Essays

Alfred the Great

Biographies

Middle Ages for Kids Occupation: King of Wessex

Born: 849 in Wantage, England

Died: 899 in Winchester, England

Reign: 871 - 899 Best known for: Establishing peace with the Vikings and building the
Kingdom of England

Biography: Early Life Alfred was born in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex which
was located in the southwest of England. Alfred's father, Aethelwulf, was king of
Wessex and Alfred grew up as a prince. He had four older brothers, however, so it was
doubtful that he would ever be king. Alfred was an intelligent child who loved to learn
and memorize poems. He traveled to Rome as a child where he met the pope. The pope
anointed Alfred as an honorary consul of Rome. After Alfred's father died in 858, his
brother Aethebald became king. Over the next several years each of his brothers died
until his last elder brother, Aethelred, was crowned king. King Alfred the Great by the
Founder of Oriel College Fighting the Vikings Throughout much of Alfred's life the
Vikings had been raiding England. In 870, the Vikings had conquered all the Anglo-
Saxon kingdoms except for Wessex. Alfred became his brother's second in command.
He led the Wessex army to a great victory at the Battle of Ashdown. Becoming King In
871, the Vikings continued to attack. Alfred's brother Aethelred died in one of the
battles and Alfred was crowned king. Over the next several years Alfred fought off the

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Vikings. After many battles, he thought they had finally achieved some kind of peace.
In 878, the Danish King Guthrum led a surprise attack against Alfred and his army.
Alfred managed to escape, but with only a few men. He fled to Athelney where he
plotted his counterattack. Many of the men of Wessex were tired of the constant raids
and attacks of the Vikings. They rallied around Alfred at Athelney and soon the king
had a strong army again. Burning of the Cakes Legend One legend tells the story of
Alfred escaping from the Vikings. At one point he took refuge in the home of an old
peasant woman who did not know he was the king. The peasant woman was baking
cakes when she had to go outside to tend to the animals. She asked Alfred to watch over
the cakes. Alfred's mind was so occupied with the war that he forgot to watch the cakes
and they burned. When the peasant woman returned she scolded him for not properly
watching the cakes. Peace with the Vikings With his new army, Alfred counterattacked
the Vikings. He defeated King Guthrum and took back his stronghold at Chippenham.
He then required that the Vikings convert to Christianity and established a peace treaty
where the Vikings would remain on the eastern side of Britain. The Vikings land was
called the Danelaw. Ruling as King Alfred was a great leader in battle, but he might
have been an even better leader during peacetime. Once peace had been established with
the Vikings, Alfred went about rebuilding his kingdom. With so much focus on fighting
off the Vikings, the educational system of England had almost disappeared. Alfred
knew that education was important, so he founded schools and rebuilt monasteries. He
even translated some classic works from Latin into English himself. Alfred also made
other reforms and improvements to his kingdom including building forts throughout the
country, establishing a strong navy, and bringing talented European scholars and
craftsmen across the channel to England. He also established a national code of law.
Death Alfred died in 899 and was succeeded by his son Edward. It would be his

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grandson Aethelstan who would be called the first King of England. Interesting Facts
about Alfred the Great Despite being very courageous and a great leader, Alfred was
physically a sickly and frail man. He struggled with illness most of his life. He is the
only English ruler to be called "the Great". Alfred divided his army into two groups.
One group would stay home with their families while the other group guarded the
borders from Viking raids. Alfred was called "King of the English" on his coins. Alfred
captured London in 886 and rebuilt much of the city. Legend says that Alfred once
disguised himself as a minstrel and snuck into a Viking war camp to spy on them.

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 BEOWULF
Beowulf is the oldest story written in English. It is over 1000 years old. Nobody knows who the author (the person who
wrote the story) was.

Beowulf was a great warrior. This is him shielding himself against a Dragons fire.

Grendel was the name of a monster that terrorized the Kingdom of the Geats (a very old tribe of people in England). Nobody
knows what Grendel looked like, but he was supposed to be terrible to look at. Anyone who saw him had to look away. The

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author did not describe Grendels appearance so the reader could use their imagination. The only thing the author said about
his appearance was that Grendel was awful to look at.

