Alfred the Great

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"King Alfred" redirects here. For other uses, see Alfred the Great (disambiguation)
and King Alfred (disambiguation).
Alfred the Great

Silver penny of Alfred, struck c. 875–880.

Legend: elfre d rex
King of the West Saxons
Reign 23 April 871 – c. 886
Predecessor Æthelred I
King of the Anglo-Saxons
Reign c. 886 – 26 October 899
Successor Edward the Elder
Born 847-849
Wantage, Berkshire,[a] Wessex
Died 26 October 899 (aged about 50)
Burial c. 1100
Hyde Abbey, Winchester, Hampshire, now lost
Spouse Ealhswith (m. 868)
Issue
Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians
Edward the Elder
Æthelgifu, Abbess of Shaftesbury
Ælfthryth, Countess of Flanders
Æthelweard
House Wessex
Father Æthelwulf, King of Wessex
Mother Osburh
Alfred the Great (also spelled Ælfred; c. 849 – 26 October 899) was King of the
West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death
in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who
both died when Alfred was young. Three of Alfred's brothers, Æthelbald, Æthelberht
and Æthelred, reigned in turn before him. Under Alfred's rule, considerable
administrative and military reforms were introduced, prompting lasting change in
England.[2]

After ascending the throne, Alfred spent several years fighting Viking invasions.
He won a decisive victory in the Battle of Edington in 878 and made an agreement
with the Vikings, dividing England between Anglo-Saxon territory and the Viking-
ruled Danelaw, composed of Scandinavian York, the north-east Midlands and East
Anglia. Alfred also oversaw the conversion of Viking leader Guthrum to
Christianity. He defended his kingdom against the Viking attempt at conquest,
becoming the dominant ruler in England.[3] Alfred began styling himself as "King of
the Anglo-Saxons" after reoccupying London from the Vikings. Details of his life
are described in a work by 9th-century Welsh scholar and bishop Asser.

Alfred had a reputation as a learned and merciful man of a gracious and level-
headed nature who encouraged education, proposing that primary education be
conducted in English rather than Latin, and improving the legal system and military
structure and his people's quality of life. He was given the epithet "the Great"
from as early as the 13th century, though it was only popularised from the 16th
century.[4] Alfred is the only native-born English monarch to be labelled as such.

Family
Further information: House of Wessex family tree
Alfred was a son of Æthelwulf, king of Wessex, and his wife Osburh.[5] According to
his biographer, Asser, writing in 893, "In the year of our Lord's Incarnation 849
Alfred, King of the Anglo-Saxons", was born at the royal estate called Wantage, in
the district known as Berkshire[a] ("which is so called from Berroc Wood, where the
box tree grows very abundantly"). This date has been accepted by the editors of
Asser's biography, Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge,[6] and by other historians
such as David Dumville and Richard Huscroft.[7] West Saxon genealogical lists state
that Alfred was 23 when he became king in April 871, implying that he was born
between April 847 and April 848.[8] This dating is adopted in the biography of
Alfred by Alfred Smyth, who regards Asser's biography as fraudulent,[9] an
allegation which is rejected by other historians.[10] Richard Abels in his
biography discusses both sources but does not decide between them and dates
Alfred's birth as 847/849, while Patrick Wormald in his Oxford Dictionary of
National Biography article dates it 848/849.[b] Berkshire had been historically
disputed between Wessex and the midland kingdom of Mercia, and as late as 844, a
charter showed that it was part of Mercia, but Alfred's birth in the county is
evidence that, by the late 840s, control had passed to Wessex.[12]

He was the youngest of six children. His eldest brother, Æthelstan, was old enough
to be appointed sub-king of Kent in 839, almost 10 years before Alfred was born. He
died in the early 850s. Alfred's next three brothers were successively kings of
Wessex. Æthelbald (858–860) and Æthelberht (860–865) were also much older than
Alfred, but Æthelred (865–871) was only a year or two older. Alfred's only known
sister, Æthelswith, married Burgred, king of Mercia in 853. Most historians think
that Osburh was the mother of all Æthelwulf's children, but some suggest that the
older ones were born to an unrecorded first wife. Osburh was descended from the
rulers of the Isle of Wight. She was described by Alfred's biographer Asser as "a
most religious woman, noble by temperament and noble by birth". She had died by 856
when Æthelwulf married Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald, king of West Francia.
[13]

In 868, Alfred married Ealhswith, daughter of the Mercian nobleman Æthelred Mucel,
ealdorman of the Gaini, and his wife Eadburh, who was of royal Mercian descent.[14]
[c] Their children were Æthelflæd, who married Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians;
Edward the Elder, Alfred's successor as king; Æthelgifu, abbess of Shaftesbury;
Ælfthryth, who married Baldwin, count of Flanders; and Æthelweard.[16]

