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When he was born in 849 in Wantage, Oxfordshire, Alfred’s father, King AEthelwulf, had been on the throne for ten years.
He was from Royal stock and his grandfather had ruled as king from 802
He reigned as King of Wessex from 871 to 899, becoming king at around the age of 22 (though his date of birth is disputed), dying about 28 years later at the age of 50.
To place him in context, Alfred reigned around 1,140 years ago.
He inherited the throne from his older brother AEthelred, who in turn had inherited it from his two older brothers AEthelbald and later AEthelberht. You can watch our previous video if you’re interested in learning about them.
Alfred’s reign was defined by the years he spent fighting off the Great Heathen Army, an alliance of Vikings from Scandinavia and he’s great achievement was preventing them from seizing all of England and becoming the dominant king in England.
Not only that, he was an cultured man who believed in the importance of education.
Alfred was the youngest of six children, so it probably seemed unlikely that he would ever be king.
When he was about six or seven Alfred accompanied his father - King AEthelwulf - on a year-long pilgrimage to Rome, where he was anointed by the Pope.
AEthelwulf left his son AEthelbald in charge of his kingdom, but when they returned in 856, AEthelbald refused to stand down.
To avoid civil war, AEthelwulf appears to have accepted this arrangement, which remained in place until his passing in 858.
AEthelbald lasts just two more years and is succeeded by Alfred’s other brother AEthelberht, who reigns for around five years, followed by another older brother AEthelred, who reigns for another five years.
At the start of AEthelred’s reign in around 866, Alfred would have been around 16 or 17 years old and fights alongside his older sibling against the Viking invaders, whose Great Heathen Army mentioned earlier started their invasion campaign roughly the same year.
By late 870, early 871, Alfred and his brother face the Vikings in a series of skirmishes - defeating them at the Battle of Ashdown, but losing others.
By April 871 Alfred is king - though AEthelred has sons, the brothers have agreed that whichever brother survived would inherit their father’s possessions.
Initially Alfred was forced to try make peace with the invaders, though this didn’t last.
By 878 Alfred is in Chippenham, celebrating Christmas. But soon after the Vikings deliver a surprise attack. Alfred and a small party escaped and made their way to the Somerset marshes.
According the legend, it was at this point that Alfred - on the run as it were - is supposedly given shelter by a peasant woman. Unaware of who he is, she asks him to watch over some cakes she has in her oven. Alfred is so preoccupied with his kingdom’s problems though, the cakes burn and he’s scolded by the peasant woman.
It’s no surprise he was preoccupied - by 878, all Anglo-Saxon kingdoms had been defeated by the Vikings and only Wessex stood alone … and Wessex was on the run.
But Alfred had a plan. In Easter of 878 he conducted a campaign of guerrilla warfare against the Danes and routed them at the Battle of Erdington, then forced the Danish king Guthrum to convert to Christianity.
Within eight years Alfred had re-established himself to a sufficient extent that he was able to negotiate a treaty with the invaders, which divided England up into Danish territory - the bit that became Danelaw - and he rest, which meant that Alfred gained control of West Mercia and Kent.
In around 886AD, Alfred adopted the title King of the Anglo-Saxons, effectively the ruler of all Anglo-Saxons not subject to Danish rule.
Alfred spent the remainder of his life building up Wessex’s defences and building a navy to prevent further Danish incursions.
Besides saving the Anglo-Saxons from complete annihilation, Alfred is also renowned for his belief in the power of education. In his 30s he learned Latin and used his new skills to help translate several books into Old English.
Alfred died in 899 at around the age of 50 having suffered throughout his life from an unknown illness. He was buried at his capital, Winchester.
Around 650 years after his passing, historians gave him the title Alfred the Great, on account of his achievements.
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