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Alfred, the King of the West Saxons, was a truly influential man who was given the title Great by his people. He was, and still is today, the only English king to have been given this title 1 and for good reason. Alfred was an accomplished military leader and leader in the development of education among his people and for this he is credited with helping to make modern English speaking society what it is today. This essay will examine his military feats, his planned defence of his kingdom, his part in the development of education in his society, his compassion as a leader and how these accomplishments made him a key historical figure.
In the 860 s, Saxon England was ruled by Alfred's elder brother Ethelred. 2 It was around this time that the kingdom was in grave danger of being overtaken by the Vikings who had already conquered many of the surrounding villages. Ethelred was seen as the only king left who could stop the Vikings and save what was left of Saxon England from total foreign domination. He was perhaps capable of this, but ironically his downfall was that he was a very religious man who placed great value in Mass. He was attending a mass when the Vikings approached in their attempt to overtake the kingdom. Ethelred insisted on finishing the mass before confronting them. 3 When Alfred heard this, he led the Wessex men into battle without his brother and when Ethelred joined much later on, they were well on their way to victory. This battle may have been lost and the kingdom overtaken if it had not been for Alfred's quick thinking and leadership.
Later that year Ethelred passed away and although not next in the monarchical system to be king, Alfred was chosen by the people, because they believed he was the most suitable person for the job during the crisis they were facing. Their choice proved correct when the Danes began to attack Wessex and Alfred, knowing his kingdom may not be triumphant, paid the Vikings for five years of peace. 4 In 876, when the five years were up, the attacks began again and Alfred again paid for a few more months of peace. 5 By Christmas of 877 it was thought that Wessex was safe from the Vikings. Alfred spent that Christmas at Chippenham which was in Wiltshire. 6 During his stay there, the Danes attacked and only Alfred and a few followers were able to escape. Afraid of being caught and killed, they took refuge in a wooded swampland called the Isle of Athelney and remained there until 878 when they were joined by enough village men to organize an attack. 7 This attack was an all day battle which was fought at Ethandune on the Wiltshire Downs. 8 The Wessex men and Alfred were triumphant in driving the Danes out. The kingdom was now secure and strong enough to withstand any counter attacks from the Vikings. In 8869, Alfred led his men in the seizure of London and created a treaty to secure the south and west parts of England.
Alfred? s strong leadership qualities, determination and military tactics were the main contributing factors to the rightful seizing of the English land by the Wessex men and the safeguarding of what we now know as the modern English speaking world. After the Wessex land was won back under Alfred? s command in 878, he had to deal with pillagers who attacked by sea, raided livestock and property and quickly escaped the area without punishment. 10 The main reason for this was because Wessex did not have a permanent army that patrolled the kingdom. It was difficult to acquire soldiers because most were also farmers who would only fight when great rewards and money was promised to them. Alfred knew that a permanent army would solve many of their problems so he implemented a program within the kingdom to obtain this.
This program required all landowners who held estates to supply troops for the king? s army. Alfred then split this army in to two parts. The first was a militia which guarded the farms and villages within the kingdom and the second was required to fight the Vikings.
Everyone in the king? s army was made to take a turn in each of these groups. Alfred also had thirty strongholds built surrounding the kingdom 11 which were manned by those in the militia and provided a safe area in which the villagers could live. The last great improvement Alfred made in the defence of his kingdom was to start England? s first navy. He designed the ships which were to be used by the navy and with the help of a few top officials, began the training of the individuals who were to be sailors.
When these ideas and plans of Alfred? s were implemented, the defence of the kingdom greatly improved. The village people no longer had to worry about unknown attacks because of the strongholds, the Vikings were no longer able to secretly attack by water because of the navy and the militia and army kept the people safe in case of an attack. Alfred was not only a great military leader but he was also a very intelligent man who was concerned with improving the education of his people. In 877 the only form of schooling available was in monasteries which trained boys to become monks. 12 During the Viking attacks many of the monasteries were destroyed and Alfred saw that they were rebuilt.
