BIOGRAPHY:

“Now no man is able to govern if he does not have at hand the necessary tools and means for this. For a king, such an instrument and means is a densely populated country and he must have people for prayer, people for war and people for work. Without such tools, he cannot carry out the duties assigned to him.”

It was in this way, dividing the people into those who serve God, those who fight, and those who work on the land, that King Alfred of Wessex, later nicknamed “The Great,” reflected on the duties of a Christian monarch. And such a division of society reflects not only social, but also political ideas, both of the king himself and his entourage. The formation of English national identity, like any other, is always closely connected with the image of some hero, imprinted in the historical memory of the people . And such a truly folk hero can rightfully be considered King Alfred, who devoted all his time, energy and invested considerable material resources in the emergence of the English state and by the end of the 19th century became a symbol of British national identity.

The issues of the formation of any ethnic group and its national identity are always actively discussed by both domestic and foreign experts. In particular, many researchers have repeatedly addressed the problem of the formation of the English nation, which grew up on the compost of various tribes and nationalities.
The difficult time in which the hero of this article lived was one of the most significant in the entire history of Britain, where at that time the process of active socio-political development of Anglo-Saxon society was taking place. In addition, from the end of the 8th century, Scandinavian Vikings began to fall on the entire territory of the island in incessant waves, the peak of the onslaught of which became especially strong during the reign of King Alfred.

Alfred lived during what we now know as the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of increased public interest in culture, learning and writing in Western Europe, making his reign one of the best documented of the entire Anglo-Saxon period. And it was during his reign that Wessex became the main center of state and political consolidation of the Anglo-Saxons.

There is also no doubt that Alfred’s reign was of great importance both for the direction of development of the entire country and for the further destinies of his descendants. After the other island kingdoms of Northumbria, East Anglia and Mercia succumbed to the Viking onslaught, Wessex, under the rule of King Alfred, remained the only surviving Anglo-Saxon territory.

But what was Britain like at the time of Alfred’s accession to the throne?

Britain before Alfred the Great:

The post-Roman history of Britain begins with the first half of the 5th century, when the island was finally abandoned (410) by the Roman legions and Britain became the object of conquest and then mass settlement by various Germanic tribes, rolling in waves from continental Europe, in particular from the Jutland peninsula and the territory Northern Germany, and known to us collectively as “Anglo-Saxons”.

During the relatively short period of Anglo-Saxon military invasions of Britain, the island was broken up into a large number of microscopic “kingdoms”, each with its own “king” or “sub-king”, who were in reality little more than tribal chiefs.

Eventually, from this chaotic situation, seven major kingdoms were born, and smaller “kingdoms” were incorporated into these seven major kingdoms. The so-called Heptarchy*, which translated from Greek means seven kingdoms. However, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle*, the political situation on the island was far from stable – there was a continuous series of conflicts in which various “kings” sought to seize as much land as possible and dominate their neighbors.

Already by the end of the 7th century, some Anglo-Saxon “kingdoms” had grown significantly by absorbing and incorporating other barbarian “kingdoms” – the four main kingdoms of Northumbria, East Anglia, Mercia and Wessex. In the early days, Northumbria was a great power among the other “kingdoms”, after which Mercia became more and more powerful and was completely dominant in the eighth century. King Offa of Mercia (757–796), a contemporary of Charlemagne, was particularly expansionist and quickly annexed a number of small kingdoms in the east and south of the island.

At the dawn of its early history, Wessex often fought with the neighboring “kingdom” of Mercia, which continued until the reign of Egbert (769/771–839), who, after long wars, finally conquered Mercia and annexed their lands to his possessions.

But at this time of statehood formation, external forces began to interfere with the natural course of internal development of the Anglo-Saxon “kingdoms,” which largely changed the historical development of Britain. And it was precisely the problem of attack by pagan Vikings that became the main one for all Anglo-Saxon “kingdoms”.
Against this backdrop, the “kingdom” of Wessex was another barbarian political entity in the British Heptarchy, founded in 519 by the West Saxon chieftain Cerdic* (r. 519–540) in the Upper Thames Valley.

