ALFRED THE GREAT
(c849-c900)
After the Romans left in 410 AD, Britain was invaded by the Scots of Ireland and the Picts of Scotland. The Britons invited the Angles from Denmark and the Saxons from just south of Denmark to help them, but they came and took over large swathes of land. The Angles settled in East Anglia, the Saxons in Sussex/Essex and the Jutes, who came from northern Denmark settled in Kent. The Angles took over most land and it is through them that we get the name England. So, for four hundred years the Britons, Angles and Saxons competed for space.
In 495 Cerdic and Cynric, Saxons, invaded and settled in Hampshire. Their settlement grew into Westsexe (the west place of the Saxons), later called Wessex. These were the ancestors of Alfred the Great. In 597 Augustine arrived in Kent in order to get the Celtic Church to bow the knee to Rome. He had limited success, but he was able to convert quite a number of Saxons.
In 787 the Vikings started to plunder the Eastern and Southern coastland.
Alfred was born around 849 in Wantage, he was the youngest son of Ethelwulf, King of Wessex. Wessex at the time extended from Exeter in the west to near Canterbury in the east and from the Thames in the north to the Isle of Wight in the south. Ethelwulf had four sons and two daughters.
Alfred’s brothers, all who became king before him were, Ethelbald, Ethelbert and Ethelred. Ethelwulf became king in 839 and he soon fought three bloody battles against the Danes (Vikings) at Rochester, Canterbury and London. They must have been successful because the Danes stayed away from 841-851. They returned in 851 to sack London and Canterbury. Ethelwulf had a great victory at Okley. The Danes were so defeated that they did not return until after Ethelwulf’s death. It was Ethelwulf who first named the country England.
In 854 he published a charter for the Saxons which was adopted by all the co-related nations, which gave a tenth of each manor as a tithe to the Church. This was probably the start of the State Church in England.
In 853 Alfred went with the Bishop of Winchester (the future St Swithin) to Rome to see the Pope, a dangerous journey of about three months. It seems surprising that a child of only four would make such a journey – perhaps his birth date is wrong. The Pope anointed Alfred as a future king. Two years later Ethelwulf took Alfred again to Rome where they remained for a year. It was probably Ethelwulf and Alfred who started the idea of honouring the Pope and giving significant sums of money to the Papacy. This practice only ended when Henry VIII separated from Rome.
On the return journey through France, they stopped to visit the French king in Paris and Ethelwulf married Judith, the daughter of Charles the Bald who was only about twelve years old (Alfred’s mother must have died).
Ethelwulf died in 857, leaving most of his estates jointly to his three sons and his daughter, Ethelswistha received a smaller estate. Ethelbald married his step-mother soon after his father’s death, which was against the laws of the Church and caused a scandal. The Bishop of Winchester arranged for her to return to her father’s court. However, Ethelbald only lived three years after his father’s death and he was mourned by many as an outstanding warrior.
Ethelbert only lived five years after succeeding his brother. They were years of clashes with the Danes. Ethelred was appointed king by the “Witan” or the “Great Council of Wessex.” Alfred was seventeen on his brother’s succession and that year several thousand Danes landed in East Anglia and going north, took York. They settled there for a time and then marched south, taking Nottingham. Then the king of Mercia, the kingdom north of Wessex, who had married Alfred’s sister, asked for help. Ethelred and Alfred joined up with the army of Mercia and they re-took Nottingham.
The Danes went east, pillaging as they went for about two years. Coming to East Anglia they captured the Christian king, Edmund. They tied him naked to a tree and whipped him. He was told he had to deny Jesus and serve under the Danes. He refused, so they shot arrows at him and then beheaded him. St Edmund was a godly and brave man.
During this time Ethelred prepared his Saxons for battle. In 871, Alfred led the army with Ethelred and they came against the Danes near Reading. Ethelred, preparing for battle at Ashdown, spent time in his tent praying, he was still there when Alfred led the army uphill to victory.
