@Database "Alfred The Great"
@Node Main "Alfred der Großartige"
@Toc "Kings&Queens.guide/Main"
@{ The Saxon Kings }
Alfred the Great - 871-899 AD
The royal family of Wessex was a family of warriors, and Alfred,
the last of four brothers to rule the kingdom in the 9th century,
fought the Danish Viking invadors nine times in 871, the year he
came to the throne. At this time, the Danes occupied one half of
England and had their greedy eyes on the other half: the territory
of Wessex. To Stop them, Alfred built fortresses and formed a new
navy, and he organised his army so that one half guarded the
kingdom while the other farmed the land.
Nevertheless, in 877, a Danish army managed to break in and attack
Alfred`s palas at Chippenham. Alfred fled to the Athelney marshes
(Somerset).
Other Anglo-Saxon kings, in similar situationns, had given up in
despair or tried to bribe the Danes to go away, but not Alfred. In
878, he burst out of hiding and gave the Danes such a trashing
that their leader, Guthrum, promised never to invade Wessex again.
Alfred used the peace he had won to concentrate on his work of
founding schools to improve education, and restoring monasteries
to invigorate religious life. Famous scholars came to Alfred`s
court at Winchester to help him to translate from latin the first
books to be written in the English language. Alfred also had the
chance now to frame laws and civilise his subjects.
The most important law was, "Do not to others what you would not
have them do you". This remarkable combination of warrior and
scholar earned Alfred the title, `the Great`, a title not bestowed
on any other king in England.
(Saxon nobles wore their hair shoulder lengt. Moustaches were long
and beards forked)
@endnode