Cath Senker - The Kings and Queens of Britain

800s

Egbert (802839)

Aethelwulf (839858)

Aethelbald (858860)

Aethelberht (860865/866)

Aethelred I (865/866871)

Alfred the Great (871899)

900s

Edward the Elder (899924)

Athelstan (924939)

Edmund I (939946)

Eadred (946955)

Eadwig (955959)

Edgar (959975)

Edward the Martyr (975978)

Aethelred II the Unready (9781013)

1000s

Svein Forkbeard (101314)

Aethelred II the Unready (101416)

Edmund II Ironside (1016)

Cnut (101635)

Harold I Harefoot (103540)

Hardecanute (104042)

Edward the Confessor (104266)

Harold II (1066)

The youngest of at least six children of an aristocratic family, Alfred emerged to become a powerful monarch and the best known of the Anglo-Saxon kings. The only English monarch known as the great, he mounted a fierce defence against the Danish invaders, constructed fortified towns and extensively revised Anglo-Saxon law. Alfred made steps towards the Crowns control of England, and by the 890s, his charters and coins referred to him as king of the English. He is often considered the first king of England, although he ruled only part of the country.

England was attractive to the Vikings of Denmark, for its fertile farmland and the riches of its monasteries and their longboats allowed them to reach its shores. Alfreds reign was dominated by struggles with the Danes to control England. In 871, Alfred defeated Danish forces at the Battle of Ashdown, in Berkshire, but they continued to launch attacks in Wessex. Following Alfreds victory in 878 at the Battle of Edington, near Trowbridge in Wiltshire, they made peace. The Danish raids had been hugely destructive they razed settlements and stole booty. Yet they brought advances too. The Danes introduced the axe, which was probably used for clearing forests, allowing the expansion of agriculture. They brought their sophisticated sailing technology and navigation techniques, using a sun compass to check the position of the sun, and skilful craftsmanship, making beads from melted coloured glass and elegant combs from animal bones.

As author Rudyard Kipling once commented, If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten. Many people know of King Alfred from the tale of his poor baking skills. In January 878, the Vikings invaded Alfreds base in Chippenham, and his forces were routed. The king and his men scattered around the Somerset Levels, relying on food and shelter from the locals. Alfred had taken refuge with a peasant woman, who asked him to keep an eye on her cakes baking by the fire. Consumed by his worries, he allowed the cakes to burn and was scolded by his hostess. Alfred subsequently regrouped his forces in Athelney a tiny, low-lying village in the marshes, surrounded by reeds, woods and scrubland where he planned the retaliatory assault against the Vikings in Edington.

The statue of Alfred the Great in Winchester. Winchester was the capital of the kingdom of Wessex.

Once in control, King Alfred reorganized his army and introduced a military levy system. At any one time, half the militia were active, while the other half remained in reserve. To fight the Danes at sea, he built a naval fleet with superior ships: full nigh twice as long as the others; some had sixty oars, and some had more; they were both swifter and steadier, and also higher than the others. In 884, Alfred sent a fleet against the Danes of East Anglia and he took London in 886. He realized he could not drive the Danes out of the whole country, so he made a partition treaty. England was divided the north and east between the Rivers Thames and Tees became Danish territory, while Alfred controlled London, West Mercia and Kent. The main Danish settlements were Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire; in the 11th century, the Danish area became known as the Danelaw.