It was an important victory, but within a couple of weeks there was a battle at Basing and then one at Morton where Ethelred was killed. These were both victories, but not substantial ones. Alfred became king at 22 years old. He did not think he had the capacity for the job, but he was persuaded and the Archbishop of Canterbury crowned him. But what a dangerous time for him to be king!
Alfred was most likely taught to read and write, hunting and the military arts. He was studious, thoughtful and brave. He was said to have been generous, extraordinarily cheerful and affable, but he had an undefined illness all his life. He was evidently more handsome than his brothers, was an excellent listener and had an amazing memory. He had been married for two years on his succession, to Elswitha who was a descendent of the kings of Mercia.
There was another battle which the Danes won and after nine battles in a year, the overall victor was still unknown. Another victory by the Danes could have meant their overcoming Wessex. Alfred decided to make peace with his enemy, to give him time to think and rebuild his army. The Danes were to leave Wessex and Alfred would give them some money in compensation. This gained Alfred comparative quiet from 872 to 875. In that time the Danes took over Mercia and Alfred’s brother-in-law had to flee to Rome, where he died. By 876 they had taken over Northumbria and had started to farm the land, putting roots down.
Since the days of the Briton’s the Saxons had not maintained a fleet. Alfred realised that it would be difficult to defeat his enemy, who had so many ships, without a fleet, so he built one during this time of peace. Converted Danes taught the Saxons how to build a ship and about seamanship. Alfred’s first battle with his small navy, was against seven Danish vessels. He captured one and the rest fled.
Over the next two years the Danes harassed the south coast. They brought a large fleet to attack Wessex, but a big storm came up and scattered them (England has been saved several times in our history by God sending a storm to scatter our enemies.) Alfred’s fleet finished off what was left of them. The Danes lost 120 ships. As a result, there was another truce and the Danes moved away to Mercia.
Then suddenly, they were back with thirty ships off the coast of Hampshire. The men entered Wessex and for the first time Alfred’s army faltered. It is not quite known what happened, but it is thought that there was treachery and/or his men were tired of fighting and deserted him. The result was Alfred disappearing to Athelney from January to May 878. He fortified a very small area in the Somerset marshes and waited and planned. During this time some stories have come down through history, including him burning the cakes, but they are probably myths.
The word went out that Alfred was still alive and his men came back together and made oaths of fealty to him at Brixton, which was twenty-five miles east of Athelney. Within days he fought the battle of Edington and crushed the Danes, killing about a thousand of them. The Danish king, Guthrum, who had made and broken several peace treaties with Alfred, retreated to the river Avon where he was surrounded and he sued for peace, declaring that he was ready to become a Christian. At Aller, Alfred became Guthrum’s godfather at his baptism and he gave his foe the name of Athelstan. It was agreed that the Danes would go and settle in East Anglia and govern it as a Danish kingdom.
The treaty only consisted of about 250 words. The first words were: "Alfred and Guthrum's Peace: This is the peace that King Alfred and King Guthrum, and the Witan of all the English nation and all the people that are in East Anglia, have all ordained and with oaths confirmed for themselves and their descendants, as well for born as unborn, who reck of God's mercies or of ours."
The Danes and the Englishmen were to have equal justice. Alfred understood that the longstanding enmity between the two peoples would continue in some way, so he declared that communication between the two would continue. The treaty set out the boundaries, the penalties for manslaughter and certain warranties. By it Alfred was established as king of the whole of England south of the Thames, and of Essex south of the river Lea, and of nearly the whole of Mercia. It left the north-eastern part of present-day England to the Danes. Unlike many truces, this one held. It is possible that Alfred’s military prowess, the clear passion he had for Jesus and the generosity of his character, had a significant impact on Guthrum.
Immediately, Alfred began to fortify his domains. There had been no forts or walled towns, so Alfred started to build them. He built fortresses (burhs, many of which later became boroughs) all over his domain, he fortified towns and built bridges. There were 33 burhs about nineteen miles apart, that enabled the army to confront attackers anywhere in the kingdom. You can still see a part of his fortifications at Wallingford. There were several towns that did not fortify in time for the next Dane attack. The authority of the king in those days was not total by any means.
