• General Notes

  [SUSANNA KEENE.FTW]
  
  Reigned 871-899.  Prevented the Danish conquest of England,
  defeating them at Eddington (878) after a campaign of guerilla
  warfare.  After the victory he allowed the Danes to keep their
  conquests in East Anglia & Mercia provided that Guthrum, their
  king, was converted to Christianity.  Alfred built a navy of
  warships to defend the south coast aginst further Danish
  invasions (885-886, 892-896) & protected Wessex with a chain of
  fortifications.  He took London (886) thus gaining control of
  all England except the Danish areas. Quote from Winston
  Churchill:  ("Alfred the Great", chapter 7 of volume 1 of his
  "History of the English-Speaking Peoples".  An appreciation of
  "the greatest Englishman that ever lived").  Quote from Maurice
  Ashley in "Great Britain to 1688" about Alfred:  "He was the
  greatest Englishman in early history" (p. 41). Banner was a
  golden dragon (the golden dragon was the banner of  the kingdom
  of Wessex, Alfred's personal banner was the White Horse). Since
  Alfred was the fifth son, it was never thought he would be
  King, and thus unlike his older brothers who have the royal
  mark of the ruling house of Wessex "AEthel" (or "Ethel") as a
  part of their names, Alfred was instead named after his
  mother's folk).
  
  REF: The Newsletter of Anglo-Saxon Studies at The University of
  Georgia Vol I, Number 3 (Spring, 1994): "ALFRED'S MILITARY
  ACHIEVEMENTS", Alex Bruce
  
  Alfred the Great is remembered for his two great victories--his
  success in re-establishing learning in his kingdom of Wessex
  (see Matheliende 1.2), and his success in defeating the
  seemingly unstoppable forces of the invading Danes. No matter
  how much we venerate the revival of education under Alfred, the
  latter of these successes is, however, the greater; there would
  have been no possibility of restoring the centers of learning
  had Alfred not brought peace to his land. When Alfred became
  king of the West Saxons in 871, he was already an experienced
  military leader, as he had participated in several campaigns
  against the invading Danes. The Danes had been present in the
  British Isles since at least 789, but until the time of Alfred
  they had concentrated their efforts on subjugating the eastern
  lands of Britain. However, in 865 a great army of Danes hungry
  for land and wealth moved quickly through the kingdoms of East
  Anglia and Northumbria. After these two kingdoms capitulated
  and paid tribute to the invaders, the Danes turned to Mercia.
  There, in 868, they met both Mercians and West Saxons; the two
  nations had formed an alliance that had been strengthened that
  very year by the marriage of Alfred and Ealhswith, daughter of
  a Mercian ealdorman (see Asser ch. 29). Alfred and his elder
  brother King Aethelred personally led the Wessex contingent,
  yet not even the combined forces of the Mercians and
  the West Saxons could keep the Danes at bay. The Mercians, like
  the East Anglians and Northumbrians, had to "make peace"--that
  is, pay tribute. In 871 Alfred's brother Aethelred died, making
  Alfred, last son of King Aethelwulf, the new king of the West
  Saxons. In that year as well the Danes turned their attention
  to Alfred's kingdom, and for the next four years, until 875,
  Alfred bought peace for his people by paying tribute to the
  Danes. At first the invaders seemed satisfied, but in 875 they
  began altering the terms of the peace. That year, after
  collecting their tribute, the Danes did not leave Wessex as
  they had before, but lived there, peacefully but at the expense
  of the West Saxons, until 878. Then, in their desire to
  subjugate completely the people of Wessex, the Danes went on
  the offensive. Alfred fought back, yet
