Alfred the Great (c. 849–c. 901)

‘The Alfred Jewel’, in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England. This cloisonné enamel portrait, mounted in crystal, is believed to be part of the treasure of Alfred the Great, king of Wessex 871–899. The jewel is in the Carolingian style, showing a revival of interest in Roman work.

Anglo-Saxon king 871–899 who defended England against Danish invasion and founded the first English navy. He succeeded his brother Aethelred to the throne of Wessex in 871, and a new legal code came into force during his reign. He encouraged the translation of scholarly works from Latin (some he translated himself), and promoted the development of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

Through a combination of hard fighting and diplomacy Alfred managed to keep Wessex free of Danish control after the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms had succumbed. His skill as a military commander first came to light at the Battle of Ashdown in 871 when he led the Saxon army to victory against the Danes. Not all his campaigns were so successful; on a number of occasions he had to resort to buying off the Danes for a brief respite. His great victory at Edington in 878 secured the survival of Wessex, and his peace treaty with the Danish king Guthrum in 886 established a boundary between the Danelaw, east of Watling Street, and the Saxons to the west. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says that following his capture of London in 866 ‘all the English people submitted to him, except those who were in captivity to the Danes’. In some respects, therefore, Alfred could be considered the first king of England.

Alfred was born at Wantage, Oxfordshire, the youngest son of Ethelwulf (d. 858), king of the West Saxons. In 870 Alfred and his brother Ethelred fought many battles against the Danes. Alfred gained a victory over the Danes at Ashdown in 871, and succeeded Ethelred as king in April 871 after a series of battles in which the Danes had been defeated. Five years of uneasy peace followed while the Danes were occupied in other parts of England. In 876 the Danes attacked again, and in 878 Alfred was forced to retire to the stronghold of Athelney, from where he finally emerged to win the victory of Edington, Wiltshire. By the Peace of Wedmore in 878 the Danish leader Guthrum (d. 890) agreed to withdraw from Wessex and from Mercia west of Watling Street. A new landing in Kent encouraged a revolt of the East Anglian Danes, which was suppressed 884–86, and after the final foreign invasion was defeated 892–96, Alfred strengthened the navy to prevent fresh incursions. During periods of peace Alfred reformed and improved his military organization. He divided his levies into two parts with one half at home and the other on active service, giving him a relief system he could call on to continue a campaign. He also began to build burhs (fortified strongpoints) throughout the kingdom to form the basis of an organized defensive system. Alfred is popularly credited as being the founder of the Royal Navy; he did build a fleet of improved ships manned by Frisians and on several occasions successfully challenged the Danes at sea.