KING ALFRED THE GREAT
Born in the year 849, Alfred was the king of the West Saxons who effectively brought to an end the constant threat of Danish domination in the British Isles. He came to the throne aged twenty-two and, after establishing peace, set about bringing stability to both church and state.
He gave half of his income to founding religious houses which themselves acted as Christian centres for education, care of the sick and poor, and respite for travellers.
He attended mass daily, and he translated many Christian works into the vernacular. He evolved a legal code based on common sense and Christian mercy.
His whole life was marked by the compassion of Christ. He died on 26th October, 899.
WHY ALFRED ISN'T THE PATRON SAINT OF CAKE-MAKERS One of the best known stories about King Alfred is around cakes.
Alfred was on the run from the Vikings, taking refuge in the home of a peasant woman. She asks him to watch her cakes, baking by the fire, but distracted by his problems, he let the cakes burn. He was roundly scolded by the woman!
She seemed to frighten Alfred more than did the Vikings!
By 870 AD, all the independent Anglo-Saxon kingdoms except Wessex had been overrun by the Vikings. East Anglia, Northumbria, and Mercia had all fallen and now the Vikings were preparing to attack Wessex. Alfred and his brother, King Aethelred of the West Saxons, confronted the Vikings at the battle of Ashdown near Reading on January 8th 871. After fierce fighting, the West Saxons managed to drive the Vikings back to Reading. However that April King Aethelred died at just 22 years old, and Alfred became king.
Alfred was not in good health (it is possible he suffered from Crohn’s Disease) and the years of fighting had taken their toll. Alfred was forced to ‘buy off’ the Vikings and make peace in order to prevent them from taking control of Wessex.
On January 6th 878 the Vikings, under their king Guthrum, launched a surprise attack on Alfred’s base at Chippenham. Alfred was forced to flee with just a small company of men into the Somerset Levels. It is here that the story about the cakes is supposed to have taken place.
Alfred decided to base himself at Athelney, where he built a fortress, reinforcing the existing defences of an earlier Iron Age fort. Gathering an army of around 3000 men from Somerset, Wiltshire and West Hampshire, he attacked Guthrum and the Viking army at Edington in May 878. Alfred pursued the Danish survivors as they fled to Chippenham, where they surrendered. On 15th June, Guthrum and 30 of his men were baptised near Athelney, and at the ceremony Alfred stood as Guthrum’s godfather. Afterwards a big feast to celebrate was held at the Saxon estate at Wedmore. Guthrum’s surrender and subsequent baptism later became known as the Peace of Wedmore.
Alfred took tentative steps in establishing a navy to tackle the naval capacity of the Danes on the English coastline. As described in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, this proved successful as the ships were larger, steadier and swifter in the water, using a design inspired by the Greek and Roman warships with high sides.
In order to maintain a defence system with long-lasting effects, Alfred introduced a tax and conscription system. This was largely based on the productivity of a tenant’s landholding. The ‘hide’ as it was known was the tenant’s obligation to the community, based on the quality of the land owned. The services provided by the landowner would be judged accordingly. This kind of structure ensured security for the future of the kingdom. Similarly with the judicial system, Alfred insisted on judges with certain desirable qualities, such as being literate, having a sharp mind, a good education and astute knowledge of the law. Without such qualities, Alfred deemed them to be unworthy to serve in office.
Under Alfred's leadership, a more unified Anglo-Saxon culture was forming. He commissioned the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a vital document for the time which promoted the unification of England, but also a valuable document today allowing us to learn so much information about this period of English history. Alfred’s reforms and ideas were applied to education. Inspired by the example set by Charlemagne, he introduced court schools, a system providing a sound education not only for the nobility but also those with lesser status. He ensured the best scholars would teach in these schools, with curricula dedicated to the liberal arts. Alfred’s keen intellectual disposition was evident in the way he chose to reform, develop and improve Anglo-Saxon society under his reign.
ALFRED AND WINCHESTER: In Winchester, Alfred’s story is hugely resonant – the city was the ancient capital of England as chosen by King Alfred as the seat of power for his kingdom of Wessex.
On 26th October 899 Alfred died from unknown causes, most probably caused by poor health experienced early on in his life. Alfred left behind an extraordinary legacy, reforming the traditions and structure of early English society, maintaining peace in uncertain times and introducing structure, judicial processes and education which left a considerable cultural impact on the generations that followed.Over the last century and beyond, there have been many attempts to find Alfred the Great and identify his final resting place, but all have proved inconclusive.
King Alfred was first interred in the Anglo-Saxon cathedral in Winchester, known as the Old Minster and then moved by his son Edward the Elder to New Minster. Edward, his brother, son and grandson were also buried at New Minster. In 1110, New Minster was moved to Hyde and became Hyde Abbey. The royal burials were also moved there. In the sixteenth century, the Dissolution of the Monasteries resulted in the dismantling of Hyde Abbey, but the bodies remained 1788, a workhouse/prison was built on the site of Hyde Abbey. An eyewitness reported seeing the tombs emptied and the remains thrown about. In 1866-67, an antiquarian called John Mellor, claimed to have excavated the bones of the Wessex royal household from the site of Hyde Abbey. Mellor sold the bones to the Rector William Williams of Saint Bartholomew’s Church in Hyde, who re-interred them in the unmarked grave in the late nineteenth century. Archaeologists from the University of Winchester, led by osteoarchaeologist Dr Katie Tucker, exhumed the remains in March 2013 and found bones that came from a minimum of six individuals. Radiocarbon dates revealed the skeletons from the unmarked grave dated from about 1100 to 1500 AD, much later than Alfred’s reign. So where were the remains of King Alfred and the Wessex royal family?
THE PELVIC BONE:As part of Dr Tucker’s research she contacted the Winchester Museum Service to establish more about a community excavation that took place on the site of Hyde Abbey between 1995 and 199. This led to an unexpected development. When Dr Tucker examined remains from that excavation, she found a fragment of pelvic bone that had been found at the site of Hyde Abbey’s High Altar. Radiocarbon dating by the University of Oxford yielded a date range of AD 895 - 1017, and osteological analysis found it belonged to a man between 26 and 45+ at death. As there was no Anglo-Saxon cemetery on the site of the abbey, the most plausible explanation is that the bone belongs to King Alfred, Edward the Elder, or Æthelweard, the brother of Edward. However, as only King Alfred and Edward the Elder would have been buried at the High Altar, they are the most likely candidates.
Grant now, O Lord, to our minds,
that they may ascend to You from the difficulties of this world.
With the opened eyes of our mind may we behold You,
the noble fountain of all good.
Drive away the mist that now hangs before our mental vision,
and enlighten our eyes with Your light.
For You are the brightness of the true light.
You are the soft rest of the just.
You are the beginning of all things, and their end.
You are the path and the leader,
and the place to which the path conducts us. (A Prayer of King Alfred)
A collect for the day commemorating King Alfred
O Sovereign Lord, who brought your servant Alfred to a troubled throne
that he might establish peace in a ravaged land
and revive learning and the arts among the people:
Awake in us also a keen desire to increase our understanding whilst in this world, and an eager longing to reach that endless life where all will be made clear;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
I am indebted to Ben Johnson - Historic UK, Jessica Brain - Historic UK,
(April 2019) and The University of Winchester for the historic detail of King Alfred.
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