Alfred the Great, King of England

         Long before Charles Dickens, long before A Tale of Two Cities, it was the best the times, it was the worst of times across the isle of Britain. It was the best of times in 410 A.D. when the Roman conquerors left England, and the new immigrants from, Germany, Denmark, and northern Holland could establish farms, form communities, and elect leaders. These people, called the Anglo-Saxons, established five separate kingdoms--Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex, Kent, and East Anglia--each shire with a king, a small army, and a fleet of sailing ships for trade and defense. For 400 years these Anglo-Saxons established the foundation for the culture, language, and religion of the British Isles. Their conversion from barbarianism to Christianity made it the best of times, not just for the English but for the people of Western Europe as well. 

          It became the worst of times when, beginning in the 830s, the heathen Vikings, called Danes, invaded England and began menacing attacks on the villages all across England. The Anglo-Saxons had to develop a professional standing army with weapons and warriors as a part of Anglo-Saxon life. For hundreds of years the Vikings were unrelentless in their attacks on the people of England. They pillaged churches and monasteries, destroyed farms and entire villages, and forced the people to submit to their authority. Wessex, and all of England, was in a state of subjugation. However, the English and Vikings came to a crossroad when, in 871 A.D. at the young age of 22 and upon the death of his brother, Etheired, Alfred inherited one of the five kingdoms Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and began his reign as the king of Wessex. As a paragon of bravery and perseverance, Alfred and his soldiers, who had fought and lost many battles against the Danes, plotted a counterattack. In 878, at Edington in Wiltshire, Alfred was joined by loyal forces from three other shire towns. United, they fought fiercely and courageously against the “Great Army” of the heathen Vikings and were victorious. 

          “This battle in 878 was the turning point not only of English history, but also of early Western European history...Alfred had saved the Kingdom of England and given new hope for the survival of all Christian civilization in Western Europe. Alfred had stood alone in Europe and unaided had vanquished those who elsewhere were considered unvanquishable. He had saved Wessex and in so doing he had saved England, and in saving England, he had saved Western Europe from becoming a heathen power. A little island had given birth to a great man.”

Alfred was gaining the reputation that would later give him the title “Alfred the Great.” 

          It was once again the best of times as the Anglo-Saxons, under Alfred’s leadership, turned from war to peace. An orderly government, restoration of Christianity as the guiding moral force, and the creation of the building blocks necessary for a civilization to grow and succeed became the priorities of King Arthur. Foremost among his priorities was education. Alfred’s first edict was his proclamation to establish an educational system for the benefit all his subjects. Next he decreed English as the official language of the kingdom. The great books of the time, all written in Latin, were translated into the vernacular, many by King Alfred himself. He established a court school for the education of the country’s leaders, invited scholars to reside in England, and began the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. It was a history of the Anglo-Saxon people written to fill his subjects with patriotism, pride, and loyalty, but mainly to celebrate King Alfred, now King of all England. 

          King Alfred recognized that education alone would not, could not, turn England into a great civilization. A system of laws and their administration was needed. Therefore, he gathered and collated the governing rules from the five kingdoms of England to form a body of Anglo-Saxon law. In all these undertakings, he sought the advice and approval of an administrative council of noble and church leaders that he had formulated. To further unify the five kingdoms under Wessex leadership, Alfred coined a monetary system, one which named him “King of the English.” 

          Alfred is the only English king to be called “The Great,” and indeed he had earned the title. He was a valiant warrior who defeated a foe that for hundreds of years seemed invincible. He unified the diverse Anglo-Saxon tribes into a people known as “The English.” He made peace, not only with the Vikings but also with the surrounding kingships and countries, through treaties and trade. He established a system of laws protecting the rights of the common people centuries before the famous Magna Carta. He also promulgated the idea that a great society have an educated citizenry. Much of England today stands upon the shoulders of King Alfred of Wessex, known to all people thereafter as King Alfred the Great. (823)