Ancient England was a dark, cold, scary and mysterious place. The only respite (break) from the hardship of the dark forests in
the Land of the Geats was their mead hall. The mead hall was a large hall warmed by an enormous (gigantic/very big)
fireplace. All the Geats in King Hrothgars kingdom came to the mead hall to drink mead, sing songs, and tell stories.

But the noise from the joy of the mead hall sometimes awakened (woke up) a terrible monster named Grendel. Whenever
Grendel heard the Geats in the mead hall, he would break into the hall and kill and eat everyone. Everyone in the Kingdom
was afraid of Grendel, but nobody knew what he looked like because if you were ever unlucky enough to see him, it meant
you would not live to tell anyone about it.

King Hrothgar was very troubled by Grendel destroying his mead hall, so he summoned (called) a great warrior from the north
named Beowulf. Beowulf was the only person in the Kingdom who wasnt afraid of Grendel. Every night when the Geats
gathered in the mead hall, Beowulf waited patiently for Grendel to appear.

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One night, Grendel broke into the mead hall again. This time the Geats were ready for him. Grendel and Beowulf battled each
other, and Beowulf ripped off the monsters arm. Defeated, Grendel crawled back into his cave under a lake where he died.
From then on, the Geats were able to live more peacefully, and were very grateful to Beowulf for protecting them.

Give a definition for the following words:

Gather: _________

Patiently: _________

Mysterious: _________

a) Being able to wait without becoming upset

b) Hard to understand, being strange.
c) Coming together; assembling together.

1. Read the following sentence: The only thing the author said about his appearance was that Grendel was awful to look at. Who
is the word his referring to (talking about) in this sentence?

a) The author
b) Grendel
c) Beowulf

2. How old is the story Beowulf?

3. Tell me one important event from the story. An event is a thing that happens.
4. Which is not true about the character Beowulf: ________

a) He was a famous warrior

b) He was a coward
c) He defeated the monster Grendel.
d) He didnt originally live in the Land of the Geats

5. What other monster stories do you know?

6. Does Korea have any stories about scary creatures, like monsters or ghosts? Tell me what happens in one of them.
7. Make up a story about an epic battle or a monster or an ancient tribe (society). Your story can be funny or scary or serious or silly
or anything else you like. It is your story.
8. Draw a picture of what you think Grendel looked like.

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 THE LEGEND OF KING ARTHUR

In 5th century, Britain was ruled by the High-King named Uther, who fell in love with
Lady Igraine. Unfortunately Lady Igraine was already married to Gorlois, the Duke of
Tintagel. King Uther decided to marry Lady Igraine, so he took his army, fought with
Gorlois and killed him. He married his love and they had a son named Arthur.

Because this was a very dangerous time and also the time of many attacks by Saxons,
King Uther gave his son to his wizard Merlin, to keep him safe. Merlin sent Arthur away to be raised in the
countryside with his foster brother Kay. He never knew who his parents were.

When King Uther died, no one knew he had a son. Many people argued who will be the next king. Suddenly, a
mysterious stone appeared in the yard of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. It was a message on it: Whoever will
pull the sword out, will be the rightful king of Britain.

Years later, when Arthur was 15 years old, his foster brother Kay, had his first knight's
tournament. The family went to London. Arthur forgot to take the Kay's sword, so went to
look for one. He found a sword in the stone and took it out easily. When people noticed the
sword, everyone wanted to know who pulled the sword out. At first no one believed Arthur
had done it. But later Arthur was crowned to be the King, even if 11 local kings would not
agree and started a rebellion against Arthur.

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Merlin helped Arthur to rule Britain. He took him to the magic lake.
The Lady of the Lake lived there beneath the water. She gave Arthur a
magic sword called Excalibur. If you used Excalibur in a fight, you would
always defeat your opponent. If you had the scabbard, you would always
be protected from being hurt. Arthur led a big army against 11 rebels,
fought many battles and won. The 11 kings agreed Arthur should be
the High-King.

Arthur set up his Royal palace at Camelot. When he was a bit older, he married a princess named Guinevere.
She was the daughter of King Leodegrance of Cameliard. He gave Arthur and Guinevere a huge round table as
a wedding present.

