King Alfred the Great is one of the most recognized kings in England, known for pushing back against the Viking forces that were trying to take over the whole country. He wasn’t your typical king; he was the youngest of four brothers and struggled with health issues throughout his life. But somehow, King Alfred was exactly what England needed at that moment. He managed to keep Wessex safe from the Viking invasions and left behind a legacy that helped bring England together.
England Before the Vikings
After the Roman Army and government pulled out in the 5th century CE, most of what we now call England got invaded and taken over by folks from what’s now northern Germany and southern Denmark—the Anglo-Saxons.
Just like the Vikings, the Anglo-Saxons were originally pagans. They had their own set of gods that were pretty similar to those in Scandinavia: Woden instead of Odin, Thunor instead of Thor, and Tiw instead of Tyr. But by the end of the 7th century, the last Anglo-Saxon king, Penda of Mercia, converted to Christianity, and it became a big part of what it meant to be Anglo-Saxon.
By the 8th century, England was made up of several kingdoms. The main ones during the Viking invasions were Wessex in the south, Mercia in the Midlands, Northumbria between Mercia and Scotland, and East Anglia in the eastern fens. These kingdoms were always in a state of flux, swinging between fighting each other and forming alliances, which left them politically weak and open to invasion.
That’s when the Vikings from Scandinavia showed up, and we know what happened next thanks to a great source called the Chronicle. This book is actually a bunch of chronicles kept in religious places all over England, updated around the same time. While it does have a bit of a pro-Wessex slant, it gives us a solid look at the key events of the Anglo-Saxon Period, guiding us through those crucial years in England.
- Alfred the Great: The Boy Who Would Be King
- Aethelwulf of Wessex: The steady hand of Alfred the Great
- Aethelred the Unready: England’s Troubled King
- The Battle of Edington: Alfred the Great Shaped England’s Destiny
- Aethelred, Lord of the Mercians: Early Architect of England
The Great Heathen Army
The first Viking raid on England went down in 793 CE when a group of raiders hit up the Lindisfarne monastery—also known as Holy Island. They walked away with a bunch of stolen gold and silver, plus some monks they took as slaves. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, one of the few historical sources we have, describes it like this:
On the sixth day before the ides of January in the same year, the brutal attacks by pagan men caused terrible destruction in God’s church on Holy Island through plunder and murder.
, entry for 793, translated by James Ingram
Before this, the Vikings were mostly just doing pirate raids along the coasts of Britain and Ireland. But everything shifted in 865 CE. That year, the Chronicle mentions:
The same year, a huge pagan army invaded England and set up their winter camp in East Anglia, where they quickly got horses from the locals; the people there made peace with them.
, entry for 865, translated by James Ingram
This was a big deal because the Vikings had never gone so deep into England or stayed over the winter before. It wasn’t just a quick raid anymore; it was an invasion. Historians aren’t exactly sure how many warriors were in this Great Army (or micel here in Old English), with estimates ranging from about 1,000 to tens of thousands. But it was definitely a mix of various Scandinavian groups, marking the Vikings’ serious attempt to conquer and settle in English territories.
In 867, the Viking army took out the Northumbrian king in York, and by 869, King Edmund of East Anglia was killed, leading to another kingdom’s downfall. By 874, the Mercian king was kicked out, leaving only Wessex as the last Anglo-Saxon kingdom standing. Then in 876, the Vikings transitioned from conquerors to settlers, making it clear they weren’t planning to leave anytime soon.
Who Was King Alfred?
King Alfred was born in 849 CE and wasn’t exactly the obvious choice to become king of Wessex. He had fought alongside his brother, King Æthelred of Wessex, in Mercia against the Great Heathen Army, trying to stop them from pushing further south. Even though they had some wins, Mercia eventually fell, and Æthelred died shortly after, likely due to his injuries.
Æthelred had two sons, but in 886, they decided to pass the throne to Alfred instead, as agreed. Alfred was the last of King Æthelwulf’s four sons to take the crown, with the others being Æthelbald, Æthelberht, and Æthelred. They chose kings based on who was capable rather than just going by birth order.
Alfred’s foreign policy was all about defending Wessex from Scandinavian attacks, but he also made a bunch of changes at home. He set up fortified towns called burghs, spaced about 19 miles apart, so that armed forces could quickly respond to any threats across the kingdom.
