The Anglo-saxons Alfred the Great.

Slides:



Advertisements
Similar presentations
History of British Literature. Background Info Settlement: – Saxons: South and West – Angles: East and North – Jutes: Isle of Wight and Mainland Opposite.
Advertisements

The Vikings AD. “In this year Beothric [King of Wessex] took to wife Edburgh, daughter of King Offa. And in his days came first three ships of.
793 - monastery on Lindisfarne island (NE England) is raided.
England and France Develop Aim: How did the development of France and England lead to democratic traditions? Do Now: What role did the guilds play in the.
1/28 Focus: Kings began to gain more power and centralize power during the high middle ages England was one of the first countries in Europe to develop.
Outcome: Germanic Kingdoms Emerge & Charlemagne
Alfred the Great King of Wessex Alfred the Great -In 871, he was the King of Wessex in England -Given the name “The Great” because he stopped.
ALFRED THE GREAT’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS:  Anglo-Saxon Chronicle  Translations from Latin to Anglo-Saxon  Laws of Alfred  Reorganization of Fyrd.
Introduction to Old and Middle English: Part I Anglo-Saxon Studies November 18, 2005 Andreas H. Jucker.
Royal Britain Anglo-Saxon Period British King Vortigern asked Angles, Saxon, and Jutes from continent to aid in repelling advancing.
2 SECTION 1Celtic Ireland SECTION 2Christianity 3 Saint Columba Pope Gregory I Ethelbert Bede Alfred the Great People to Know shires sheriff king’s peace.
The Anglo-Saxon World. The Anglo-Saxon Homeland The Anglo-Saxon Invasion 410 AD: The Romans leave Britain 449 AD: Hengest and Horsa arrive, invited by.
Overview from 800 to 1069 C.E.. - Records show that by 793 C.E. Vikings had begun raids on monasteries in northern England -For example, noblemen wrote.
The Anglo-Saxon Period The Birth of a Language: Old English.
British History ( origins – 1066 CE) British History ( origins – 1066 CE) Fabio Pesaresi.
AND. The British Isles consisted of Great Britain, Ireland and many smaller islands. Julius Caesar invaded Britain and Rome ruled it for almost 400.
Northumbria Mercia Wessex Mercia dominant state in England 793 Vikings sack Lindisfarne Egbert of Wessex (r ) defeats Mercians.
Northumbria Mercia Wessex
From Monarchy to Democracy
Introduction to the Anglo Saxon Period and Beowulf Be sure to follow along and take notes.
THE MIDDLE AGES
England and France Develop
Chapter 7 Supplement. Anglo-Saxon England Around 450, Germanic tribes begin to invade Britain. The two most important tribes settled and became powerful:
The Anglo-Saxon Period
Transforming the Roman World
Late Anglo-Saxon England Edward the Elder Unification of Wessex & Mercia Continued Battles with Viking Raiders Athelstan/Edmund/Eadred Eric Bloodaxe, d.
The Struggle of Power in England and France
Anglo-Saxon Notes Mrs. Kinney’s Senior English. Conquering “Heroes” Britons and Celts were the first to settle Britain Celts were farmers and hunters.
The Anglo- Saxons 449A.D. – 1066 A.D.. Anglo-Saxons 449- Angles and Saxons from Germany and Jutes from Denmark crossed the North Sea. They drove out the.
Alfred the Great (AD ) (reigned ).
King Alfred the Great Facts and Legends Wintersemester 2010/11 15/02/2011 Proseminar: Sprache und Kultur der Angelsachsen Dozentin: Ulrike Krischke Referentinnen:
History Review through The Middle English Period Michael Cheng National Chengchi University.
Unit 4 Medieval Origins of the Modern State. Geography.
CHAPTER 13 – THE MIDDLE AGES CHAPTER 14 – THE FORMATION OF WESTERN EUROPE.
Charlemagne’s Empire Chapter 13-1 – Page 372. Powerful Kingdom Crowning of Charlemagne a surprise, but not random decision His predecessors, the kings.
Characteristics of Old English. Periods of English Old English 449—1066 Middle English 1100—1500 Modern English 1500 forward.
King Alfred The Great By Isla Derrick. Intro to Alfred Alfred the Great ( ) was the most famous of the Anglo-Saxon kings. Despite overwhelming odds.
England first ruled by Celtic tribes. 55 BC – Rome invaded and Romanized Celtic Britons. When Rome invaded Gaul, they withdrew their soldiers from Britain.
Anglo-Saxon England The Germanic tribes of the Angles and the Saxons became powerful tribes in England. Three important kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia,
1/28 Focus: 1/28 Focus: – Kings began to gain more power and centralize power during the high middle ages – England was one of the first countries in.
Anglo-Saxons
Chapter 19 – The Irish (Celts) & the Anglo-Saxons.
Middle Ages PART 2. Other European Invasions  After Charlemagne’s death a civil war broke out and his heirs fought for control of the kingdom.  In 843,
Anglo-Saxon Period (5th century – 1066) Martina Šprincová.
The Anglo-Saxon Period Ancient Britain Originally inhabited by the Britons & Gaels Celtic people, still evident in Irish, Welsh, Gaelic and Breton Celts.
ALFRED’S NATION BUILDING CONTEXT AT SOME POINT DURING THE CRISIS OF 878 ALFRED APPEARS TO HAVE CONCIEVED OF THE IDEA OF A UNITED ENGLISH KINGDOM.
Learning Objective Success Criteria
THE NORMAN CONQUEST. BACKGROUND TO THE CONQUEST 878 Battle of ETHANDUNE Alfred the Great of Wessex defeated the Vikings They withdrew to the DANELAW (Northern.
High School History 2.28 Alfred the Great Courageously Fights for Freedom.
Alfred the Great Values Learning
Viking Invasions
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Alfred the Great By Kelsey Wilson.
DARK AGES After the fall of Rome, Western Europe _______. struggled
Anglo-Saxon England Period from the end of Roman occupation in the 5th century until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror. The.
The first British king.
England , France, Germany, Italy
The Anglo-Norman Invasions
THE BRITISH ISLES.
14.3 – England & France Develop
The Venerable Bede Alfred the Great
FROM THE FALL OF ROME TO CHARLEMAGNE
Help! The Vikings are Coming…… AD
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Jillian Sprague and Diamond Brown
Alfred the Great and Beowulf Gifted
Alfred the Great Academic
MOAR VIKINGS!.
the first King of the West Saxons
A Basic Introduction to British History
Presentation transcript:

The Anglo-saxons Alfred the Great

childhood Alfred (849-99), king of Wessex (871-99). A popular image of Alfred is of national superman; destined by his father's (Æthelwulf) will to be king, despite having three surviving older brothers (Æthelbald, Æthelbert, and Æthelred I); saviour of the English from the Vikings; architect of a united England; founder of the navy, reformer of the army, town-planner; patron of the church; promoter of universal education and father of English prose; saintly, and easy to know. father

The quality of his own writings suggests that he had a sound education in Latin. He assisted Æthelred against the ‘great army’ which invaded in 865, and his accession in 871 was most likely not a certainty. The 870s saw continuing war against the Danes, who were numerous, skilled, treacherous, well led, wanting conquest and settlement. In 878, surprised by Guthrum at Chippenham, Alfred fled to Athelney (Somerset), but defeated the Danes in a desperate last-stand battle at Edington. The results were the treaty of Wedmore, Guthrum's baptism and retirement to be king of East Anglia.

The West Saxon dynasty was the only one to survive the Viking threat and Alfred gained authority over all the English outside Danish control. Mercia (under Burgred) had been an ally, and was handled tactfully. Alfred married his daughter Æthelfleda to Ealdorman Æthelred, probably of Mercian royal stock, allowed him to operate as subking, and ceded London after its recapture from the Danes (886).

Alfred's government was expensive Alfred's government was expensive. It is probable that he bought peace with heavy payments to the Danes, for example in 896. Wealth was necessary to ensure aristocratic support, for building, against Vikings, and also against dynastic rivals. Alfred's nephews Æthelhelm and Æthelwold challenged his disposition of Æthelred's property before the witan and could be expected to challenge his son Edward for the kingship. Asser asserts that Alfred spent lavishly on art, architecture, alms, and gifts to the church. His coinage shows he was not short of silver, and his will that he was hugely wealthy in 899.

Alfred's relationship with the church seems superficially harmonious Alfred's relationship with the church seems superficially harmonious. Ninth-cent. West Saxon kings seem not to have pressured the church economically: the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records Alfred sending alms to Rome, and receiving gifts from Pope Marinus, and Asser recounts his foundation of monasteries at Athelney and Shaftesbury (for women). Yet evidence from Abingdon suggests Alfred was resented there as a despoiler, other evidence that he appropriated monastic properties right across Wessex, and it is as a threat to the church that he appears in a papal letter in 878.

Alfred's law code referred to the laws of Æthelbert of Kent and Offa of Mercia, and included Ine's, perhaps to appeal to Kentish and Mercian sentiment The code's purpose was to promote the king as lawgiver, rather than to serve as a handbook, and Alfred's preface offers a history of law beginning with the Ten Commandments, suggesting that his people were a new people of God. The Chronicle was perhaps composed in 896-7 under Alfred's direction, its content and structure suggesting that it was commissioned to tie Alfred into West Saxon history and Wessex into world history

Alfred proposed, in his prose preface to his translation of Pope Gregory I's Pastoral Rule, a programme of translation of books ‘most necessary for all men to know’. He complained that clerical knowledge of Latin and educational standards generally had greatly declined. Alfred also translated two contemplative works, Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy and Augustine's Soliloquies, and a number of psalms.

since its leaders were bishops. The West Saxon take-over of England, 10th-century economic development, the burghs as sites of mints and centres of administration, can all be traced back to Alfred. Though vernacular literature failed to take off, the education of bishops may have contributed to the 10th-century reform movement since its leaders were bishops. Alfred's legal innovations may have laid a foundation for the English common law of Henry II's time.

Timeline for King Alfred the Great 871 Alfred becomes King of Wessex following the death of his brother Aethelred 872 London falls to Viking raiders 878 Guthrum's Danish army invades Wessex, and Alfred takes refuge on the isle of Athelney. 878 Treaty of Wedmore divides England into two. 884 Alfred defeats the Danes at Rochester 885 Alfred imposes rules on South Wales 886 Alfred takes London from the Danes. 890 Alfred establishes a permanent army and navy 891 Anglo Saxon Chronicle, source of much early British History, begun 893 Asser, Bishop of Sherborne, completes his book The Life of Alfred the Great 894 Northumbrian and East Angles swear allegiance to Alfred, but promptly break the truce 899 Alfred dies and is buried at Winchester. His son Edward becomes king.

King Alfred, named "Great", died in Winchester on October 26, 899 King Alfred, named "Great", died in Winchester on October 26, 899. He was succeeded by his son Edward the Elder.