Background

Map of Britain in 886

Alfred's grandfather, Ecgberht, became king of Wessex in 802, and in the view of
the historian Richard Abels, it must have seemed very unlikely to contemporaries
that he would establish a lasting dynasty. For 200 years, three families had fought
for the West Saxon throne, and no son had followed his father as king. No ancestor
of Ecgberht had been a king of Wessex since Ceawlin in the late sixth century, but
he was believed to be a paternal descendant of Cerdic, the founder of the West
Saxon dynasty.[d] This made Ecgberht an ætheling – a prince eligible for the
throne. But after Ecgberht's reign, descent from Cerdic was no longer sufficient to
make a man an ætheling. When Ecgberht died in 839, he was succeeded by his son
Æthelwulf; all subsequent West Saxon kings were descendants of Ecgberht and
Æthelwulf, and were also sons of kings.[19]

At the beginning of the ninth century, England was almost wholly under the control
of the Anglo-Saxons. Mercia dominated southern England, but its supremacy came to
an end in 825 when it was decisively defeated by Ecgberht at the Battle of
Ellendun.[20] Mercia and Wessex became allies, which was important in the
resistance to Viking attacks.[21] In 853, King Burgred of Mercia requested West
Saxon help to suppress a Welsh rebellion, and Æthelwulf led a West Saxon contingent
in a successful joint campaign. In the same year Burgred married Æthelwulf's
daughter, Æthelswith.[22]

In 825, Ecgberht sent Æthelwulf to invade the Mercian sub-kingdom of Kent, and its
sub-king, Baldred, was driven out shortly afterwards. By 830, Essex, Surrey and
Sussex had submitted to Ecgberht, and he had appointed Æthelwulf to rule the south-
eastern territories as king of Kent.[23] The Vikings ravaged the Isle of Sheppey in
835, and the following year they defeated Ecgberht at Carhampton in Somerset,[24]
but in 838 he was victorious over an alliance of Cornishmen and Vikings at the
Battle of Hingston Down, reducing Cornwall to the status of a client kingdom.[25]
When Æthelwulf succeeded to the throne, he appointed his eldest son Æthelstan as
sub-king of Kent.[26] Ecgberht and Æthelwulf may not have intended a permanent
union between Wessex and Kent because they both appointed sons as sub-kings, and
charters in Wessex were attested (witnessed) by West Saxon magnates, while Kentish
charters were witnessed by the Kentish elite; both kings kept overall control, and
the sub-kings were not allowed to issue their own coinage.[27]

Viking raids increased in the early 840s on both sides of the English Channel, and
in 843 Æthelwulf was defeated at Carhampton.[26] In 850, Æthelstan defeated a
Danish fleet off Sandwich in the first recorded naval battle in English history.
[28] In 851 Æthelwulf and his second son, Æthelbald, defeated the Vikings at the
Battle of Aclea and, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, "there made the
greatest slaughter of a heathen raiding-army that we have heard tell of up to this
present day, and there took the victory".[29] Æthelwulf died in 858 and was
succeeded by his oldest surviving son, Æthelbald, as king of Wessex and by his next
oldest son, Æthelberht, as king of Kent. Æthelbald only survived his father by two
years, and Æthelberht then for the first time united Wessex and Kent into a single
kingdom.[30]

Childhood

Alfred's father Æthelwulf of Wessex in the early 14th-century Genealogical Roll of

the Kings of England
According to Asser, in his childhood Alfred won a beautifully decorated book of
English poetry, offered as a prize by his mother to the first of her sons able to
memorise it. He must have had it read to him because his mother died when he was
about six and he did not learn to read until he was 12.[31] In 853, Alfred is
reported by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to have been sent to Rome where he was
confirmed by Pope Leo IV, who "anointed him as king".[32] Victorian writers later
interpreted this as an anticipatory coronation in preparation for his eventual
succession to the throne of Wessex. This is unlikely; his succession could not have
been foreseen at the time because Alfred had three living elder brothers. A letter
of Leo IV shows that Alfred was made a "consul" and a misinterpretation of this
investiture, deliberate or accidental, could explain later confusion.[16] It may be
based upon the fact that Alfred later accompanied his father on a pilgrimage to
Rome where he spent some time at the court of Charles the Bald, king of the Franks,
around 854–855.[33] On their return from Rome in 856, Æthelwulf was deposed by his
son Æthelbald. With civil war looming, the magnates of the realm met in council to
form a compromise. Æthelbald retained the western shires (i.e. historical Wessex),
and Æthelwulf ruled in the east. After King Æthelwulf died in 858, Wessex was ruled
by three of Alfred's brothers in succession: Æthelbald, Æthelberht and Æthelred.
[34]

