Comment

King Alfred's statue in Winchester

King Alfred earned his name of Alfred the Great through his reputation as a fierce warrior and social reformer.

He is also considered to be the very first king of England, after he called himself King of the Anglo-Saxons.

He was born in circa 849AD, in Wantage, which is now in Oxfordshire, and at the age of 22 he was made King of Wessex after his older brother Ethelred fell in battle against the Danes who were determined to take the kingdom.

The capital of Wessex and the West Saxon's who inhabited it was the city of Winchester - a place on which Alfred the Great left an indelible mark.

As ruler, Alfred quickly sought better defences for his kingdom and strengthened many of the forts and made sure his armies were well organised. As a result he was able to stop any further incursion from the Danes into Wessex and under his leadership the West Saxons even managed to recapture London.

Diplomacy was a key part of his strategy and he fostered amicable relationships with the Danes, who ruled Mercia and the Welsh.

Under these agreements Alfred was able to play a key role in forming Danelaw, an area of modern eastern England where Danes and Anglo-Saxons were treated as equals rather than invaders and natives.

Alfred believed that the invasion by the Danes was a result of the sins of his people, which he thought were a result of their lack of education. He addressed this by encouraging learning and schooling across his kingdom.

Kirsty Nutbeen, left, and Julie Gosling at the King Alfred Exhibition

Alfred himself learnt Latin and translated many works into Old English so his subjects that could read would be able to understand literary works. He also offered patronage to scholars from the continent.

During the later years of his life, he was the subject of a biography by Welsh scholar Asser - The Life of King Alfred - the last original copy of which was destroyed by fire in 1791, although copies do exist.

He died in Winchester, on October 26. The exact year is not known but it is believed to be 899, which would have made him about 50-years-old at the time of his death.

He was buried in Old Minster, which was on the site of modern day Winchester Cathedral.

However just a few years later his remains were moved to the adjacent New Minster, for which Alfred had bought the land himself. In 1110, New Minister itself was moved to Hyde, just outside the city walls and Alfred's body was interred there.

Since then the exact location of his remains has become a mystery but in the nineteenth century it was claimed that Alfred's body had been moved to a simple grave outside St Bartholomew's Church, Winchester.

The anniversary of his death is a feast day in the Anglican Church, which considers him to be a Christian hero. The Orthodox Church has gone even further, regarding the King as a Saint.

5:29am Thursday 7th February 2008

Print

Email this

Comment

Add your comment

Name:
Email: *
Location:
**
	e.g. 123-123
Comment: Please note: All HTML tags will be ignored. Format Text:
By posting a comment, I confirm that I have read and agree to the terms of use. Comments are not moderated but we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention and we may delete inappropriate postings. Please treat other people with respect. You must not post anything that is abusive, indecent, unlawful or defamatory. Remember, you are personally liable for what you post on this site. If you wish to complain about a comment, contact us here.
* Your email address will not be displayed ** To avoid register now or login