What's Alfred the great?

Question

He's a king-need more information

Answer 1

Alfred the Great (c. 849 – 26 October 899) was king of the southern Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex from 871 to 899. Alfred is noted for his defence of the kingdom against the Danish Vikings, becoming the only English King to be awarded the epithet "the Great". Alfred was the first King of the West Saxons to style himself "King of the Anglo-Saxons". Alfred was a learned man, and encouraged education and improved his kingdom's law system as well as its military structure.

As the fifth son of the king of the West Saxons, Alfred probably never expected to take the throne himself. He appears to have shown an interest in learning from a young age, but his early education was more likely focused on the military training young men of rank commonly received in the ninth century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_the_...

http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page25.as...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_fi...

http://battle1066.com/alfred.shtml

http://historymedren.about.com/od/alfred...

Answer 2

Childhood

House of Wessex family tree

Alfred was born sometime between 847 and 849 at Wantage in the present-day ceremonial county of Oxfordshire (in the historic county of Berkshire). He was the fifth and youngest son of King Æthelwulf of Wessex, by his first wife, Osburga.[2] In 868 Alfred married Ealhswith, daughter of Ethelred Mucill, who is called ealdorman of the Gaini, an unidentified district.[3]

At five years old, Alfred is said to have been sent to Rome where, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he was confirmed by Pope Leo IV who "anointed him as king." Victorian writers interpreted this as an anticipatory coronation in preparation for his ultimate succession to the throne of Wessex. However, this coronation could not have been foreseen at the time, since Alfred had three living elder brothers. A letter of Leo IV shows that Alfred was made a "consul" and a misinterpretation of this investiture, deliberate or accidental, could explain later confusion.[4] It may also be based on Alfred later having accompanied his father on a pilgrimage to Rome and spending some time at the court of Charles the Bald, King of the Franks, around 854–855. On their return from Rome in 856, Æthelwulf was deposed by his son Æthelbald. Æthelwulf died in 858, and Wessex was ruled by three of Alfred's brothers in succession.

Asser tells the story about how as a child Alfred won a prize of a volume of poetry in English, offered by his mother to the first of her children able to memorize it. This story may be true, or it may be a legend designed to illustrate the young Alfred's love of learning.

Answer 3

A drink.