  in March of that year he and his followers were forced into
  hiding, and the hope of the West Saxons was fading. But that
  May Alfred met the Danish force at Edington; "there he fought
  against the entire host, and put it to flight, and pursued it
  up to the fortification [probably Chippenham] and laid siege
  there a fortnight; and then the host gave him preliminary
  hostages and solemn oaths that they would leave his kingdom,
  and promised him in addition that their king would receive
  baptism; and they fulfilled this promise" (Anglo-Saxon
  Chronicle, year 878). Alfred had defeated the invading Danes,
  forcing them to submit to his terms. They subsequently left
  Alfred and Wessex, turning to the continent for new lands to
  plunder.    Yet though this particular force left, Danes still
  inhabited Britain; Northumbria, East Anglia, and parts of
  Mercia were all still under the Danelaw. Alfred felt constantly
  threatened, and had to fight skirmishes with the Danes for many
  years. To help preserve his hard-earned peace Alfred developed
  stronger defenses for his land of Wessex. In the southern part
  of Britain he established several new fortified cities, better
  than the smaller forts, where great groups of people could
  gather for protection. He reorganized his army so that at any
  one time half of it was prepared for war. Finally, in 886,
  Alfred took the initiative himself and attacked the Danish-held
  city of London in an attempt to diminish the lands ruled under
  the Danelaw. He succeeded, and for his efforts all the "Angles
  and Saxons--those who had formerly been scattered everywhere
  and were not in captivity with the Danes--turned willingly to
  King Alfred and submitted themselves to his lordship" (Asser
  ch. 83). At this point Alfred seems to have come closest to
  rightly earning the title "King of England," though in reality
  he governed perhaps a quarter of the land now known as England.
  Once he had brought peace to his land Alfred began to implement
  his reforms. He encouraged learning and the keeping of the
  Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; he also established a code of law, based
  on the Bible, which "shows how the king sought to maintain
  social order" (Introduction to "Extracts from the laws of King
  Alfred," Alfred the Great 163). Law codes were certainly not
  new to the people of Wessex; what was different about Alfred's
  code was that by basing his laws so clearly on Biblical law,
  "Alfred places his own activity as a law-giver in what he
  regards as its proper context, effectively implying that the
  legislation which follows stands in the same tradition and
  represents that of the new chosen people" (Introduction to
  Alfred the Great 39). In 892-3 Alfred's peace was disturbed by
  the violent return of the Danes. These invaders, driven off the
  continent, seemed intent upon "the final conquest and
  settlement of England" (McElwee 32). During these campaigns
  Alfred won praise from the writer of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
  (perhaps not very surprising, considering who the sponsor was!)
  for his forethought and stratagems. His standing army was able
  to fight off the invaders while the people remained safe in his
  fortified cities. Alfred also employed new tactics; he scouted
  out the enemy and destroyed them at sea using larger war-ships
  of his own design. The Danes were thwarted at every turn, and
  were forced to retreat, unfulfilled, from the island of
  Britain. The last years of Alfred's life were more peaceful and
  devoted to scholarly pursuits. When Alfred died on October 26,
  899, he left a culture which had perhaps already seen its best
  days, but, thanks to Alfred's care and
  courage, would be remembered for centuries to come.
  
