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Ælfred "the Great" of Wessex, King of the West Saxons
Facts and Events
- the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia
Alfred the Great (, 'Elf-counsel' or 'Wise-elf'; between 847 and 849 – 26 October 899) was King of Wessex from 871 to c. 886 and King of the Anglo-Saxons from c. 886 to 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf of Wessex. His father died when he was young and three of Alfred's brothers reigned in turn. Alfred took the throne after the death of his brother Æthelred and spent several years dealing with Viking invasions. He won a decisive victory in the Battle of Edington in 878 and made an agreement with the Vikings, creating what was known as Danelaw in the North of England. Alfred also oversaw the conversion of Viking leader Guthrum to Christianity. He successfully defended his kingdom against the Viking attempt at conquest, and he became the dominant ruler in England. He was also the first King of the West Saxons to style himself King of the Anglo-Saxons. Details of his life are described in a work by 9th-century Welsh scholar and bishop Asser.
Alfred had a reputation as a learned and merciful man of a gracious and level-headed nature who encouraged education, proposing that primary education be conducted in English rather than Latin, and improving his kingdom's legal system, military structure, and his people's quality of life. He was given the epithet "the Great" during and after the Reformation in the sixteenth century. The only other king of England given this epithet is Cnut the Great. In 2002, Alfred was ranked number 14 in the BBC's poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Alfred the Great, in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
- Brian Tompsett, (i)Directory of Royal Genealogy Data(/i) (United Kingdom: University of Hull,).
- English Monarchs, online (http:/www.englishmonarchs.co.uk), accessed 8-27-2006
.../saxon_6.htm.
- Mike Ashley, (i)British Kings & Queens: A Complete Biographical Encyclopedia of the Kings & Queens of Great Britain(/i) (New York, NY: Barnes.
- Searle, William George. Anglo-Saxon bishops, kings and nobles, the succession of the bishops and the pedigrees of the kings and nobles. (Cambridge: University Press in Cambridge, 1899)
pp. 343-343.
- Royal Line of Succession, A16-A225, p. 6.
- Hist. Eng. P, 1949, pref. p. 151.
- George's Hist. Tab., Eng. 102, Tab. 1.
- Keiser und Koenig Hist., Gen. Hist. 25, pt. 1, p. 96, 97.
- Anderson's Royal Genealogies, Eng. 130, p. 738.
- The Plantagenet Ancestry, Eng. 116, p. 21.
- (CH1)Pedigrees of Some of The Emperor Charlemagne's Descendants Vol. I
p.235.
- (MCS2)The Magna Charta Sureties, 1215, 2nd ed
p.123, Line 161.
- (EA)Encyclopedia Americana, 1951
v.1 p.380.
- Weis, Frederick Lewis; Walter Lee Sheppard; and David Faris. Ancestral roots of certain American colonists, who came to America before 1700: the lineage of Alfred the Great, Charlemagne, Malcolm of Scotland, Robert the Strong, and some of their descendants. (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Pub. Co., 7th Edition c1992)
p. 142.
- Brian Tompsett, Dept of Computer Science. University of Hull Royal Database (England). (Name: copyright 1994, 1995, 1996;).
- Denis R. Reid. Royal Genealogies DB. (Name: 149 Kimrose Lane, Broadview Heights, OH 44147-1258;).
- Weis, Frederick Lewis; Walter Lee Sheppard; and David Faris. Ancestral roots of certain American colonists, who came to America before 1700: the lineage of Alfred the Great, Charlemagne, Malcolm of Scotland, Robert the Strong, and some of their descendants. (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Pub. Co., 7th Edition c1992)
line 1 pp 1-4.
- Ælfræd, King of Wessex, in Lundy, Darryl. The Peerage: A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Ælfred "the Great", in Baldwin, Stewart, and Todd Farmerie. The Henry Project (King Henry II ): Ancestors of King Henry II.
Baldwin reviews the evidence concerning Ælfred's date of death, concluding that " his date of death can be placed on 26 October 899 with confidence."
- Alfred 8 (Male), in The Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England.
- ↑ Asser, and William Henry (ed.) Stevenson. Asser's Life of King Alfred. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1904)
p. 1.
"Anno Dominicae Incarnationis DCCCXLIX natus est Ælfred, Angul-Saxonum rex, in villa regia, quae dicitur Uuanating, in illa paga, quae nominatur Berrocscire"
- ↑ Thorpe, Benjamin. Diplomatarium anglicum aevi saxonici. (London: Macmillan & Co, 1865)
pp. 484-492.
Ælfred's will is given here in the original Old English with a facing modern English translation.
- ↑ Earle, John (ed.), and Charles (ed.) Plummer. Two of the Saxon Chronicles Parallel. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1892)
pp. 42-43.
Baldwin, cited above, explains how this incorrect date came to be.
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