London had been ceded to him in the treaty, so he re-built it in 886. He gathered in masons from all over, who were mainly foreigners and in a few months the town looked prosperous again. Winchester was his capital, but it was king Canute, 100+ years later who made London the capital.
Meanwhile Alfred continued to build ships and bigger ones, ones that were twice as big as those of the Danes, sometimes with sixty oars, as there were often Danes who wanted to break the treaty.
Besides this Alfred built up his army and made it more efficient. This was just as well as there were still challenges ahead. During fifteen years of peace, Alfred’s influence had expanded as both Mercia and much of Wales had put their territories under Alfred’s protection. But then suddenly, a Danish King, Hastings, withdrew from attacking France and sailed over to Kent with 330 ships, and they attacked Alfred for three years.
Alfred marched against the Danes, and Hastings, realising he would be unable to beat Alfred in a pitched battle, decided on a different plan. For a peace he offered money, hostages as surety and his two sons would be baptised. While negotiating, a force broke away and attacked the Wessex countryside. Alfred routed them and they sued for peace, but then Hastings resumed hostilities. Alfred won a battle at Exeter and another in Essex, where he captured Hastings’ treasury and family, so he too sued for peace. After this, Hastings went to France and ended up as Lord of Chârtres.
Some of Hasting’s men remained to cause trouble, but by 896 Alfred had routed all the forces in his kingdom and there was peace.
Most Saxons lived in small wooden huts with a hole in the roof to let out the smoke from any fire. Occasionally, there was a second floor, access to which was from the outside. They cooked a lot and ate much and often. There were no chairs, they sat at the table on stools or benches. Dishes were made of bone, horn or wood. They drank strong liquors and a lot of it. It was probably the Saxons that introduced drinking to excess to the country and unfortunately, we are still doing it. How much they loved drinking can be seen by the artistic work they put on their drinking horns. They often decorated them with silver or gold. Tables were covered with large cloths that were also used as napkins.
As to dress, the men wore a tunic of wool in the winter and linen in the summer; it went down to the knees and they wore a belt. The women wore a tunic of linen with tight sleeves and the wealthy used a lot of embroidery. Men and women wore jewellery. The women were very skilled at needlework.
At this time there was not much farming. This was partly because of the long years of war, but also about 80% of the land was covered by forests.
The men would wear their hair long and they tended to have forked beards. Many were tattooed. The main foods they ate were fish, meat, eggs, butter, cheese, beans, flour, herbs, honey and salt.
They went to war with broad swords, short daggers, round shields of hide rimmed with metal and helmets of hide. Polygamy was not unknown.
Alfred died around 900. How and where he died is unknown, as is the place of his burial. His body was moved from its original ground to Hyde Abbey which he built, but it is likely that his bones were dug up either during the abolition of the monasteries, or when a prison was built there in the eighteenth century.
Interestingly, Alfred freed all his slaves in his will. He was succeeded by the eldest of his two sons, Edward.
Ever since he was in Rome, Alfred was very religious, a strong Catholic. His faith in God and the Church never failed. A hundred years before, society, learning and the Church all had a good reputation, but since then it had fallen away rapidly. When Alfred came to the throne the behaviour of the monks was dreadful and something needed to be done. He built a couple of monasteries, but he really concentrated on the morals and education of the clergy, rather than the organisation of the Church.
He required both Church and State to have jurisdiction over criminals. For every crime there was a prescribed penalty, normally financial and normally based on Biblical principles, and the moral failing was dealt with by the Church. Alfred supported the Church financially and the poor and needy. He was often found kneeling before the altar. He brought up his children with a profound dependence on the faithfulness and love of God. He gave God half his time and in order to do this he invented candles that burned for four hours. Because of wind blowing out the candles he then invented the lantern. He gave half his income to the Church.
