreds military achievements? In April, Aethelred died and Alfred became king. The Wessex forces would have held tight formations against the Viking onslaught and then counterattacked. 2023
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