The reigns of Alfred's brothers

A map of the route taken by the Viking Great Heathen Army which arrived in England
from Denmark, Norway, and southern Sweden in 865
Alfred is not mentioned during the short reigns of his older brothers Æthelbald and
Æthelberht. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describes the Great Heathen Army of Danes
landing in East Anglia with the intent of conquering the four kingdoms which
constituted Anglo-Saxon England in 865.[35] Alfred's public life began in 865 at
age 16 with the accession of his third brother, 18-year-old Æthelred. During this
period, Bishop Asser gave Alfred the unique title of secundarius, which may
indicate a position similar to the Celtic tanist, a recognised successor closely
associated with the reigning monarch. This arrangement may have been sanctioned by
Alfred's father or by the Witan to guard against the danger of a disputed
succession should Æthelred fall in battle. It was a well known tradition among
other Germanic peoples – such as the Swedes and Franks to whom the Anglo-Saxons
were closely related – to crown a successor as royal prince and military commander.
[36]

Viking invasion
In 868, Alfred was recorded as fighting beside Æthelred in a failed attempt to keep
the Great Heathen Army led by Ivar the Boneless out of the adjoining Kingdom of
Mercia.[37] The Danes arrived in his homeland at the end of 870, and nine
engagements were fought in the following year, with mixed results; the places and
dates of two of these battles have not been recorded. A successful skirmish at the
Battle of Englefield in Berkshire on 31 December 870 was followed by a severe
defeat at the siege and the Battle of Reading by Ivar's brother Halfdan Ragnarsson
on 5 January 871. Four days later, the Anglo-Saxons won a victory at the Battle of
Ashdown on the Berkshire Downs, possibly near Compton or Aldworth.[36] The Saxons
were defeated at the Battle of Basing on 22 January. They were defeated again on 22
March at the Battle of Merton (perhaps Marden in Wiltshire or Martin in Dorset).
[36] Æthelred died shortly afterwards in April 871.[36]

King at war
Early struggles
In April 871 King Æthelred died and Alfred acceded to the throne of Wessex and the
burden of its defence, even though Æthelred left two under-age sons, Æthelhelm and
Æthelwold. This was in accordance with the agreement that Æthelred and Alfred had
made earlier that year in an assembly at an unidentified place called Swinbeorg.
The brothers had agreed that whichever of them outlived the other would inherit the
personal property that King Æthelwulf had left jointly to his sons in his will. The
deceased's sons would receive only whatever property and riches their father had
settled upon them and whatever additional lands their uncle had acquired. The
unstated premise was that the surviving brother would be king. Given the Danish
invasion and the youth of his nephews, Alfred's accession probably went
uncontested.[38]

While he was busy with the burial ceremonies for his brother, the Danes defeated
the Saxon army in his absence at an unnamed spot and then again in his presence at
Wilton in May.[36] The defeat at Wilton smashed any remaining hope that Alfred
could drive the invaders from his kingdom. Alfred was forced instead to make peace
with them. Although the terms of the peace are not recorded, Bishop Asser wrote
that the pagans agreed to vacate the realm and made good their promise.[39]

The Viking army withdrew from Reading in the autumn of 871 to take up winter
quarters in Mercian London. Although not mentioned by Asser or by the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle, Alfred probably paid the Vikings silver to leave, much as the Mercians
were to do in the following year.[39] Hoards dating to the Viking occupation of
London in 871/872 have been excavated at Croydon, Gravesend and Waterloo Bridge.
These finds hint at the cost involved in making peace with the Vikings. For the
next five years, the Danes occupied other parts of England.[40]
In 876, under Guthrum, Oscetel and Anwend, the Danes slipped past the Saxon army
and attacked and occupied Wareham in Dorset. Alfred blockaded them but was unable
to take Wareham by assault. He negotiated a peace that involved an exchange of
hostages and oaths, which the Danes swore on a "holy ring" associated with the
worship of Thor. The Danes broke their word, and after killing all the hostages,
slipped away under cover of night to Exeter in Devon.[41]

Alfred blockaded the Viking ships in Devon, and with a relief fleet having been
scattered by a storm, the Danes were forced to submit. The Danes withdrew to
Mercia. In January 878, the Danes made a sudden attack on Chippenham, a royal
stronghold in which Alfred had been staying over Christmas "and most of the people
they killed, except the King Alfred, and he with a little band made his way by wood
and swamp, and after Easter he made a fort at Athelney in the marshes of Somerset,
and from that fort kept fighting against the foe".[42] From his fort at Athelney,
an island in the marshes near North Petherton, Alfred was able to mount a
resistance campaign, rallying the local militias from Somerset, Wiltshire and
Hampshire.[36] 878 was the nadir of the history of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. With
all the other kingdoms having fallen to the Vikings, Wessex alone was resisting.
[43]