One group would stay home with their families while the other group guarded the borders from Viking raids. Alfred divided his army into two groups.He is the only English ruler to be called "the Great".He struggled with illness most of his life. Despite being very courageous and a great leader, Alfred was physically a sickly and frail man.It would be his grandson Aethelstan who would be called the first King of England.
KING ALFRED CODE
He also established a national code of law.Īlfred died in 899 and was succeeded by his son Edward. He even translated some classic works from Latin into English himself.Īlfred also made other reforms and improvements to his kingdom including building forts throughout the country, establishing a strong navy, and bringing talented European scholars and craftsmen across the channel to England. Alfred knew that education was important, so he founded schools and rebuilt monasteries. With so much focus on fighting off the Vikings, the educational system of England had almost disappeared. Once peace had been established with the Vikings, Alfred went about rebuilding his kingdom. The Vikings land was called the Danelaw.Īlfred was a great leader in battle, but he might have been an even better leader during peacetime. He then required that the Vikings convert to Christianity and established a peace treaty where the Vikings would remain on the eastern side of Britain. He defeated King Guthrum and took back his stronghold at Chippenham. With his new army, Alfred counterattacked the Vikings. When the peasant woman returned she scolded him for not properly watching the cakes. Alfred's mind was so occupied with the war that he forgot to watch the cakes and they burned. She asked Alfred to watch over the cakes. The peasant woman was baking cakes when she had to go outside to tend to the animals. At one point he took refuge in the home of an old peasant woman who did not know he was the king. One legend tells the story of Alfred escaping from the Vikings. They rallied around Alfred at Athelney and soon the king had a strong army again. Many of the men of Wessex were tired of the constant raids and attacks of the Vikings. He fled to Athelney where he plotted his counterattack. Alfred managed to escape, but with only a few men. In 878, the Danish King Guthrum led a surprise attack against Alfred and his army. After many battles, he thought they had finally achieved some kind of peace. Over the next several years Alfred fought off the Vikings. Alfred's brother Aethelred died in one of the battles and Alfred was crowned king. He led the Wessex army to a great victory at the Battle of Ashdown.
Alfred became his brother's second in command. In 870, the Vikings had conquered all the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms except for Wessex. Throughout much of Alfred's life the Vikings had been raiding England.
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