All the knights in the country wanted to be soldiers for their King, but only the bravest were
allowed to sit at the round table. They were known as Knights of the Round Table. They fought
against Saxons in many wars and finally defeated them at the Battle of Mount Badon.
Everyone was happy and felt safe again.

Arthur decided to take his successful army even farther, to Europe. After a lot of fighting, the Roman
Emperor agreed to give the western half of Europe to Arthur. The Knights of the Round Table had lots of
adventures. Some rescued princesses, some fought dragons or bad knights and many of them went to look for
a religious cup called the Holy Grail.

The best and the bravest of the Knights of the Round Table was called Sir Lancelot.
He came from Brittany in France and was Arthur's best friend. He was also very
handsome and Guinevere fell in love with him. They two would sneak away from
the palace and spend time together. Arthur had no idea what was going on.

Arthur's nephew Mordred was an evil man, who found out what was going on between
Guinevere and Lancelot and told Arthur. Lancelot ran away and Guinevere was taken to

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court where she should be burnt to death. Lancelot rescued her and they escaped to Brittany in France.
Arthur took big army to Brittany. He wanted to punish Lancelot and Guinevere.

Arthur left evil Mordred in charge, while he was away in Brittany. As Arthur had no children Mordred was
going to inherit the kingdom when Arthur died. He could not wait and told everyone Arthur had been killed in
Brittany. People believed him and he made himself the High-King of Britain. Some people liked him because he
had given away money. He even put together his own army.

Luckily, Arthur heard what was going on and returned back. The armies of Arthur and Mordred fought at the
Battle of Camlann. Unfortunately, Arthur did not have his Excalibur sword with him. His sister Morgan Le Fay
stole it from him. The battle was bad and few people were left alive at the end. Two of those were Arthur and
Mordred. They fought each other in a single combat. Arthur killed Mordred but he was badly hurt himself.

Arthur knew he was going to die. He gave Excalibur to Sir Bedivere. He told
him to return it to the magical lake. Bedivere pretended to do that, but he hid
the sword under a bush. Arthur asked him what happened when he threw the
Excalibur into the lake. Bedivere said it sank. Arthur knew right away he was lying.
He told him to go and do the job properly. Bedivere threw the sword into the
lake. He saw the hand of Lady of the Lake came out of the water to catch it.

When Arthur was dying a magical boat appeared to take him to the Isle of Avalon, where his sword Excalibur
was forged and Lady of the Lake lived. Some believe that he died there soon afterwards; some say he went on
mysterious island to heal his wounds.

POST-READING ACTIVITY questions:

Who was the first High-King mentioned in the story? What was his name?
Who was he in love with?
Was his love single or married?
How did he manage to marry her?

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 Did they have any children?
Whom did the King give his son?
Why did he give it to Merlin?
Where was Arthur raised?
Did he know his parents?
What happened when King Uther died?
What magically appeared in St. Paul's Cathedral in London?
What was the message on the sword?
Why did Arthur and his family go to London?
What did Arthur forget?
Did Arthur find another sword? Where?
Did people first believe that Arthur pulled the sword out?
Was he crowned for the King?
What is the difference between the King and the High-King?
What did 11 local knights do?
Who helped Arthur rule the Britain?
What happened with the Lady of the Lake?
Why was it said that Excalibur had the magic power?
Where did Arthur build his royal palace?
Did he fall in love and get married? To whom?
What did Guinevere's father give them as a wedding present?
Who could sit there? How were the knights called?
Did Arthur and his army defeat Saxons?
Where did they go after conquering the Britain?
What did the Roman Emperor give to Arthur?
What kind of adventured did Knights of the Round Table have?
Who was Sir Lancelot?
Who fell in love with him?

