Alfred, also spelled Aelfred, byname Alfred the Great, (born 849—died 899), king of Wessex (871–899), a Saxon kingdom in southwestern England. He prevented England from falling to the Danes and promoted learning and literacy.
Who succeeded Æthelbald?
Æthelbald | |
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Successor | Æthelberht |
Died | 860 |
Burial | Sherborne, Dorset |
Spouse | Judith of Flanders (m. 858) |
Who was the Saxon king of Wessex?
Edward, byname Edward the Elder, (died July 17, 924, Farndon on Dee, Eng.), Anglo-Saxon king in England, the son of Alfred the Great. As ruler of the West Saxons, or Wessex, from 899 to 924, Edward extended his authority over almost all of England by conquering areas that previously had been held by Danish invaders.
Who was the last king of Wessex?
By the time of Æthelstan’s death in 939 he had defeated the Vikings, united the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England under a single banner, and had repeatedly forced both the Welsh and Scottish kings to accept his overlordship of Britain. Æthelstan was therefore the last king of Wessex and the first king of England.
Who was king after Alfred?
But which king? According to many histories, Alfred was succeeded by his son Edward, later known as Edward ‘the Elder’.
What disease does King Alfred have?
Background. King Alfred the Great died on the 26th October 899, probably through complications arising from Crohn’s Disease, an illness which forces the body’s immune system to attack the linings of the intestines.
Who was the last Saxon king?
Edward the Confessor, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, died on 5 January 1066 – 950 years ago.
Was there a Queen of Mercia?
Cynethryth (Cyneðryð; died after AD 798) was a Queen of Mercia, wife of King Offa of Mercia and mother of King Ecgfrith of Mercia. Cynethryth is the only Anglo-Saxon queen consort in whose name coinage was definitely issued.
Was Repton the capital of Mercia?
Repton is the ancient capital of Mercia, and the School, founded in 1557 from a bequest from Sir John Port of Etwall, was established on the site of a 7th century Anglo-Saxon Benedictine abbey and latterly a 12th century Augustinian priory.
Who was the king of Wessex before Alfred?
Alfred’s next three brothers were successively kings of Wessex. Æthelbald (858-860) and Æthelberht (860-865) were also much older than Alfred, but Æthelred (865-871) was only a year or two older. Alfred’s only known sister, Æthelswith, married Burgred, king of the midland kingdom of Mercia in 853.
Did Wessex fall to the Danes?
Wessex was invaded by the Danes in 871, and Alfred was compelled to pay them to leave. They returned in 876, but were forced to withdraw. … Alfred’s son, Edward, captured the eastern Midlands and East Anglia from the Danes and became ruler of Mercia in 918 upon the death of his sister, Æthelflæd.
What is Wessex called today?
Wessex, one of the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England, whose ruling dynasty eventually became kings of the whole country. In its permanent nucleus, its land approximated that of the modern counties of Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, and Somerset.
What is Mercia now called?
Mercia was one of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of the Heptarchy. It was in the region now known as the English Midlands. … Settled by Angles, their name is the root of the name ‘England’.
Is The Last Kingdom based on a true story?
The series is based on real historical timelines but much of the action is fictionalised. “Much of the series, like much of the novels that tell Uhtred’s story, is fictional, yet the background is grimly real,” Cornwell said.
What happened to King Alfred’s son?
Edward the Elder ( c. 874 – 17 July 924) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death in 924. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. … In 924 he faced a Mercian and Welsh revolt at Chester, and after putting it down he died at Farndon in Cheshire on 17 July 924.
Is uhtred Ragnarson real?
However, unlike many other characters in the book series who correspond closely to historical figures (e.g. Alfred the Great, Guthrum, King Guthred), the main character Uhtred is fictitious: he lives in the middle of the 9th century – being aged about ten at the battle of York (867) – i.e. more than a hundred years …
Was Father Beocca a real person?
Beocca (died 910) was the Court Chaplain of Wessex from 871 to 899, serving under King Alfred the Great.
Where is Wessex Vikings?
Wessex was the name of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom between 519 and 927. Present-day Wessex would cover the majority of the South of England, including the counties of Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire and Somerset.
What happened to Aethelred in real life?
In early January 871, Æthelred was defeated at the Battle of Reading. Four days later, he scored a victory in the Battle of Ashdown, but this was followed by two defeats at Basing and Meretun. He died shortly after Easter.
What did Alfred and Guthrum agree?
Full title: | Treaty between Alfred and Guthrum |
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Shelfmark: | Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 383 |
Why did King Alfred pass out?
The cause of Alfred’s death is unknown, but it is believed to be related to his illness. The last viewers saw of Alfred him leading the baptism of Hvitserk at the end of the Vikings series. This is not believed to have occurred in real life.
Who is the first king of England?
1. Who was the earliest king of England? The first king of all of England was Athelstan (895-939 AD) of the House of Wessex, grandson of Alfred the Great and 30th great-granduncle to Queen Elizabeth II. The Anglo-Saxon king defeated the last of the Viking invaders and consolidated Britain, ruling from 925-939 AD.
Which English king defeated the Vikings?
