Alfred the Great

Alfred the Great (c. 849–899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886, the only English monarch called ‘the Great’. He and his brother Æthelred fought the Great Heathen Army; on Æthelred’s death in April 871 he took the Wessex throne and after defeat at Wilton made peace with the Danes.

In January 878 the Danes struck Chippenham; he fled to Athelney and fortified it, Wessex the sole resisting kingdom. In May he beat Guthrum at Edington, who accepted baptism and withdrew, splitting England between Alfred and the Danelaw. After taking London in 886 he styled himself King of the Anglo-Saxons.

He reformed army and law, founded a court school, and translated Latin works. In 868 he married Ealhswith of Mercia; his son Edward the Elder succeeded him. Asser’s life of Alfred, written at his command, portrayed a learned and merciful king.