Alfred the Great KS2

Alfred the Great is the only king in British history to be dubbed 'Great'. Read on to find out about his life and accomplishments...

Who was Alfred the Great?

Alfred the Great was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899.

Alfred the Great's early life

Alfred was the youngest of five sons and a daughter born to King Ethelwulf. He grew up with the court, moving from place to place and learning how to fight in battles, hunt and be a good lord. Alfred was very keen on learning. His mother had an illuminated manuscript which she said she would give to the first of her sons who would learn to read it. Despite being the youngest, it was Alfred who won the beautiful book. 

Alfred's mother teaching him to read

When did Alfred become king?

Alfred had four older brothers. At this time, the throne was often passed from brother to brother instead of father to son to ensure that there was a strong king and not a young child on the throne. However, all his older brothers died (some from fighting battles with the Vikings and some through illness) so Alfred became king in 871 when he was 22 years old.

How did Alfred deal with the Viking invasions?

When Alfred first became king, he was King of Wessex. The Anglo-Saxon kingdom was, at that time, split into seven kingdoms. Alfred was king of the most powerful of the seven kingdoms. The Vikings had been invading these kingdoms since 793. About a month after he became king, Alfred suffered a humiliating defeat in the heart of Wessex, his own kingdom. By then, the men were war-weary and many had died from diseases or had simply deserted. Alfred decided he would try to buy peace instead of fighting for it. This worked for five years until the unrest started again.

When the Vikings attacked Wessex again, Alfred and his armies marched to stop them and, this time, Alfred was victorious. In 886, a peace treaty called the Treaty of Wedmore was signed. Guthrum and the Vikings agreed to leave Wessex alone. By now, both sides were eager for peace. It was agreed that the Vikings would occupy the northeast of England which then became known as the Danelaw. Part of the agreement was that the Vikings would convert to Christianity.  

King Guthrum converting to Christianity

Alfred, King of the English

After the treaty, it was agreed that Alfred would become king over all the lands in England apart from the Danelaw. It was after this that England started becoming more united. By the late 880s, Alfred was being called ‘King of the English’. Alfred was also the first person to use the name ‘Angelcynn’ or English people’. 

What did Alfred do as king?

Even though Alfred arranged a peace treaty with the Vikings at Wedmore, the threat of a Viking invasion was never far away. During his reign, Alfred organised for forts and fortified towns, known as ‘burhs’ to be built. He was also the first English king to establish a fleet of fighting ships. He improved the ships, making them more like the Viking longboats but bigger.

The Anglo-Saxon army had always been different to the Viking army. Anglo-Saxon soldiers were usually farmers who were called to battle. Most couldn’t stay away from their homes for too long without needing to go back and tend to the land. Alfred split the army into two groups. One group would go to battle for six months while the other farmed, then they would swap over.

Once Alfred had made the country safer, he could turn his attention to the lives of the everyday people of the kingdom. When he had visited Rome as a child, he realised how much more educated the Italians were than the English. All of the works of the church were written in Latin, and Alfred translated lots of the great Latin works into the language of the ordinary people, ‘Englisc’.  

One of the most important changes King Alfred introduced were the new laws which had to be obeyed by all the subjects in his kingdom. This helped to unite the people that had so recently been split into different kingdoms. The laws were all written in English. Alfred was keen to get as many books written in English as possible. The best known of the books from his reign is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. This gives a year-by-year account of the history of England.

When did Alfred the Great die?

Alfred the Great died on 26th October 899 at the age of 50 or 51. No one knows exactly how he died but it is believed that he had a stomach illness which may have been Crohn's disease.