Alfred the great biography summary template
Alfred the great...
Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great (Old English Ælfræd: c.
Alfred the great biography summary template
849 - 26 October 899) was King of Wessex from 871 to 899. He was the first king from the British Isles to call himself the 'King of the Anglo-Saxons' and so he is sometimes said to be the first English king. Alfred started the Royal Navy in the 9th century.
Early childhood
[change | change source]Alfred was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf of Wessex and Osburga. She was the daughter of Osburga, Athelwulf's butler.[a] Alfred was born in 849 in the royal village of Wantage then in Berkshire.[3] In the world he grew up in there was constant talk and fear of Viking raiders.[4] For fourteen years they had been raiding but a year after Alfred's birth they stayed all winter.[5] The Viking menace was now settled on the island of Thanet in Kent.[6]
When he was about four, Alfred's mother, Osburga, died.[7] At age twelve, Alfred had difficulty finding a qualifie