1. King Alfred The Great By Isla Derrick

2. Intro to Alfred Alfred the Great (849-899) was the most famous of the Anglo-Saxon kings. Despite overwhelming odds he successfully defended his kingdom, Wessex, against the Vikings. He also introduced wide-ranging reforms including defence measures, reform of the law and of coinage. He was a keen champion of education and translated important texts from Latin into English. He was known as a just and fair ruler.

3. Fun Facts To test if a person was guilty of a crime, they had to hold a red-hot iron! If their hand healed quickly, they were innocent. If not, they were guilty. Alfred's ships were bigger than Viking ships, with 60 oars. When the Viking chief Guthrum was baptized a Christian, Alfred was his godfather. From Alfred's burh (a fortified town) comes our word 'borough‘. The Anglo-Saxons knew the Earth was round, but wrongly believed the Sun and stars went round the Earth.

4. Family Tree

5. Why was Alfred so great Alfred was the only king in British history to be called ‘the great’ and he was born in AD849 and died in AD899. His father was king of Wessex, but Alfred became king of all England. He fought the Vikings, and then made peace so that English and Vikings settled down to live together. He encouraged people to learn and he tried to govern well and fairly.

6. The burnt cakes Wessex was being invaded by the Danes after East Anglia, Northumbria and Mercia had been overthrown and Alfred was so low in his fortunes that he was forced to travel anonymously and seek refuge in a peasant woman’s house. The peasant let him have food and refuge as long as he watched her cakes while she went out to milk the cows. Alfred had much more important things on his mind so the cakes were forgotten about and when the woman came back and saw the burnt cakes she gave Alfred a telling off, not knowing that it was her king.

8. King Alfred’s Tower King Alfred's Tower, also known as The Folly of King Alfred the Great or Stourton Tower, is a folly tower. Alfred's Tower is a monument to the genius of English landscape and to a man who certainly deserves to be remembered.

9. Quiz What word comes from the word burh? Borough What did Alfred burn? Cakes What building is named after him? King Alfred’s Tower When did he die? 899

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