Wessex is one of the “kingdoms” of pre-Norman England, whose ruling dynasty eventually became the kings of all of England, and later turned the warring tribes of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes into the modern English nation. And Alfred, later nicknamed “The Great”, started it all…

Start:

When Alfred was born (849), there were four other Anglo-Saxon “kingdoms” in Britain. By the time Alfred came to the throne (871), the Anglo-Saxons had been living in Britain for more than 300 years. Over time, their kings adopted Christianity as part of their power, and were especially proud of being associated with the mission of Augustine of Canterbury sent by Pope Gregory the Great from Rome in 597.

The father of the future legend of England was the West Saxon king Aethelwulf (r. 839–858), which can be translated from Old English as “Noble Wolf.” Aethelwulf had six children, the youngest of whom was Alfred, born in Oxfordshire. As the youngest child in the family and last in line to the throne, it was unlikely that Alfred (the “council of elves”) would ever ascend to the throne and rule his kingdom. Alfred was still a young boy when his father died in 858, leaving Alfred’s older brothers in control of Wessex.

In describing Alfred’s childhood and youth, as in many other things, Alfred’s biographers rely mainly on the testimony of a court biographer, trusted and close to him, Bishop John Asser, who left his descendants with a description of him in an essay – in the “Chronicle of the deeds of Alfred the Great.”

This is how John Asser begins his description of Alfred’s biography:

“In the year of our Lord 849, in the royal estate of Wantage, situated in the district known as Berkshire, named after the forest of Burrock, in which boxwood grows in abundance, Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, was born.”

In 853, King Ethelwulf went to Rome with great triumph, taking with him his youngest son, whom he loved even more than other sons, and then lived for some time at the court of the ruler of the West Frankish state and grandson of Charlemagne – Charles the Bald, where he was given an honorable reception and lived there for a whole year.

After the death of King Æthelwulf in 858, he was successively succeeded on the throne by his three eldest sons, the last of whom, Æthelred, died from his wounds in a battle with the Danes *; his brother Alfred ascended to the Wessex throne in 871 and began to rule as the head of the Saxon kingdom .

Head of the Saxon Kingdom:

John Asser, Alfred’s first biographer, reports that Alfred

“proceeded to govern the whole kingdom immediately after the death of his brother, in accordance with the divine will and according to the unanimous desire of all the inhabitants of the kingdom.”

In the twenty-third year of his life, immediately starting from the time the last of the older brothers died, the whole burden of state duties fell on the shoulders of the young ruler, along with the royal title.
With the acquisition of power for the new ruler of Wessex, the first difficulties began.

About a month after his accession to the throne, young Alfred was once again faced with an army of Danes*, which was now already in the ancestral lands of Wessex, and this all showed that the military situation in Alfred’s dominions was beginning to deteriorate.

On a note. John Spelman* (1594–1643), a British politician and biographer of Alfred, gives the following characterization of the Vikings tormenting England: “And from that time on the shores of the Baltic Sea and other coastal regions poured out streams of people so abundantly, both into England and into the western part France and Spain, that all coastal lands were devastated by frequent raids by the Danes, Norwegians, residents of Gotland, Swedes, Frisians and others, who in England were designated by the collective name “Dans”. The battle between Alfred’s army and the Danes who found themselves within Wessex turned out to be extremely long and bloody , his young “king” lost. But here it should be noted that the decisive role in the defeat of the Anglo-Saxon army, apparently, was played by the numerical superiority of the Danes, which meant that the defeat of the Anglo-Saxons in this battle destroyed all Alfred’s hopes for the complete expulsion of the Danes from the territory of Wessex by force of arms.

After such a defeat, it was necessary to negotiate with the Danish invaders, and Alfred most likely had to pay some kind of indemnity for the respite given to him. The sources that have reached us do not say anything about the terms of the peace agreement, but the Danes nevertheless agreed to leave the territory of Wessex, and in the fall of 871 they went on a winter holiday to London.

