He was the only English king to be called ‘Great’ Ten years before the end of his death, Alfred’s charters and coinage named him as ‘King of the English’, a new and ambitious idea that his dynasty carried forward to the ultimate realisation of a united England. He began the unification of EnglandĪlfred’s success at fighting Viking invasions and the creation of the Danelaw helped establish him as the dominant ruler in England.
Once a large enough force had gathered, Alfred struck out and successfully won back his kingdom in the Battle of Edington against the Viking Guthrum, who had arrived as part of the so-called Great Summer Army and conquered much of Mercia, East Anglia and Northumbria in conjunction with the Great Heathen Army. Word of his survival spread and the armies of those lands still loyal to him gathered in Somerset. From there he and his surviving warriors turned ‘Viking’ and began to harass the invaders as they had once done to them.
KING ALFRED VIKINGS GIFS FULL
The little island of Athelney and the wetlands that surrounded it was the full extent of Alfred’s Kingdom for four months in 878 AD. He was successful and fled back to the forces of Wessex before the end of the night, leaving Guthrum and his men none the wiser.Ī 20th century depiction of Alfred at the Battle of Ashdown. He was a master of disguiseīefore the battle of Edington in 878 AD, there is a story that tells of how Alfred, disguised as a simple musician, slipped into the occupied city of Chippenham to gather information about the Viking forces. It was a highly defensible position, almost impenetrable to the Vikings. Alfred some of his household and a some of his warriors managed to escape and took refuge at Athelney, at that time an island in the marshes of Somerset. In the year 878, the Vikings launched a surprise attack on Wessex, claiming the majority of it as their own. However, there is plenty of evidence to negate this view, as Dr Janina Ramirez explains. This period of English history has sometimes been perceived as one of little cultural development and the Anglo-Saxons as an unsophisticated people. Minorities were notoriously periods of weak kingship and factional infighting: the last thing the Anglo-Saxons needed.įor 600 years the Anglo-Saxons came to dominate England. Faced with Viking invasions, it’s unlikely that this was opposed. However, based on a previous agreement between Æthelred and Alfred, Alfred inherited the throne.
When Æthelred, the third brother, died in 871, he had two young sons. He was never meant to be kingĪlfred had 3 older brothers, all of whom reached adulthood and reigned before him.
Guthrum took the name Æthelstan and went on to rule East Anglia until his death. One of the terms of surrender for the Viking Guthrum was that he must be baptised a Christian before leaving Wessex. Whilst he did not enact any major reforms to religious practice, Alfred did strive to appoint learned and pious bishops and abbots.
Alfred founded monasteries and convinced foreign monks to his new monasteries. Alfred was extremely religiousĪt the age of four he visited the pope in Rome and, he claims, was blessed with the right to rule. Some historians have pointed to what we now know to be Crohn’s disease as the cause of his poor health. He reportedly had painful cramps and often diarrhoea and other gastrointestinal symptoms. Sometimes it was so severe that it made him unable to leave his room for days or weeks at a time. He was often sickĪlfred had intense stomach complaints. They point to these ‘sins’ as something that the religious king had to overcome to become a worthy man and ruler in God’s eyes. Alfred admits this freely in his own works and Asser, his biographer, reiterates it in his biography of Alfred. He was known to chase many women in is younger years, from household servants to ladies of standing. A 19th century engraving of Alfred burning the cakes.
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