Some sayings of Alfred that show his character. Near his death Alfred wrote to Edward: “I pray thee, for thou art my dear child, strive to be a father and a lord to thy people; be thou the children's father, and the widow's friend; comfort thou the poor and shelter the weak, and with all thy might right that which is wrong. And my son, govern thyself by law, then shall the Lord love thee, and God above all things shall be thy reward. Call thou upon Him to advise thee in all thy need, and so He shall help thee the better to compass that which thou wouldest."
"Power is never a good, unless he be good that has it; so it is the good of the man, not of the power.”
“By wisdom you may come to power, though you should not desire the power. You need not be solicitous about power, nor strive after it. If you be wise and good, it will follow you, though you should not wish it.”
Alfred reformed the courts. For instance, he established Shire Courts over which the Ealdorman (later they were known as Earls) of the Shire presided. He was judge, advisor to the king, executive and military leader of the Shire. The Sheriff was his deputy and head of the finances of the Shire. Alfred set up different levels of judges around the country.
Every Englishman had to belong to a hundred, tything or guild or he was an outlaw. Every householder had to hold a list of his servants. Should a crime be committed within the tything, the head man had to come up with the perpetrator within a certain number of days. The headman plus two leading men, might get the headman and two leading men from the three adjoining tythings, making twelve men in all, and they all would swear that they were innocent of any knowledge of the crime or the flight. This would clear the original tything otherwise they had to pay the requisite fine. Also, every member of the tything had to swear an oath that they would bring the criminal to trial if found. The same system applied to the guilds in the towns.
This system was most effective. One writer said, “This mutual liability, or suretyship, was the pivot of all Alfred's administrative reforms. It was an old system known by the common name of frank-pledge, but now new life was put into it by the King, and in a short time it worked a very remarkable change in the whole of his kingdom. Merchants and others could go about their affairs without guards of armed men. The forests were emptied of their outlaws, kinless men and Danes, and left to the cow-herds and swine-herds, and their charges."
It was underlined that oaths/pledges must be kept. This applied particularly to contracts, which had to be enforced as a foundation of order. The upholding of authority of lords over their men was crucial. “He who plots against the life of his lord shall forfeit his life to him and all he possesses.” The people should respect their lords and the lords their monarch. Obeying the monarch was of course very important for the peace of society. Respect for the monarch came about, in part, by how much the monarch kept the judges in line to ensure fair and equitable decisions. Alfred would check on his judges regularly to make sure this was happening.
Sale of property was very simple. A key handed over gave one the right to possess the house. A turf cut from the land and handed to the purchaser was the conveyance of the land. These actions were witnessed, but so great was the respect for the law that nothing else was needed. After Alfred’s time someone wrote that a woman could walk anywhere in the kingdom without any problem. Also, that if a traveller dropped his purse on the road, he could come back the next day and it would still be there. These were probably just tales, but it showed how the law was respected at that time.
Under Alfred the justice was for all, rich and poor alike and Christianity was recognised as containing the law of God. He codified the law, bringing together laws from the past, but also bringing in laws that were directly copied from the Bible. The reason for this was that much of the previous law originated from their pagan past. His codified law began with The Ten Commandments and included much more from Old and New Testaments. Alfred’s laws were strict by necessity, but also they were carried out with charity and mercy.
Alfred wrote about which old laws he included in his codification. “…But such ordinances as I found, either in the time of my kinsman Ina, or of Offa, King of the Mercians, or of Ethelbert, who received baptism in England — such as seemed to me rightest I have collected here, and the rest I have let drop." His attitude towards the law was, ‘do unto others what you would want them to do unto you.’
So, the early laws of Great Britain were deeply rooted in the laws of God. Such a blessing for the nation, although you would hardly recognise that today.
Alfred had a great love of learning. He lamented the illiteracy in the kingdom. He wrote "learning had declined so thoroughly in England that there were very few men on this side of the Humber who could understand their divine services in English or even translate a single letter from Latin into English: and I suppose that there were not many beyond the Humber either." This decline no doubt happened as a result of all the attacks by the Danes over many years. They destroyed libraries in many places (a great loss for historians of these days).
