Clara Martnez Cervera

History of the English Language

Lect: Juan Jos Calvo Garca de Leonardo

King lfred the Great: a man or a myth?

"I desired to live worthily as long as I

lived, and to leave after my life, to the
men who should come after me, the
memory of me in good works."
lfred in his translation of Consolation
of Philosophy by Boethius

Few are the British kings who have been labelled as "Great. Saxon king lfred was one of those. All along
the history he has been a source for admiration and national pride. However, one might ask what deserved
him the attribution of such an honouring etiquette in the 16th century.
The youngest of king thelwulf's five sons, and was not meant to become King. Nevertheless, a succession
of rapid deaths of the heirs to the throne, lead lfred and his third brother thelred, king at that time, to
come to the agreement that the one of them who outlived the other one would be the King, so as not to leave
the destiny of the nation in the unprepared hands of the too young thelred's sons. That is why lfred was
crowned in 871.
As a Saxon King he was the only to resist Viking invasions. Moreover he revolutionized the army as well as
the naval system, reorganised and strengthened burhs and fostered education and cultural enrichment as well
as the promotion of the English language by engaging in the translations of the texts he deemed essential for
the education of men.
Throughout this paper we intend to give a picture of the life of that Great man in history by means of
presenting his greatest achievements, as well as bringing about some critical views according to which,
canonical fonts on the life of King lfred can be contest and consider that the greatness of the Saxon
monarch might have been oversized all along different historical periods.

Clara Martnez Cervera

History of the English Language
Lect: Juan Jos Calvo Garca de Leonardo
By the early fifth century, the Roman Empire was in decay and the mild-tempered and fertile lands of
Britannia attracted Germanic invaders, who at first just raided
the territory but finally settled down. According to the
historian Gildas the Saxon armies were hired to protect
Britain after the Romans departure.
The Germanic invaders came from Frisia, the River Elbe and
Western Denmark and even if it is likely that more tribes
have been present in Britain, Bede mainly talks in his
chronicle about three principal tribes: the Jutes, who settled
mainly in Kent and along the south coast, the Angles who
occupied the biggest area: the east and north Midlands and
the Saxons who, in between the two other tribes, settled in a
band of land from the Thames estuary eastwards.
They organised the British territory in what historically has been known as the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy:
seven kingdoms some of the names of which are still prevailing nowadays. The territory of Wessex of which
lfred will later become king was under Saxon law.
These Germanic tribes brought with them an aristocrat social order with clearly differentiated social ranks
and mainly based upon ties of kinship. They also created institutions which powerfully strengthen the British
territory and that in a way influenced institutions which still exist nowadays in Britain. That is the case of the
Witan, the King's Council to which the king turned for advice in conflictive matters. This ancient group of
counsellors is mirrored by the queen's nowadays Privy Council.
This ancient sense of kinship and loyalty to their lord will later intermingle with religious beliefs when they
convert to Christianity. Hence, King lfred will liken "the relationship between subject and ruler to that
between disciple and Christ" and firmly "believed that God had entrusted him with the spiritual as well as
physical welfare of his people.
lfred the Great was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings and as such he showed in his reforms and actions as
a king a merging of his Germanic background and the Christian and European influences he nurtured on.

Clara Martnez Cervera

History of the English Language
Lect: Juan Jos Calvo Garca de Leonardo

At the moment of lfred's ascension to the throne in 871 Britain was suffering the invasion of the Vikings
and almost all territories were in continual struggle with them. Indeed, at that same year lfred suffered a
defeat at Wilton which undermined any hope of resistance. After this victory, the Danes still overcame
lfred and his army several times. Nevertheless, this bad streak would come to an end in 879 when lfred's
army finally vanquished the Danish leader Guthrum in the Battle of Edington.
The outcome of this victory was extremely important for the history of England. As one of the terms of his
surrender Guthrum accepted to convert to Christianity and later on, with the Treaty of Wedmore, both
warriors agreed that whereas the North and East of England would remain under Danish law, hence would be
named as Danelaw, Wessex, Kent and a part of West Mercia should be from that moment onwards under
King lfred's law.
This is one of lfred most praised deeds, since, in contrast with all the other Saxon kings, who had
surrendered before the enemy, he was able to face them and retain his territory. Besides, he also succeeded at
repelling further Viking attacks mainly thanks to his military reorganisation, about which we will talk later.
These military victories arose some way of national feeling, and identification with a territory amongst
lfred's subjects; something that lead most chroniclers to talk about this period as a foreshadowing of the
subsequent unification of England which will not take place until the king grandson: thelstan's reign.
Historian Barbara York claims that "having survived by the skin of his teeth all-out Viking attacks in the
870s, when the other provinces fell, Alfred then enacted a series of reforms to make Wessex less Vulnerable
in the future".
Firstly, he changed the way they attacked Danish armies, relying now in scaled smaller attacks. He also
established a system of taxation to the tenants, which, obviously did not receive the approval of all sectors of

Clara Martnez Cervera

History of the English Language
Lect: Juan Jos Calvo Garca de Leonardo
population, but that the King was able to maintain by promoting and reinforcing the Christian ideal of
kinship, and the moral obligation of each man towards his king and his country.
Finally, central to this reforming of the military system "was
the network of Burhs distributed at strategic points
throughout the kingdom" that enable the quick movement of
the troops towards wherever they were needed.
The Burhs were built in a way that it made it really hard for
Vikings to avoid Saxon ambushes: some of the Burhs were
separated by a river and linked by a fortified bridge
populated by armed men and under which Vikings were
obliged to sail, others were simply fortified villas of very
difficult access. Finally, it is also important to mention that
the burhs were interconnected by a road system known as herepaths which "would allow an army to be
quickly assembled, sometimes from more than one burh, to confront the Viking invader." Moreover, he also
tried to better the naval system by "bringing in experienced Frisian sailors to help with his new designs for
ships."