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 King Edward I
[Longshanks; the old king in Braveheart]

The Royal Families of England

King Edward II
[weak king; overthrown by his French wife, who put their son on the throne] People in boxes were
1307-1603 reigning monarchs.
King Edward III
[very strong and popular king; ruled for 50 years]

Edward, the Black Prince Lionel, Duke of Clarence Edmund, Duke of York John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster
[popular; was supposed to become king, but [regent/advisor to King Richard II] [regent/advisor to King Richard II; saw that
[regent/advisor to King Richard II; next in line
was killed in battle less than a year before his Richard II wasnt a good king]
after Richard for the crown; died a year after
father died] Richard II was crowned]
from a 2nd
marriage
Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford, later King Henry IV
Edmund Mortimer, Philippa [not a bad king, but always fighting the public sense that he was not
King Richard II the rightful king] John Beaufort,
[very weak king; crowned Earl of March Marquis of Dorset
at the age of ten; his uncles
were regents/advisors; died Roger Mortimer, Earl of March
with no heirs]
Prince Hal, later King Henry V Thomas, John, Humphrey,
Duke of Duke of Henry
[partied as a prince; good king; Duke of John Beaufort,
Bedford Gloucester Beaufort,
excellent general; he conquered Clarence Duke of Somerset
Earl of
Anne Richard, Earl of Edward, Duke lands in France; died at 37]
Somerset
Mortimer Cambridge [Annes 3rd of Aumerle,
cousin, twice removed] Duke of York

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York King Henry VI Margaret of Edmund Margaret

[his uncle was the Duke of York, who [weak king; he was less than two Tudor Beaufort
died without an heir] Anjou
years old when he was crowned] [a better general
and king than
her husband]

Edmund, Earl of Rutland George, Duke of Henry Tudor, later King

Edward, Earl of March, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, Lady Henry VII
later King Edward IV [killed in battle before Clarence [defected to Edward, Prince
Edward crowned] Lancasters; returned to later King Richard III Anne of Wales [a descendant of Edward III]
Yorks in shame] 2nd Neville 1st [heir to King Henry
VI; killed just
before his father
was deposed]
Prince Edward, later King Edward V
[became king at age 13]

LANCASTER
YORK
 Edmund [dead]
King Henry VI Margaret of
King Edward IV Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later King Anjou
George, Duke
[his paternal grandparents were Richard III
each descended from the uncles of Clarence
[married the widow of Edward, Prince of
Earl Elizabeth [framed by his
of King Richard II, Lionel and Wales; he framed his brother Clarence and had Edward, Prince of Wales
Rivers brother Richard, Lady
Woodville Edmund; Yorks believed his him killed in prison; he put his nephews in the [was supposed to become
who later had him Anne
claim to crown was stronger Tower of London for their protection; he king; killed in battle when
executed]
than that of King Henry VI] arranged the death of his brother, King Edward 2nd Neville 1st Yorks got crown from
IV; he had his wife killed; he had his nephews Lancasters; his widow
Edward, Earl in the tower killed; he was the last English king married Richard, Duke of
of Warwick killed on the battlefield] Gloucester]

LANCASTER
YORK
Prince Edward, Prince Richard,
later King Edward V Duke of York
[became king at 13; imprisoned [died with his brother]
with his brother in the Tower of
London; died less than a year later]
Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond
Elizabeth later King Henry VII
[5 years older than her [a descendant of Edward III]
brother Edward; barely
avoided marrying her
uncle, Richard III]

King Henry VIII

[the fat king with six wives; left the Roman Catholic Church
and made England Protestant; Shakespeares last history play]
This marriage legally and
symbolically unites the
Houses of York and Lancaster;
the crown transfers to the
House of Tudor.
Queen Mary I King Edward VI Queen Elizabeth I
[Bloody Mary; Englands first [Henry VIIIs only son; [The Virgin Queen; made
reigning queen; resented her father never in great health, died England Protestant again; led
for having her mother killed; after just a few years on country into Renaissance and
returned England to Catholic the throne] European dominance; enjoyed the
Church, had Protestants executed] plays of one William Shakespeare]

Which Kings are in Which Plays?

Edward III -- Edward III

Richard II -- Richard II, Henry IV
Henry IV, part 1 -- Henry IV
Henry IV, part 2 -- Henry IV, Henry V
Henry V -- Henry V
Henry VI, parts 1 and 2 -- Henry VI
Henry VI, part 3 -- Henry VI, Edward IV
Richard III -- Edward IV, Edward V, Richard III, Henry VII
Henry VIII -- Henry VIII