When he came to the throne the only books in the kingdom were in Latin which few understood, including the priests. He was therefore determined to write books in the people’s language so that they could learn as well. He gathered scholars from home and abroad and put them in schools and monasteries so they could continue their studies and educate the people. One such man was Asser, who was a monk in St David’s, whom he employed in his court. Asser wrote the first biography of Alfred in 893, but it was not published until after Alfred’s death.
Alfred’s first translation was a well known history of the world, which covered history until around 412 AD. An early 20th Century worthy wrote that Alfred was the only monarch who wrote books for the good of his people rather than for his own glory. That in his methods his scientific accuracy and his aims, he was centuries ahead of his time. Next, he translated Bede’s History and many other translations from Latin to English followed. He would read these books and with the help of the learned men around him, fully understand them and then translate them. He would then give a copy to each of his bishops.
At some point Alfred edited the ‘Saxon Chronicles’ which was a history of England. Then he wrote his ‘Proverbs’ which were handed down the ages to pass on his wisdom.
Alfred hated the immorality of his people, so he utilised the power of the state to uphold morality. It is likely that Alfred’s passion for his people to be educated and know English, led to that language being so entrenched in the nation that when William the Conqueror took over England, the French language did not replace English.
He began a school attached to the palace where the children of his nobles and others were educated. He even got his nobles educating themselves. Alfred was also keen to educate, “all the youth now of England of free men….until they are able to read English and writing well.” And he encouraged monks to learn, leading by example.
Someone wrote, “Selecting the best religious, historical and philosophical writings extant in his time — all of them, or nearly all, in Latin — he made them over into the speech of his people, and under his clear mind and quaint style they were re-bourgeoned into beauty. Amid great pressure of public business he still took time, as did Gladstone after him, to study out the most intricate problems connected with morals, duty, civic themes, the human soul and its destiny, and, after mastering them, gave them to the world in new colourings. No king before him, no king after him, did more than Alfred for the human race. Greater praise than this it is unnecessary to give, less praise would not be his due.”
Scholars throughout history have sung Alfred’s praises. Florence of Worcester wrote around 1200, “Alfred, King of the Anglo-Saxons… the famous, the warlike, the victorious; the careful provider for the widow, the helpless, the orphan and the poor, the most skilled of Saxon poets, most dear to his own nation, courteous to all, most liberal; endowed with prudence, fortitude, justice and temperance; most patient in the infirmity from which he continually suffered, the most discerning investigator in executing justice, most watchful and devout in the service of God.”
Edward A Freeman (1823-1892) wrote, "Alfred... is the most perfect character in history... No other man on record has ever so thoroughly united all the virtues, both of the ruler and of the private man. In no other man on record were so many virtues disfigured by so little alloy. A saint without superstition, a scholar without ostentation, a warrior all of whose wars were fought in the defence of his country, a conqueror whose laurels were never stained by cruelty, a prince never cast-down by adversity, never lifted up to insolence in the day of triumph — there is no other name in history to compare with his."
One other describes very well what we need today. Sir Walter Besant wrote in 1899: “From time to time in history — generally in some time of great doubt and trouble or in some time when the old ideals are in danger of being forgotten or in some time when the nation seems to be losing the sense of duty and of responsibility — there appears one, man or woman, who restores the better spirit of the people by his example, by his preaching, by his self-sacrifice, by his martyrdom. He is the prophet as priest, the prophet as king, the prophet as law-giver. There passes before us a splendid procession of men and women who have thus restored a nation or raised the fallen ideals… But the greatest figure of them all — the most noble, — is that of the Ninth Century Alfred, King of that little country which you have upon your map. There is none like Alfred in the whole page of history: none with a record altogether so blameless: none so wise: none so human…”
Taken from, “Alfred the Great,” by A Van Doren Honeyman, published in 1905.