He also believed that some form of education should be offered to other children, so he started what were called Noble Schools. These schools taught princes and sons of noblemen to read, write, hunt and wrestle. These schools were a great success in the kingdom. Alfred also had many books translated from Latin into Anglo-Saxon, a fact which was key to the education of his people. To accomplish this, he invited many European scholars to move to Wessex and even translated some of the books himself.
Alfred also insisted that the history of his kingdom and Anglo-Saxon England be recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. 13 These are now some of our most revealing and helpful documents in our quest to find out more about that period in English history. Alfred the Great was also a humanitarian. He believed in reform and justice for all. During the first defeat of the Vikings in the battle at Ethandune, he was offered hostages. He did not kill these hostages as was expected, but instead he made them convert to Christianity and took an active part in this process. He went so far as to be the godfather of the Danish leader Chieftain Guthrum. 14 Impressed by Alfred?
s way of handling the situation, Guthrum and many of his men settled peacefully in East Anglia. Alfred also reformed the justice system in Wessex. At the time a person? s innocence or guilt was determined through trial by ordeal. King Alfred believed that this was unfair and implemented a process where twelve people, who didn? t know the accused or the accuser, decided the fate of the accused. 15 This system is know today as the jury system.
Alfred? s determination to provide fair judgement for everyone and to save life in any way he could were truly revolutionary at the time and have provided us with a procedure used in courtrooms all over the world today. Alfred the Great, the king of the West Saxons was a very successful man who always strived to better himself and his kingdom. He had a great impact on society by leading his people to many military victories and safeguarded their land with his defence plans and strategies. He also helped develop his society in a great way through the translation of many books and the establishment of schooling and jury systems. Many of the things which he achieved and developed over 1000 years ago have helped shape and develop the society which we know today.
Our world maybe vastly different today if it was not for Alfred? s strong desire to protect his land from the Vikings and better his society with many innovative ideas. Alfred was a truly influential man whose compassion was as important as his ideas and accomplishments. It was this immense compassion for people that made him not only a strong, creative and effective leader but also a popular leader who gained the respect of many and the well deserved title Great. Bibliography Jones, David. Your Book Of Anglo-Saxon England.
London: Faber and Faber Limited. 1976. May, Robin. Alfred The Great And The Saxons. East Sussex: Wayland Publishers Ltd. 1984. Purves, Amanda. Growing Up In A Saxon Village.
East Sussex: Wayland Publishers Ltd. 1978. Triggs, Tony D. Peoples Of The Past; The Saxons. London; Macdonald Educational. 197 Endnote R. May, Alfred The Great And The Saxons (East Sussex: Wayland Publishers Ltd. , 1984. ) pgR.
May, Alfred The Great And The Saxons (East Sussex: Wayland Publishers Ltd. , 1984. ) pgR. May, Alfred The Great And The Saxons (East Sussex: Wayland Publishers Ltd. , 1984. ) pgR. May, Alfred The Great And The Saxons (East Sussex: Wayland Publishers Ltd. , 1984. ) pgR. May, Alfred The Great And The Saxons (East Sussex: Wayland Publishers Ltd. , 1984. ) pgR. May, Alfred The Great And The Saxons (East Sussex: Wayland Publishers Ltd. , 1984. ) pgR. May, Alfred The Great And The Saxons (East Sussex: Wayland Publishers Ltd. , 1984. ) pgR.
May, Alfred The Great And The Saxons (East Sussex: Wayland Publishers Ltd. , 1984. ) pgR. May, Alfred The Great And The Saxons (East Sussex: Wayland Publishers Ltd. , 1984. ) pg. 8 10. D. Jones, Your Book Of Anglo-Saxon England (London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1976. ) pg. 29 11. D. Jones, Your Book Of Anglo-Saxon England (London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1976. ) pg. 29 12 R.
May, Alfred The Great And The Saxons (East Sussex: Wayland Publishers Ltd. , 1984. ) pg. 10 13. R. May, Alfred The Great And The Saxons (East Sussex: Wayland Publishers Ltd. , 1984. ) pg. 10 14. R. May, Alfred The Great And The Saxons (East Sussex: Wayland Publishers Ltd. , 1984. ) pg. 9 15. A.
Purves, Growing Up In A Saxon Village (East Sussex: Wayland Publishers Ltd. , 1978) pg. 31
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