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
  
  Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred and other
  Contemporary
  Sources. Trans. with an introduction and notes by Simon Keynes
  and Michael
  Lapidge. New York: Penguin Books, 1983.
  
  The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Trans., ed., and introduced by G. N.
  Garmonsway. London: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1972.
  
  Asser. Life of King Alfred. In Alfred the Great: Asser's Life
  of King
  Alfred and other Contemporary Sources. Trans. with an
  introduction and
  notes by Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge. New York: Penguin
  Books, 1983.
  
  McElwee, William. A Short History of England, from the Time of
  King Alfred
  to the Present Day. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1968.
  
  The Oxford History of Britain. Revised edition. Ed. Kenneth O.
  Morgan.
  Oxford: The Oxford University Press, 1988.
  
  Plummer, Charles. The Life and Times of Alfred the Great. New
  York: Haskel
  House Productions Ltd., 1902.
  
  
  REF: The Newsletter of Anglo-Saxon Studies at The University of
  Georgia Vol I, Number 2 (Winter, 1994) "ALFRED THE EDUCATOR"
  Kirk Appletoft: Alfred the Great, considered the first king of
  England, is known for saving his land from decimation by the
  invading Danes and thereby giving his countrymen a sense of
  nationalism. Yet Alfred achieved more than military and
  political successes during his reign from 871-901; his
  dedication to the teaching of the liberal arts helped preserve
  the literary tradition of the Anglo-Saxons.    Alfred's
  appreciation for education began very early in his life. In
  853, at the age of four, Alfred was sent by his father, King
  Aethelwulf, to Pope Leo IV in Rome for instruction. This
  instruction, no doubt, focused on religion rather than on the
  liberal arts. But this trip to Rome, as well as the one Alfred
  made two years later, certainly helped Alfred recognize the
  role of the Church in education. Alfred would fully acknowledge
  this role when he became king. Alfred's interest in the liberal
  arts was encouraged by his stepmother Judith, who was the first
  to pique his interest in reading. Alfred's contemporary
  biographer, Asser, a bishop from Wales, records that Judith
  offered a book of Saxon poems to the first of Aethelwulf's four
  sons who could recite the book to her. To win the book, Alfred,
  who could not read, had an instructor read the book to him
  until he had memorized every word. According to Asser, this
  "desire for wisdom, more than anything else, together with the
  nobility of his birth, . . . characterized the nature of his
  noble mind" (Asser 75). Not until after he became king in 871
  did Alfred learn to read and write. Asser, whom Alfred had
  called to serve in his court, seems to have been responsible
  for this feat. Asser would copy passages from the Bible for
  Alfred to study; Alfred would then eagerly translate them into
  English. The duties of being the king, however, constantly
  interrupted Alfred's education. His entire reign was spent in a
  religious war with the Danes. He believed that the invaders
  represented punishment from God for the decay of education, and
  the corresponding lack of understanding of Latin manuscripts
  and psalms. So, for Alfred, his war became not a matter of the
  English fighting the Danes; it was the Christians fighting the
  heathens. This belief was one of the primary reasons for the
  large number of religious translations and the increasing
  interest in education during Alfred's reign. As well, Alfred
  supported education because he recognized that "a king's raw
  material and instruments of rule are a well peopled land, and
  he must have men of prayer, men of war, and men of work . . .
  [for] without these tools he cannot perform any of the tasks
  entrusted to him" (Plummer 153). In order to have these tools
  at his disposal he brought many Latin scholars from the
  continent to teach at his institutions. He also, even when his
  war with the Danes was at its height, took time to translate
  several Latin works on his own, including Pope Gregory the
  Great's Pastoral Care, Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy and
  St. Augustine's Soliloquies. So important to Alfred was the
  ability to read that he began to demand that other nobles of
  the land be able to read. Asser recounts Alfred's admonishments
  to a group of judges who were poorly educated; they were told
  "either to relinquish immediately [their] offices of worldly
  power . . . or else to apply [them]selves much more attentively
  to the pursuit of wisdom." (Asser 110) Needless to say they
  chose the latter option.
  The effect of all of Alfred's educational reforms was that we,
  more than 1000 years later, have a wealth of Anglo- Saxon prose
  and poetry to read and study. Without his dedication to
  learning we would all have been poorer.
  
  BIBLIOGRAPHY
  
  Asser. Life of King Alfred. In Alfred the Great: Asser's Life
  of King
  Alfred and other Contemporary Sources. Trans. with an
  introduction and
  notes by Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge. New York: Penguin
  Books, 1983.
  
  Bosworth, George F. Alfred the Great: His Life and Times.
  London: Macmillan
  and Co., Ltd., 1914.
  
  Loyn, H. R. Alfred the Great. New York: Oxford University
  Press, 1967.
  
  Plummer, Charles. The Life and Times of Alfred the Great. New
  York: Haskel
  House Productions Ltd., 1902.
  
  REF: *The Chronicle of Fabius Ethelwerd, From the Beginning of
  the World
  to the Year of Our Lord 975*, translated by J A Giles in *Six
  Old English
  Chronicles*, London (Bohn), 1848, p 28, 37.: "Lastly, in the
  same year, king Alfred departed out of this world, that
  immoveable pillar of the Western Saxons, that man full of
  justice, bold in arms, learned in speech, and, above all other
  things, imbued with the divine instructions. For he had
  translated into his own language, out of Latin, unnumbered
  volumes, of so varied a nature, and so excellently, that the
  sorrowful book of Boethius seemed, not only to the learned, but
  even to those who heard it read, as it were, brought to life
  again.  The monarch died on the seventh day before the
  solemnity of All Saints, and his body rests in peace in the
  city of Winston.  Pray, O reader, to Christ our Redeemer, that
  he will save his soul!"
  
  REF: Weis & Sheppard, *Ancestral Roots ... *, 7th Edition,
  1992, p 2 : Alfred the Great, King of England, 871-899, b.
  Wantage, Berkshire, 849; d. 26 Oct. 899; m. 868, Ealhsith
  (Alswitha), d. ca. 905, dau. of Earl Aethelred of Mercia and
  Eadburgh.  Alfred was one of the greatest men in history.  He
  was crowned king at Winchester, 871; founded the British Navy,
  organized the militia, compiled a code of laws, built schools
  and monasteries, and invited scholars to live at his court.  He
  was a good scholar and translated many books."
  