***
No matter how big his military achievements could have been, they cannot give
alone account for the king's greatness, for there had been throughout history many
other powerful warrior kings, probably stronger than king lfred. Therefore,
what was probably most remarkable about him was his interest in learning. This
was important of the nation, since the intellectual curiosity of the King was
probably a key element to transform Wessex into an important cultural centre at
the time, as well as to pave the way for the later standardization of the English
language.
In his attitude we may see, as Barbara York points out, a conscious or
unconscious will to imitate Charlemagne, also known as Charles the Great, who had also initiated a "revival
of religion, learning and the arts known to modern historians as the Carolingian Renaissance." He recruited
European scholars to form a group of advisors in the court, and it was probably the contact with this
intellectual elite what fostered his inquisitiveness. Among those scholars was the well-known Asser, who
claims to have taught the king to read and write in Latin and who wrote a biography of the King, which even
4

Clara Martnez Cervera

History of the English Language
Lect: Juan Jos Calvo Garca de Leonardo
if admittedly partly mythical, has been the main source of information for scholars during centuries that
followed.
lfred's promotion of education and literacy had also very much to do with his religious beliefs. He deemed
Viking raids as some sort of godly punishment, and was convinced that the strengthening of the religious
faith in the country would appease God's fury. He was also aware that in order to promote religion literacy
was needed, and having been him himself unable to read and write in Latin until the age of 39, knew very
well that it would be much more easy for texts to reach wider audiences if they were written in their
vernacular English. That's why he commanded a series of translations of the Latin texts he considered "most
necessary for all men to know" and proposed that primary education was conducted also in English.
Once again following the example of Charlemagne, lfred established a court school for education of his
own children, other noble children "a good many of lesser birth". lfred aim was "to set to learning (as long
as they are not useful for some other employment) all the free-born young men now in England who have the
means to apply themselves to it"
The Great King was absolutely convinced that the only way for a man to succeed was through knowledge,
and the only way for a country to be glorious was to breed well-learned men who could empower
themselves. Thus, he addressed the reader's of his Pastoral Care translation in the following terms: "Study
Wisdom, then, and, when you have learned it, condemn it not, for I tell you that by its means you may
without fail attain to power, yea, even though not desiring it."
***
As we might infer from this description, King lfred was a kind of saint-like man, pious, brave, powerful
and intelligent who opposed the barbarians and lead England to a period of glory and enlightenment.
However, many are the contemporary scholars who invite us to contest that nave view of a man who could
not probably so perfect.
Alfred P. Smyth in his 1995 book King Alfred the Great gives as an insightful analysis of Asser's Life, his
biography of king lfred, and demonstrates how there are many incongruities and uncertain facts which
pose many riddles on how the king's life actually was.
Emma Mason, in her article, points at the importance of luck in lfred's main successes. She brings about
for example; the fact that Danish armies were really diminished by the time they reached Edington, or how
unlikely it was that lfred actually became king, being just a consequence of the consecutive deaths of his
brothers...
5

Clara Martnez Cervera

History of the English Language
Lect: Juan Jos Calvo Garca de Leonardo
Barbara York also talks about how his figure has been constructed and reconstructed very much according to
each period ideology and political thinking. Very outstanding is, indeed the 19th century when writers look
back to models upon which built a sense of defining national identity.
She states: "As in other European countries, a new national pride in nineteenth-century England had an
important historical dimension, and an accompanying cult of the heroes who had made later success possible.
The English, it was believed, could trace language and constitutional continuity back to the fifth century
when they had defeated the effete Romans, and it became increasingly felt that other, positive, facets of the
national character could be traced back this far as well. These characteristics were felt to have made those of
Anglo-Saxon descent uniquely programmed for success, and to rule other less fortunately endowed peoples,
and the best of them were represented by King Alfred himself. Alfred was fast being rediscovered as the
most perfect character in history, and alongside his defence of constitutional liberties, his country and true
religion, was added renewed admiration for his Christian morality and sense of duty."
As a balance, we might say that there are many ways in which canonical view of the historical figure of
lfred the Great King of Wessex can be contested, and yet most scholars agree that despite all these
nuances, the exceptionality of that man cannot be denied, in any case, just rebalanced.
Probably as Smyth states in the conclusion to his study of King lfred: " Alfred's true genius [...] was his
ability not so much to excel, as to possess the qualities of a great all-rounder[...] But while he failed to match
all those men in any of their characteristics, he possessed nevertheless the qualities of all of them in great
measure. And he possessed more than most of them, perhaps, qualities of moderation which were indicative
of his great humanity." (Smyth, 1995:601)

- Bibliography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_the_Great
http://www.historytoday.com/barbara-yorke/alfred-great-most-perfect-man-history
http://www.historyextra.com/feature/alfred-great-do-we-overplay-his-greatness
http://www.historyextra.com/feature/facts-king-alfred-the-great
Yorke,

Barbara.

"Alfred

the

Great.

Pocket

Giants"

Giants

https://books.google.es/books?

id=58_vCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT33&hl=es&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false
Smyth, Alfred P. "King Alfred the Great.". Ed. Oxford University Press. oxford: 1995.