The most difficult thing for Alfred was that this bloody massacre did not bring him any closer to irrevocable victory, and the economic and military forces of the “kingdom” were almost at their end.

In addition, Viking raids greatly contributed to the decline of culture in his state and increased financial costs of the war with the Vikings. This problem confronting Alfred required an immediate solution…

Solution:

Taking advantage of the five-year peaceful respite with the Danes, Alfred focused all his attention on the internal affairs of the state, beginning to revive the economy, which was dying out from endless wars with the Danes, and carry out military reform, which was supposed to prepare his “kingdom” for a new and inevitable clash with the Vikings. After such a defeat Anglo-Saxons from the Danes, neither Alfred nor his time are mentioned in the Chronicles until 875, when Viking ships again appeared off the coast of Wessex. It was at this time that King Alfred took his newly built fleet, secretly from the Vikings, out to sea to fight the enemy ships, where one of the Danish ships was captured and the rest were driven off the coast. After which, the shores of Wessex ceased to be subject to destructive Viking raids even after his death.

During the period of peaceful respite, in preparation for the upcoming war with the pagan Danes, Alfred carried out a complete reorganization of the entire military system of the state, which he had inherited from previous rulers, based on seasonal military campaigns and limited to just one general battle. Alfred’s new reform adapted the army to fight a new enemy.

The result of the reform was a system of dividing the country into military districts, consisting of an extensive system of fortresses (burghs), which formed a dense line of communications for Wessex. The burgh system was intended to prevent Viking penetration into the interior of the country and was undoubtedly borrowed from Charlemagne on the continent. The construction of new fortresses and the maintenance of those previously built by Alfred was equally entrusted to all his subjects, including the nobility and clergy.
The construction of the burg began with the restoration of defensive structures remaining from the old Roman fortifications. During the entire reign of Alfred, more than thirty burghs were built on the territory of Britain, located at a distance of no more than 32 kilometers from each other (a day’s march), and if necessary, the garrisons located in the burghs could provide assistance to each other and act harmoniously with mobile troops. Moreover, in the event of Viking attacks, these well-fortified burgh towns provided refuge to the Anglo-Saxon rural population, who lived within a radius of 24 kilometers from each fortified city. All burghs built are known to us thanks to the Burghal Hidage *, which dates back to the reign of the son of Alfred the Great – Edward the Elder. After Alfred’s death, further construction of the burghs was continued by his son. Thus, the military reforms to strengthen the defenses of the “kingdom”, carried out by Alfred the Great and further continued by his son, became a serious response to the Scandinavian threat, ensuring the peace and prosperity of Wessex until the very beginning of the 11th century , when the entire built system of burgs began to decline, as a result of the transformation of burgs from fortified fortresses into trading cities.

Alfred’s military reforms protected his land and his people and enhanced his reputation as a successful military leader. After his death, Alfred left a throne to his children and grandchildren much more secure and secure than he had received it from his father and brothers, so that his son and grandchildren were able in time to benefit from his achievements and subsequently became kings of all England.

Viking War:

The Viking leader Guthrum (ruler of East Anglia, 880–890) refused to comply with the agreements with the Anglo-Saxons and again in 878 attacked Wessex, completely capturing the “kingdom” and subjugating most of its population, while Alfred managed to escape, where he with a small the detachment found refuge in the marshy areas of Somerset.

With the support of local residents, Alfred continued to wage war with the Danes, making military forays and calling on the people to war, but after the Vikings marched throughout Wessex with fire and sword, dealing with poorly organized units of the Anglo-Saxons, the entire “kingdom” was gripped by horror, and no one could provide organized resistance to the invaders.

In the battle with the Vikings, Alfred’s fyrd used an old tactic known to the Roman infantry, called the “shield wall”. The warriors’ shields were positioned in such a way that they created a solid, dense wall. In a fierce battle that lasted all day, Alfred’s army exhausted the Danes, and they, pursued by the Anglo-Saxons, locked themselves in the fortress of Chippenham (Wiltshire), where, after two weeks of starvation, they sued for peace.