On top of that, Alfred worked on domestic issues and legal reforms. He really pushed for a revival of learning and Christian education in his realm. He understood how important it was for him and his people to be part of the larger Christian community, especially with the looming threat of pagan invasions. So, it’s crucial to see Alfred not just as a military leader but also as a smart administrator.
Alfred in the Marshes
Not long after Alfred took the throne, things went south for him. Even though he had blocked Danish ships in Devon and made a peace deal on a holy ring, the Vikings launched another big attack in Wessex. At the beginning of 878 CE, the Heathen Army hit Chippenham, where Alfred was hanging out.
Let’s check out the Chronicle:
Around mid-winter this year, right after twelfth-night, the Danish army snuck into Chippenham and charged through West-Saxon territory. They set up camp there, pushing many locals to flee overseas, while they defeated most of the rest – except for KING ALFRED. He managed to escape with a small group and sought refuge in the woods and moors.
, entry for 878, translated by James Ingram
At this point, King Alfred had been kicked out of his royal home, and his control over the kingdom was shaky. Wessex was wide open to Viking raids and possible takeover. Traveling light with his loyal crew, Alfred built a fort at Athelney in the marshes of Somerset. He must have realized just how fragile his kingdom was and what was at stake.
This is also where the famous story of Alfred and his cakes comes from. Supposedly, a peasant woman took him in without knowing who he was and asked him to keep an eye on her cakes while they cooked. Caught up in the chaos of war, Alfred accidentally let them burn and got scolded by her. While it sounds like a bit of folklore, this tale really highlights how little Alfred’s kingship meant in the countryside when he didn’t have his armies or palace backing him up.
The Battle of Eddington
Check out this cool old manuscript showing a king leading some warriors with spears, from the 10th century. It’s from the Bodleian Library in Oxford.
So, after learning a thing or two from the Vikings’ hit-and-run style, Alfred kicked off a guerrilla campaign from his hideout at Athelney. He managed to rally up the local peasant militia from Somerset, Wiltshire, and Hampshire. Just four months after the setback at Chippenham, in May, King Alfred made his way to a spot called Egberts Stone (probably named after the historical King Egbert of Wessex). When he got there, all the folks from Somersetshire, Wiltshire, and parts of Hampshire came out to greet him, super excited to see their king.
This whole operation was well thought out and really showed how much respect Alfred had from the lower nobility who stuck by him even when he was holed up in his marshy fort. From that moment on, King Alfred started taking back Wessex, leading up to the big Battle of Eddington. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:
[He] fought with all the army, and put them to flight, riding after them as far as the fortress, where he remained a fortnight. Then the army gave him hostages with many oaths, that they would go out of his kingdom. They told him also, that their king would receive baptism.
, entry for 878, translated by James Ingram
After getting beaten at Eddington, the Viking leader Guthrum and his crew went back to Chippenham and surrendered after a short two-week siege. The Chronicle mentions that one of the peace terms was Guthrum’s baptism. King Alfred figured that the best way to keep the peace was to convert his Scandinavian neighbors to Christianity, which helped secure Wessex’s borders.
Alfreds Legacy
The painting “Baptism of King Guthrum” by James William Edmund Doyle, created in 1864, shows a significant moment in history. After the battle at Eddington, people in England realized that they could actually stand up to the Viking invaders. However, things were never the same after that fight. With the Vikings defeated, England was now divided between areas ruled by Christian West Saxons and those under Dane Law.
Wessex expanded further north than it ever had before, and Alfred found himself ruling over large parts of Mercia as well as his own West Saxon territory. The old kingdoms were fading away, and King Alfred quickly started calling himself the king of all Angles and Saxons, especially in the biography written by his priest, Asser. He saw a chance to create a united Anglo-Saxon identity. Instead of being identified as Mercian, West-Saxon, or East-Anglian, people began to see themselves as Angelcynn, or English kin.
Even though the Great Heathen Army of Vikings nearly brought an end to Alfred’s reign and threatened all of England, it was this very invasion that allowed him to claim authority over all English-speaking people. While Alfred wasn’t the first king of all England—his grandson Æthelstan earned that title—Alfred’s strength, determination, and a bit of luck in the marshes of Athelney helped secure his family’s influence over England for many years.
