Alfred the Great Rules England

Alfred the Great was not originally named “Great” until later in history. He ruled England (871-889) and was the first “King of the West Saxons” to style himself “King of the Anglo-Saxons”. At the age of four he was anointed as king by the Pope in Rome (remember that doesn’t mean he had a coronation, they were just preparing, as they expected him to be king someday). When he was king his reign didn’t start off that great because the Danes started to invade Wessex. The Danes were very strong at this time. Fortunately, Alfred did defeat the Danes successfully in battle. The Danish king Gurthrum converted to Christianity when the Saxons and the Danes made a peace treaty together. This tied the two territories closer which made them stronger. They were united.

Alfred unified other territories as well. In 886 he reclaimed London from Danish control, so that unified Southern England.

Some things that Alfred was known for was his reorganization of the military and creating big fleets of longships. He also wrote a code of law that was 120 chapters long. Although, his greatest thing that Alfred was known for was reviving education as a crucial part of English culture. He wanted every young man no matter what station they were to be educated.

Now there was peace for a little while in England after the peace treaty. Gurthrum was a neutralized threat. After the peace treaty he still had some Danish threats every once in a while.

Unfortunately Alfred dealt with illness in his life and died in 889. Now, after Alfred died is when writers in the 16^th century added “the Great” at the end of his name. Continuing with the heir to the throne his son Edward succeeded in taking the throne after Alfred.