Let’s return again to Alfred’s biographer John Asser:

“The next morning he led his party to a place called Edington. There, having lined up the people in battle formation, the king bravely and stubbornly fought against the entire pagan army, and, by the will of above, won.
In that battle, many pagans fell, and the king pursued the retreating ones to their very fortress, striking them as they ran, after which he captured all the people who did not have time to hide, and immediately killed them, and took the horses and cattle for himself. His army camped near the fortress…”

Being a realist, Alfred realized that he would never be able to expel the Danes from the rest of England and the best he could hope for was to more firmly unite and strengthen his current possessions. Under the terms of the peace agreement known as the Treaty of Wedmore, Alfred retained his native Wessex, Kent, Sussex and part of Mercia. At the same time, the leader of the Danes, Guthrun, agreed to withdraw to the territory already under their control – Northumbria, East Anglia, part of Mercia, Essex and London. From that time on, England was divided between the Danes and King Alfred, and Denlo was established in territory controlled by the Danes.

In addition, under the terms of the agreement, the Viking leader Guthrum agreed to convert to Christianity, where he was baptized in Wedmore (Somerset County), and Alfred, in order to further cement the agreement, became his godfather…

Further Viking threats were averted by ongoing reform of the military organization, for Alfred knew only too well that his victory would be completely meaningless unless he backed it up with measures to further strengthen the territory under his control.

In practice, the agreement concluded at Wedmore between the “king” of Wessex and the leader of the Danes turned out to be extremely fragile, because Guthrum was not able to completely stop new Viking raids on England. The raids continued throughout the 80s of the 9th century, but these raids were local, and their scale could not be compared with the devastation brought by the combined forces of the Danes under the leadership of Guthrum.

In addition, Alfred declared himself the protector of all Christians from the pagan Vikings and began the gradual liberation of nearby territories from Viking control, thereby laying the foundation for the future unity of England, which would occur under his son Edward and his grandchildren, who annexed the remaining Viking territories in the east and north. Britain, so that by the middle of the 10th century England began to be governed for the first time as a single country. After concluding an unstable peace with the Danes, Alfred continued to bite off small pieces of territory from them, but there is almost nothing in the documents that have reached us about this. This is what A.G. Glebov writes in his book “Alfred the Great and England of His Time”:

“In particular, if not for an accidental mention in the dating of one of the letters, we would never have known that in 882 the king was on a campaign near Epsom, in Surry. Even Alfred’s larger military enterprises of this period are shrouded in a cloud of uncertainty. For example, some Chronicles lists in passing
mention Alfred’s successful siege of London in 883, but say nothing about whom he was besieging or what provoked the hostilities.”

Alfred’s administrative reforms:

You can read about the internal structure of the royal court from Alfred’s close associate and his most trusted confidant, Bishop John Asser, where he reports that the king, and he is already referred to as Rex Anglorum (and not Saxonum rex, as before), not only collected for the court educated men from all over England, but also invited them from abroad, involving them, in addition to educational activities, also in public administration. At the same time, service at the king’s court became permanent.

Around the end of the 880s, Alfred published a long code of laws (the Book of Destiny), consisting of 120 chapters – this is exactly the age of Moses when he died, moreover, this figure (120) in the numerical symbolism of early medieval biblical interpreters meant the law . In this new code of laws, Alfred streamlined the three existing Saxon codes (Wessex, Mercian and Kentish), to which he added the Ten Commandments of Moses and included the rules of life from the Code of Moses. Asser in his Chronicle draws special attention to the king’s concern for fair justice in his kingdom. Alfred, according to Asser, insisted on the review of contested decisions made by the royal reeve and “carefully examined almost all the decisions that were made in his absence anywhere in the kingdom, to determine whether they were just or unjust.” His victory over the Vikings and expansion of his kingdom gave Alfred the feeling that he was specially destined for such a high position. With the help of advisers from other English regions, Wales and France, Alfred studied and translated from Latin into Old English some of the works that were at that time considered models for the ideal Christian monarch. Characterizing Alfred’s personality, domestic researcher A. G. Glebov notes:

“This man was unshakably convinced that all his labors, victories and defeats were predetermined by the Lord, and that he was God’s chosen one and the executor of His commands.”

