ALFRED THE GREAT IS THE

ONLY KING IN ENGLISH

HISTORY CALLED ‘THE GREAT’
ALFRED’S LIFE

• Lived in 849-901
• Had three brothers
• Was the last of four brothers
to rule the kingdom
Alfred the Great was the unique
historic figure. He reorganized
English army, created fleet,
administration, made the
significant contribution to
English history. He was the only
one from English governors who
carried the title the Great.
In 871 he was proclaimed as
king. Alfred was the first King of
the West Saxons to style himself
«King of the Anglo-Saxons».
Alfred successfully defended his kingdom against the Vikings
and by the time of his death had become the dominant ruler in
England. Alfred had a reputation as a learned and merciful
man who encouraged education.
ALFRED AS A WISE STATESMEN

• Saved Wessex from the

Vikings
• Only defensive wars
• Only London was added to his
kingdom
• Restored law and order
• Retained Christianity
• Built new fortresses
• Reorganized his army
• Beat the Danes 9 times in 871
The king Alfred restored a public order in the kingdom. He putted royal
court above all other courts. Alfred made the first collection of national
laws («The Dooms of King Alfred the Great»), had ordered to state in
Anglo-Saxon language laws of various Saxon kings, selected the most
suitable. Now any violation of laws was considered by judges as an
insult of majesty. He ordered administration, restored ancient division
into counties and communities, and determined counts and judges of
worthy people.
Alfred established a court
school for the education of
his own children, those of the
nobility, and «a good many of
lesser birth». There they
studied books in both English
and Latin and «devoted
themselves to writing, to such
an extent .... they were seen
to be devoted and intelligent
students of the liberal arts.»
He recruited scholars from
the Continent and from
Britain to aid in the revival of
Christian learning in Wessex .
ALFRED AS AN EDUCATOR

• Founded a palace school to

teach Noblemen’s sons
• Urged that each citizen should
learn to read in their mother
tongue
King Alfred decided to make
English, not Latin, the language
of education and literature, So at
the age of forty he learnt Latin
and began translating books into
Old English.
Later he had translated other
books into Old English. One of
these was Historia Ecclesiastical
Gentis Anglorum ( the history of
the English church and people),
which had been written in about
731 by a monk in Northumbria
called Bede.
ALFRED AS A WRITER

• Anglo - Saxon
chronicle
• The first prose work
in English literature
• Some parts written by
Alfred The Great
ALFRED AS A TRANSLATOR

• Translated from Latin into Anglo-

Saxon and Vise Versa
• Bede’s “History of the English church”
• Used as textbooks
IN HONOUR OF ALFRED

• Alfred is the only British

King or Queen to have the
title of The Great
• Several monuments in
England
 FUN FACTS
• To test if a person was guilty of a crime, they had to hold a
red-hot iron! If their hand healed quickly, they were innocent.
If not, they were guilty.
• Alfred's ships were bigger than Viking ships, with 60 oars.
• When the Viking chief Guthrum was baptized a Christian,
Alfred was his godfather.
• From Alfred's burh (a fortified town) comes our word
'borough‘.
• The Anglo-Saxons knew the Earth was round, but wrongly
believed the Sun and stars went round the Earth.
WHY WAS ALFRED SO GREAT?

Alfred was the only king in British history to

be called ‘the great’ and he was born in AD849
and died in AD899. His father was king of
Wessex, but Alfred became king of all
England. He fought the Vikings, and then
made peace so that English and Vikings settled
down to live together. He encouraged people
to learn and he tried to govern well and fairly.