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King Alfred and the Danish fleet Alfred The Geat at Warīut Alfred's energetic and revolutionary re-organization proved ineffective against the greed and determination of the Danes' massive force under King Guthrum and The Great Army. Like an ill-wind, they always returned and Wessex enjoyed only a brief lull before the inevitable storm broke upon them again. But the peace he won was fragile and one of his first acts as king was to ensure it by paying the Danes to leave. He moved decisively to meet a huge Danish army advancing east, and he routed them. Amid these defeats, Alfred won a glorious victory at Uffington, not far from his birthplace, just months before he became king. When Alfred ascended the throne in 871 he succeeded the last of three elder brothers who, between them, had barely ruled for a decade, characterized by defeat at the hands of increasingly powerful Danish armies. Read more: You'll never guess where George VI hid the crown jewels during the WWII Such a visionary approach to monarchy was in stark contrast to continental rulers who were often barbaric in their treatment of subject and foe alike.
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Alfred of wessex code#
In this, he laid the foundations of a code that was embodied in the English monarchy for a thousand years.
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And, in an age when the nobility treated their subjects as family possessions, Alfred emerges as a generous and affable monarch whose Christian ideals led him to believe that true Christian kingship was to have a genuine responsibility towards his country, a task entrusted to him by God. Alfred's love of hunting was renowned and his skill as a warrior is testified in his successes against the Danes. We do know that, whatever his affliction was, he led a vigorous life as befitted a Wessex atheling. But one of Alfred's greatest gifts to posterity was the translation of a collection of great Latin works into his native Saxon tongue.īut we must not get the impression that the young Alfred was a weak and sickly lad, forced by ill-health to bury his head in books and set apart from his peers. Much of it is beautifully illustrated and it is often regarded as Alfred's greatest achievement.
Alfred of wessex series#
This awareness of the acute lack of Saxon books probably led his to have written a series of histories, each compiled in a different monastery, each added to year-on-year-that have come to be known as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. Latin, could be read and spoken only by church officials and understood by a mere handful of Wessex clergy. It also had a near-monopoly on the acquisition of knowledge as its official language. The Church of Rome wielded immense power and its influence extended to almost every aspect of Saxon life. Known as a modest man, he must have been acutely aware of his own lack of learning and seen how important literate lieutenants were to an effective government. The huge diplomatic center of Western Europe would have made a huge impression on the boy Alfred. Rome was still an awe-inspiring city despite the ravages of repeated sackings by barbarian hordes. Their shared love of knowledge must have created a close bond between father and his youngest son, and Alfred accompanied Ethelwulf on a pilgrimage to Rome, an arduous journey taking two years. King Ethelwulf was a devout Christian and is believed to have been a monk, pursuing a life of study at Winchester's monastery while Alfred's grandfather reigned. Alfred found a tutor, learned to read it aloud, and won the rare book when he was only six years old. One of the many stories that illustrate Alfred's aptitude tells of how his mother, Osburh, showed her sons a beautifully illuminated book of Saxon poetry and promised to make a gift of it to the first of them to read it.