Finally, in 870 the Danes attacked the only remaining independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom, Wessex, whose forces were commanded by King Aethelred and his younger brother Alfred. At the battle of Ashdown in 871, Alfred routed the Viking army in a fiercely fought uphill assault.
Which king died from an arrow in the eye?
Was King Harold really killed by an arrow to the eye? Find out the answers here. On 14 October 1066, one of the most significant battles in English history took place in Sussex, known to later generations as the Battle of Hastings. During this encounter, King Harold II, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, was killed.
Do Saxons still exist?
No, since the tribes which could have considered themselves actually Angles or Saxons have disappeared over the last thousand years or even before, but their descendants still inhabit the British Isles, as well as other English speaking countries, like the US, Canada and New Zealand, and others which have seen …
How long did Aethelflaed rule Mercia?
Æthelflæd | |
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Reign | 911–918 AD |
Predecessor | Æthelred |
Successor | Ælfwynn |
Born | c. 870 |
What happened to King Alfred’s wife?
It was probably after Alfred’s death in 899 that Ealhswith founded the convent of St Mary’s Abbey, Winchester, known as the Nunnaminster. She died on 5 December 902, and was buried in her son Edward’s new Benedictine abbey, the New Minster, Winchester.
When was Repton Church built?
In 1172 Augustinian canons built the imposing priory church adjacent to St. Wystan’s. In the 15th century the magnificent 212-foot (65-metre) tower and spire of St. Wystan’s were built.
Where is modern day Repton?
Repton | |
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Population | 2,707 (2001 census) |
OS grid reference | SK3026 |
District | South Derbyshire |
Shire county | Derbyshire |
What was the capital of Wessex?
In 871 at the tender age of 21, Alfred was crowned King of Wessex and established Winchester as his capital.
The current queen of England, Queen Elizabeth II, is the 32nd great-granddaughter of King Alfred the Great, so I want to give you all a little bit of background on him. He was the first effective King of England, all the way back in 871. … King Alfred the Great ruled England from 871-899.
Was Alfred the Great illegitimate?
King Alfred of Wessex and Mercia (Old English meaning “elf counsel”) is the illegitimate son of Judith and Athelstan. He was protected by the late King Ecbert, who claims that God has very special plans for him. He is also seen as having a great destiny by his stepfather, King Aethelwulf.
Did the Danes take Winchester from Edward?
Aftermath. The Danes withdrew from Winchester without the need for a final assault, settling in their new lands in Northumbria, where Sihtric became King of Jorvik. Wessex, Mercia, and East Anglia were now confirmed as Saxon kingdoms, and there was faith on both sides that the peace would hold.
Are Danes Vikings?
Danes come from Denmark, and they are also called Vikings because some of them went vikingr, that is to say exploring/trading/raiding. Viking is not a race, it’s an activity. Irish and Scots raiders were also called Vikings, as were other Scandinavians. The Danes were a Germanic tribe originally in Scania.
Are the Vikings and Saxons the same?
Vikings were pirates and warriors who invaded England and ruled many parts of England during 9th and 11the centuries. Saxons led by Alfred the Great successfully repulsed the raids of Vikings. Saxons were more civilized and peace loving than the Vikings. Saxons were Christians while Vikings were Pagans.
Why did Danes invade England?
“The initial raids were about the need for portable wealth (‘treasure’) that could be taken back to Scandinavia (mainly Norway) to help in building allegiances between lords, their followers, and other families and communities, and perhaps also in marriage relations,” writes Viking scientist and archaeologist Steven …
Is London in Mercia?
During the 8th century the kingdom of Mercia extended its dominance over south-eastern England, initially through overlordship which at times developed into outright annexation. London seems to have come under direct Mercian control in the 730s.
Why did Wessex become England?
Danish Viking raids on Wessex occurred frequently from 835 onwards and overwhelmed the kingdoms of Northumbria and East Anglia. … In 927 King Athelstan, Alfred’s grandson, conquered Northumbria, bringing the whole of England under one ruler for the first time. The Kingdom of Wessex had become the Kingdom of England.
Is Northumbria a real place?
Northumbria (/nɔːrˈθʌmbriə/; Old English: Norþanhymbra Rīċe; Latin: Regnum Northanhymbrorum) was an early medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom in what is now Northern England and south-east Scotland.
Who started England?
The Anglo-Saxons were a people who inhabited Great Britain from 450 to 1066; their reign saw the creation of a unified English nation, culture, and identity, setting the foundation for modern England.
Was Manchester in Mercia or Northumbria?
Manchester was situated between Northumbria and Mercia, two Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The former governed Manchester (around AD 923) until the Danish tribes’ arrival. The latter took control, albeit short-lived (in 1015, Danish King Canute invaded England), under Edward the Elder, Alfred the Great’s son.
Who defeated the Vikings at York?
Alfred’s grandson, Athelstan, became the first true King of England. He led an English victory over the Vikings at the Battle of Brunaburh in 937, and his kingdom for the first time included the Danelaw. In 954, Eirik Bloodaxe, the last Viking king of York, was killed and his kingdom was taken over by English earls.