Alfred the great

A timeline of events in the life of Alfred the Great (r. 871-899 CE), king of Wessex in Britain. (Alfred statue at Winchester by Odejea)

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To try to locate more of the royal bones, archaeologists may excavate at the site of the city's medieval Abbey where the pelvic fragment was originally found

There has been a common belief that King Alfred the Great established the Royal Navy during his reign. However, this is not true - his predecessors were creating naval fleets at least 20 years before he came to throne.

The UK now has a female prime minister and Elizabeth II has been queen for more than six decades, but few would associate Anglo-Saxon England with powerful women. Nearly 1,100 years ago, however, Æthelflæd, “Lady of the Mercians”, died in Tamworth – as one of the most powerful political figures in tenth-century Britain.

King Alfred the Great leading the Anglo-Saxons against Viking invaders

Image taken from: Title: "The History of the Kingdom of Scotland ... to the happy Union of both kingdoms ... in 1602 ... By Richard Burton (N. Crouch) . A new edition, with woodcut portraits [of the first part of 'The History of the Kingdoms of Scotland and Ireland.'] [Edited by James Caulfield.] L.P" Author(s): Caulfield, James, bookseller [person] ; R. B., approximately 1632-approximately 1725 [person] British Library shelfmark: "Digital Store 9512.h.5" Page: 74 (scanned page number - not…

Today is the anniversary of the death in 899 of Alfred the Great, one of the most attractive figures of Anglo-Saxon history. There are all sorts of reasons to love Alfred, 'England's darling' (as he was called by the twelfth century): defender of his kingdom against the Vikings, law-maker, pioneer of the navy, patron of the church - all that good stuff. But I like him most for his educational and literary interests. Any competent king might win battles and make good laws - but how many…

Interesting facts, timeline, videos and pictures about the life of Alfred the Great.