They took control of York and moved south into Mercia then made their winter camp in Nottingham. For a time they were more interested in Northumbria. But the year 865 saw the arrival of the Great Heathen Army in East Anglia. For the next three years Southern England was free of Viking raids. A few survived and returned to their ships. As they returned to their ships they were ambushed by Anglo-Saxons from Hampshire and Berkshire. The Vikings plundered Winchester the chief city of Wessex and obtained a great deal of plunder. In the same year he succeeded his brother there was a great Viking raid on the south coast of England. The next brother to rule Wessex was Ethelbert. Queen Judith sold all of her lands in England and went back to France. He united all of Wessex into one kingship. Alfred's third brother, Ethelbert, became the new king. Two years later in 860, Ethelbald was dead. According to Asser, all men in England were horrified. In 858 king Æthelwulf died.Įthelbald, now accepted by everyone as king married his and Alfred's stepmother Judith. He took over the rule of Kent, Essex, Sussex and Surrey ruling Wessex as the under-king with his child bride Judith sharing his throne. He gave the rule over Wessex to his son Ethelbald. To prevent this from happening Æthelwulf stepped down as king. When the king came back, his son Ethelbald was trying to start a civil war. While Alfred and his father were in Rome and France, 855-856, his older brother Athelstan died. That same October, they were married at Verberie in northern France. Æthelwulf became engaged to Charles's eldest daughter, Judith, then about aged twelve. There, king Æthelwulf and his son Alfred stayed at the court of Charles the Bald. They stayed in Rome a year and returned through France. In 855 King Æthelwulf traveled to Rome taking his young son Alfred with him. In 853, Alfred was sent with an escort and met Pope Leo IV. īefore he was seven years old, he had traveled to Rome twice. His life as an adult would be as a nobleman and possibly, if he survived his four older brothers, as king, someday. This ceremony meant he was not destined to join the church, as the younger sons typically were. The ceremony involved him receiving a red cloak, a jeweled belt and a sword. At some point in his childhood Alfred was made a consul(a high rank in Anglo-Saxon England styled on the Roman office of consul). He finally overcame the problem and learned to read and write by using the writings of the church. At age twelve, Alfred had difficulty finding a qualified teacher to help him learn to read and write. When he was about four, Alfred's mother, Osburga, died. The Viking menace was now settled on the island of Thanet in Kent. For fourteen years they had been raiding but a year after Alfred's birth they stayed all winter. In the world he grew up in there was constant talk and fear of Viking raiders. Alfred was born in 849 in the royal village of Wantage then in Berkshire. She was the daughter of Osburga, Athelwulf's butler. Alfred started the Royal Navy in the 9th centuryĮarly childhood Īlfred was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf of Wessex and Osburga. 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. 849 - 26 October 899) was King of Wessex from 871 to 899.
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