  SRCE:   Asser of Saint David, *Annals of the Reign of Alfred
  the Great, from
  A.D. 849 to A.D. 887* (or *Life of Alfred*), translated by J A
  Giles, 1848, p 43-44. Giles says in the preface, p vi: In the
  year of our Lord's incarnation 849, was born Alfred, king of
  the Anglo-Saxons, at the royal village of Wanating [Wantage],
  in Berkshire, which country has its name from the wood of
  Berrod, where the box-tree grows most abundantly. His genealogy
  is traced in the following order. King Alfred was the son of
  King Ethelwild, who was the son of Egbert, who was the son, of
  Elmund, who was son of Eafa, who was the son of Eoppa, who was
  the son of Ingild.  Ingild, and Ina, the famous king of the
  West-Saxons, were two brothers.  Ina went to Rome, and there
  ending this life honourably, entered the heavenly kingdom, to
  reign there for ever with Christ.  Ingild and Ina were the sons
  of Coenred, who was the son of Ceolwald, who was the son of
  Cudam, who was the son of Cuthwin, who was the son of Ceawlin,
  who was the son of Cynric, who was the son of Creoda, who was
  the son of Cerdic, who was the son of Elesa, who was the son of
  Gewis, from whom the Britons name all that nation Gewis
  [FOOTNOTE: The Gewissae, generally understood to be the
  West-Saxons.], who was the son of Brond, who was the son of
  Beldeg, who was the son of Woden, who was the son of
  Frithowald, who was the son of Frealaf, who was the son of
  Frithuwulf, who was the son of Finn of Godwulf, who was the son
  of Geat, which Geat the pagans long worshipped as a god.
  Sedulius makes mention of him in his metrical Paschal poem, as
  follows:--
  When gentile poets with their fictions vain,
  In tragic language and bombastic strain,
  To their god Geat, comic deity,
  Loud praises sing, &c.
  "Geat was the son of Taetwa, who was the son of Beaw, who was
  the son of Sceldi [= SCELDWA in trans. by Keynes & Lapidge],
  who was the son of Heremod, who was the son of Itermon, who was
  the son of Hathra, who was the son of Gula [= HWALA in trans.
  by K & L], who was the son of Bedwig, who was the son of Shem
  [= SETH in trans. by K & L, but this is probably an error], who
  was the son of Noah, who was the son of Lamech, who was the son
  of Methusalem [=METHUSALAH], who was the son of Enoch, who was
  the son of Malaleel [= MAHALALEEL], who was the son of Cainian
  [= CAINAN in trans. by K & L], who was the son of Enos, who was
  the son of Seth, who was the son of Adam."
  
