Why was Alfred the Great famous?
One of the most famous Anglo-Saxon kings was Alfred the Great.
By the end of Alfred's reign he was called 'King of the English'.
He fought the Vikings and then made peace.
This meant that the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings settled down peacefully.
Watch: Who was Alfred the Great?
Who was Alfred, and why was he so great? Find out about King Alfred's life.
Excuse me. Yes, you. Did you know that is the statue of Alfred the Great? Ever wondered why he was so great? Well, let’s start at the beginning.
This is a great-o-meter to help you keep score. Plus meet the man himself, Alfred, born in 849 and the youngest of five brothers.He was never expected to be king. What do we think now, great or not?
Alfred learned to read after his mother challenged her sons in recite a poem by heart from her favourite book.
Excellent, we are on our way to greatness. Despite suffering from illness all his life, he outlived all his brothers and takes the throne in 871.
However, he had to immediately defend his throne from Guthrum, a Viking warlord.
Alfred flees and hid in the Somerset Levels. So far, Alfred the not so great.
But eventually Alfred regrouped and raised an Anglo-Saxon army that defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Edington.
Alfred and Guthrum agreed to peace and to divide up the country.
Alfred kept Wessex in the southwest, Guthrum took the Viking lands in the North East, known as the Danelaw.
Over time Alfred brought the English kingdoms together and his coins call him the King of the English.
However, his defining moment of greatest was when he translated books from Latin, which only a few people could understand, into English, so more people could read them.
Beginning a new age of literacy and knowledge. For which he became known as Alfred the Great. Do we agree that Alfred was great? But not modest.
Well, that was great, I greatly appreciate you joining me on this journey – oh, I think Alfred may want his crown back.
Stories about Alfred the Great
There are many stories about Alfred. One tells how he memorised a whole book of poetry when he was a boy.
Another famous story tells how, while sheltering in a cowherd's hut, Alfred got told off by the cowherd's wife. This is because he accidentally let her cakes (or bread) burn on the fire when he forgot to watch them!
Listen to passages from the Monk Asser's biography of Alfred called 'The Life of King Alfred'
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.
King Alfred was the son of Athelwolf. Alfred’s mother was called Osburh. A most religious woman, noble in character and noble by birth.
Presenter: That’s how the monk Asser records the birth of Alfred, the Saxon child who would lead the fight against the Vikings, promote learning throughout his kingdom he ruled and try to unite the Anglo-Saxons as one people – the English. And because Asser wrote the biography Alfred is one of the few Anglo-Saxon children we know something about.
According to Asser, learning was something which fascinated Alfred even when he was very young. Asser tells the story of a book, given to Alfred by his mother.
Narrator: One day when his mother was showing him and his brothers a book of English poetry which she held in her hand she said 'I shall give this to which one of you can learn it the fastest.'
Spurred on by these words, or rather by divine inspiration, and attracted by the beauty of the initial letter in the book, Alfred spoke as follows in reply to his mother.
‘Will you really give this book to the one who can understand it the soonest and recite it to you?’
Whereupon smiling with pleasure, she reassured him saying, ‘Yes I will.’
He immediately took the book, went to his teacher and learnt it.
THEY SPEAK SAXON
When it was learnt, he took it back to his mother and recited it.
Presenter: It doesn’t say Alfred read the book. It says he learned it. In Anglo-Saxon times, children were educated by memorising things.
Memorising and reciting poetry was a very popular activity for the Anglo-Saxons. Books were very rare so there wasn’t much need for people to read.
When Alfred finally did learn to read at age 12, he wasn’t taught in a school, he was taught by a tutor.
In Anglo-Saxon times there were few schools in England and only a handful of people went to them. Schools were established in the 6th or 7th century.
They were attached to churches and monasteries and trained children for religious life.
They learnt to read and write Latin, studied music and religious writing.
Anglo-Saxon times were good times to be a girl.
The Anglo-Saxons believed it was just as important for girls to be educated as it was for boys. All Alfred’s children learned to read and write.
Learning from a book was only part of Alfred’s education. A noble boy was expected to learnt the skills he would need as an adult in battle.
Alfred was expected to grow up to fight and rule with justice. Many of these skills were physical, so much of his childhood was spent outdoors doing archery and sword-fighting.
What kind of King was he?
- Alfred became king in AD871 when his elder brother died.
- He was helped by a council of nobles and church leaders called the Witan.
- Alfred believed education was important. He had books translated from Latin into English, so people could read them. He also told monks to begin writing the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
- He built warships, forts and walled towns known as ‘burhs’.
- Alfred died in 899 and was buried at his capital city of Winchester.
- Athelstan was Alfred the Great’s grandson. He reigned between AD925 and AD939 and was the very first ‘King of all England’.
Activities
Activity 1: Timeline of Kings
Click on each of the kings below to find out who they were and how they ruled.
Activity 2: Quiz – Alfred the Great
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