Alfred the Great

While in my introduction I stated that I wished to document and explain the creation of modern Britain, I have opted to start with the tumultuous reign of Alfred the Great who ruled between 871 and 899. I think most people realise the influence the Roman Empire had on Britain, and the effects of its leaving, and as such will leave it out.

Alfred the Great is perhaps the most famous of the Anglo-Saxon kings, and he is important as he lead the way for a united England under Anglo-Saxon rule, a unity that actually created the name of England which is derived from a corruption of Angla-land, or land of the Anglos.

Alfred reigned over an area of England called Wessex, which stretched roughly from Sussex to the Cornish borders, following the approximate line of the Thames in the North. Other areas of England relevant in this article are Mercia, which was situated north of the Thames between Wales and East Anglia, which was inhabited by the Vikings.

Alfred's reign started with defeat. In 871 his armies suffered a loss to the Viking forces which occupied much of East Anglia, as well as many other areas in Britain. After occupying areas around Reading, Alfred probably paid the Vikings to leave, a payment known as a Dane-geld (I say probably as there is no documented evidence for such a payment but they were common at the time). London at this time was an unofficial neutral zone, belonging to Mercia, where Saxons and Vikings intermingled. War was seen not only as a method of gaining land, but also as a business where wealth could be made by capturing and ransoming wealthy individuals or cities and towns.

In 876 the Vikings from East Anglia, under the rule of the feared Guthrum sailed past the Saxon armies in Wessex and Mercia down the Thames, and attacked Wareham in Dorset. After occupying the town, slaughtering all their hostages they slipped away to Exeter. After several small skirmishes, movements and counter movements, the Vikings attacked the Royal residence in Chippenham, where Alfred had been staying for the Christmas of 877. Alfred fled to the marshes in Somerset.

It is here where the legend of Alfred the Great was made. Many people have heard the legend of Alfred burning the cakes while he formed his counter-attack tactic. While it is impossible to know if this is true or not, it is verifiable that he made a fort at Athelney in the marshes, near North Pembleton. Seven weeks after Easter 878 Alfred rode out, and met with the fyrds of three shires ( A fyrd is an army raised by the local Ealdormen consisting partly of highly trained troops, but mostly of untrained civilians, bringing pretty much any weapon they could get their hands on) and bought battle to Guthrum and his Danes at Ethandun. It was an astonishing victory, in which the Viking were routed, and many of their leaders, including Guthrum, were forced to convert to Christianity following their defeat. Boundaries between Wessex and Guthrum's Kingdom were put down in a treaty, which can still be seen preserved at Corpus Christi College in Cambridge. Wessex had been regained.

By 886, after many small battles with varying sizes of Danish troops, Alfred had recaptured London and, after extensive rebuilding projects as it had been burnt and looted many times, made it a predominantly Saxon city.
While the rest of Alfred's reign was not by any means peaceful, there were no threats as great as that as Guthrum had been, and so I end my recount of his reign here.

Perhaps Alfred's most important legacy is his offspring. His daughter Ethelflaed became Queen of Mercia in her own right after marrying Ethelred, Ealdorman of Mercia (who died in 910) for eight years until 918. His eldest son, Edward, became king of Wessex after Alfred's Death in 899. Edward had a son in 895, who would become Athelstan, a king who would rule over Wessex, Mercia, East Anglia, defeat the Scottish King Constantine II, subdue the Welsh and Cornish, and become the first ruler of a United Kingdom. But that is for another blog entry...