  REF: William of Malmesbury, *Chronicle of the Kings of
  England*, c 1135, tr John Allen Giles, London (Henry G Bohn)
  1847, p 113-122 passim:  He was married to Ealhswith of the
  Gani in 868."Received the royal unction and crown from pope Leo
  the fourth at Rome, acceded to the sovereignty and retained it
  with the greatest difficulty, but with equal valour,
  twenty-eight years and a half.  .....  For nine successive
  years battling with his enemies, sometimes deceived by false
  treaties, and sometimes wreaking his vengeance on the
  deceivers, he was at last reduced to such extreme distress,
  that scarcely three counties, that is to say, Hampshire,
  Wiltshire, and Somersetshire, stood fast by their allegiance,
  as he was compelled to retreat to a certain island called
  Athelney, which from its marshy situation was hardly
  accessible.  .....  [However, later] Alfred had reduced the
  whole island to his power, with the exception of what the Danes
  possessed.  .....  After England had rejoiced for 13 years in
  the tranquility of peace and in the fertility of her soil, the
  northern pest of barbarians again returned.  With them returned
  war and slaughter .....  The king himself was, with his usual
  activity, present in every action, ever daunting the invaders,
  and at the same time inspiriting his subjects, with the signal
  display of his courage.  He would oppose himself singly to the
  enemy; and by his own personal exertions rally his declining
  forces.  The very places are yet pointed out by the inhabitants
  where he felt the vicissitudes of good and evil fortune.  .....
  His children by Elswitha, the daughter of earl Athelred, were
  Ethelswitha, Edward who reigned after him; Ethel fled who was
  married to Ethered earl of the Mercians; Ethelwerd, whom they
  celebrate as being extremely learned; Elfred and Ethelgiva,
  virgins.  His [Alfred's] health was so bad that he was
  constantly disquited either by the piles or some disorder of
  the intestines.  It is said, however, that he entreated this
  from God, in his supplications, in order that, by the
  admonition of pain, he might be less anxious after earthly
  delights. "Yet amid these circumstances the private life of the
  king is to be admired and celebrated with the highest praise.
  For although, as some one has said, "Laws must give way amid
  the strife of arms," yet he, amid the sound of trumpets and the
  din of war, enacted statures by which his people might equally
  familiarise themselves to religious worship and to military
  discipline.  And since, from the example of the barbarians, the
  natives themselves began to lust after rapine, insomuch that
  there was no safe intercourse without a military guard, he
  appointed centuries, which they call "hundreds," and
  decennaries, that is to say, "tythings," so that every
  Englishman, living according to law, must be a member of both.
  If any one was accused of a crime, he was obliged immediately
  to produce persons from the hundred and tything to become his
  surety; and whosoever was unable to find such surety, must
  dread the severity of the laws.  If any who was impleaded made
  his escape either before or after he had found surety, all
  persons of the hundred and tything paid a fine to the king.  By
  this regulation he diffused such peace throughout the country
  that he ordered golden bracelets, which might mock the eager
  desires of the passengers while no one durst take them away, to
  be hung up on the public causeways, where the roads crossed
  each other.  .....  He erected monasteries wherever he deemed
  it fitting ..... [Alfred sent for Grimmald] that by his
  activity he might awaken the study of literature in England,
  which was now slumbering and almost expiring.  ..... Confiding
  in these auxiliaries [Grimmald, Asser, Werefrith, Johannes
  Scotus], the king gave his whole soul to the cultivation of the
  liberal arts, insomuch that no Englishman was quicker in
  comprehending, or more elegant in translating. ..... He
  translated into English the greater part of the Roman authors
  ..... Moreover he infused a great regard for literature into
  his countrymen, stimulating them both with rewards and
  punishments, allowing no ignorant person to aspire to any
  dignity in the court.  He died just as he had begun a
  translation of the Psalms.  .....  He had one unusual and
  unheard of custom, which was, that he always carried in his
  bosom a book in which the daily order of the Psalms was
  contained, for the purpose of carefully perusing it, if at any
  time he had leisure.  In this way he passed his life, much
  respected by neighboring princes, and gave his daughter
  Ethelswitha in marriage to Baldwin earl of Flanders, by whom he
  had Arnulf and Ethelwulf; the former received from his father
  the county of Boulogne, from the other at this day are
  descended the earls of Flanders.  [Footnote by Giles:
  "Matilda, queen of William the First, was daughter of Baldwin
  earl of Flanders, the fifth in descent from Ethelswitha."]
  "Alfred, paying the debt of nature, was buried at Winchester,
  in the monastery which he had founded  .....  They report that
  Alfred was first was first buried in the cathedral, because the
  monaster was unfinished, but that afterwards, on account of the
  folly of the canons, who asserted that the royal spirit,
  resuming its carcass, wandered nightly through the buildings,
  Edward, his son and successor, removed the remains of his
  father, and gave them a quiet resting-place in the new minster.
  [Footnote by Giles:  "On its removal called Hyde Abbey."]
  These and similar superstitions, such as that the dead body of
  a wicked man runs about, after death, by the agency of the
  devil, the English hold with almost inbred credulity, borrowing
  them from
  the heathens, according to the expression of Virgil, "Forms
  such as flit, they say, when life is gone."  [Virg. Aeneid, x.
  641.]
  
  REF: British Monarchy Official Website: From the late 8th
  century, there were attacks by Vikings from Scandinavia. The
  kingdoms of Northumbria and Mercia were rapidly over-run and in
  871 the Danish army attacked Wessex. After initial setbacks,
  Alfred, King of Wessex (reigned 871-99) defeated the Danes at
  the Battle of Edington in 878. The Danes withdrew to an area
  north of a frontier running from London to Chester, which
  became known as the 'Danelaw'. Alfred then began a programme of
  reforms, including establishing a legal code, improving
  education and learning, and reforming the coinage. He also
  started a building programme of well-defended towns ('borough'
  comes from the Old English burgh, a fortress) and a new navy.

Details of Alfred the Great's family with Ealhswith of the Gaini of Mercia