Science and culture:

After making peace with the Vikings and having partly put an end to the immediate need to defend his country from the Scandinavian danger and further strengthening his power, Alfred the Great was able to concentrate on more peaceful affairs in his kingdom and began to engage in cultural affairs that were not entirely characteristic of the warrior kings of the early Middle Ages. Long military clashes with the Scandinavians and their plunder of English monasteries led not only to their gradual loss of their former cultural significance, but even to a partial loss of elementary literacy.

Trying to assess the cultural state of the kingdom, Alfred wrote:

“There were few people this side of the Humber* who could understand the service in English or translate what was written from Latin into English. And I think that beyond the Humber there were not too many of them. And there were so few of them that I cannot remember a single person south of the Thames when I began to rule this kingdom.” Alfred, from early childhood, loved knowledge and books and always showed a genuine interest in science and education. And he once even declared: “There is nothing better in a person than knowledge, and there is nothing worse than ignorance.”

As power strengthened, Alfred’s associates began to become prominent and educated people of that time, not only from England, but also from continental Europe, who were attracted to the service not only by rich royal fees and promises of high government positions, but also by the king’s serious plan for revival of culture and education.

And here we cannot fail to mention John Asser himself, the king’s biographer, who arrived at the king’s court from the Abbey of St. David in Wells and became Alfred’s closest confidant.

Taking a keen personal interest in the production of texts in his native Old English, Alfred commissioned a series of translations into that language of important Latin works (the “books of wisdom”) and apparently commissioned the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which recorded major historical events in Old English, beginning with the invasion of Julius Caesar’s Roman legions into Britain in 54 BC. e. before the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons, including Alfred’s early ancestors Cerdic and Cynric, on the island in the 5th century.

There is still heated debate among researchers as to whether Alfred himself translated some books into Old English or simply patronized the translators. But it is still believed that he himself translated the “Pastoral Care” of Pope Gregory I the Great, the “Philosophical Consolation” of the late Roman theologian Boethius, the “Monologues of St. Augustine” by Bishop Aurelius Augustine and the first fifty psalms of the Psalter.

On a note. Many centuries later, during the spread of Protestantism, Alfred, as a deeply religious king interested in the promotion and use of the English language, became an ideal figure for the emerging English Protestant church. The works he translated into Old English were interpreted by Protestant adherents as evidence of the pure and true Anglo-Saxon Church before it was corrupted by the false Catholicism introduced by the visiting Normans.

Return of the Vikings:

By 890 (the exact date is unknown), the ruler of East Anglia, the guarantor of the peace treaty at Wedmore and Alfred’s godson Guthrum dies, and Hasting (Haesten), who is not inclined to comply with the terms of the Wedmore peace, becomes the new leader of the Danes.

Death and burial:

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports very little about the last years of the reign of Alfred the Great after his defeat of the Scandinavians. The only thing we know is that he died on October 26, 899 at the age of 50 (51?) years, of which he occupied the throne of Wessex for twenty-eight and a half years.

Although the circumstances of his death are unknown, throughout his life he suffered from some unpleasant intestinal disease. Alfred’s biographer and close associate Asser gave a detailed description of the symptoms of the disease, which allowed modern doctors to make a possible diagnosis – he had either Crohn’s disease or hemorrhoids.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us:

“This year, six days before All Saints’ Day, Alfred, son of Aethelwulf, died. He was king of all the English people, except those who were under the Danes.”

Some of his remains rest in peace in the city of Winchester (Hampshire), but today the exact location of his other remains is unknown, because after his death they were moved from one cathedral to another at least twice.