Vida y otros datos importantes de Alfred The Great (preferiblemente en inglés y completo pero no tan complicado de entender)?

Alfred the Great(Old English : Ælfrēd, [a]Ælfrǣd[b], "elf counsel" or "wise elf" ; 849 – 26 October 899) wasKing of Wessexfrom 871 to 899.

Alfred successfully defended his kingdom against theVikingattempt at conquest, and by the time of his death had become the dominant ruler inEngland.

[1]He is one of only two English monarchs to be given theepithet"the Great", the other being the ScandinavianCnut the Great.

He was also the firstKing of the West Saxonsto style himself "King of the Anglo - Saxons".

Details of Alfred's life are described in a work by the9th - centuryWelshscholar and bishopAsser.

Alfred had a reputation as a learned and merciful man of a gracious and level - headed nature who encouraged education, proposing that primary education be taught inEnglishrather than Latin, and improved his kingdom'slegalsystem, militarystructure and his people's quality of life.

In 2002 Alfred was ranked number 14 in the BBC's poll of the100 Greatest Britons.

Childhood[edit]Further information : House of Wessex family treeAlfred was born in the village of Wanating, nowWantage, historically inBerkshirebut now inOxfordshire.

He was the youngest son of KingÆthelwulf of Wessexby his first wife, Osburh.

In 853, at the age of four, Alfred is reported by theAnglo - Saxon Chronicleto have been sent to Rome where he wasconfirmedbyPope Leo IV, who "anointed him as king".

Victorianwriters later interpreted this as an anticipatorycoronationin preparation for his eventual succession to the throne of Wessex.

This is unlikely ; his succession could not have been foreseen at the time as Alfred had three living elder brothers.

A letter of Leo IV shows that Alfred was made a "consul" ; a misinterpretation of this investiture, deliberate or accidental, could explain later confusion.

It may also be based on Alfred's later having accompanied his father on a pilgrimage to Rome where he spent some time at the court ofCharles the Bald, King of the Franks, around 854–855.

On their return from Rome in 856 Æthelwulf was deposed by his sonÆthelbald.

With civil war looming themagnatesof the realm met in council to hammer out a compromise.

Æthelbald would retain the western shires (i.

E. historical Wessex), and Æthelwulf would rule in the east.

When King Æthelwulf died in 858 Wessex was ruled by three of Alfred's brothers in succession : Æthelbald, ÆthelberhtandÆthelred.

Bishop Asser tells the story of how as a child Alfred won as a prize a book of Saxon poems, offered by his mother to the first of her children able to memorize it.

Legend also has it that the young Alfred spent time in Ireland seeking healing.

Alfred was troubled by health problems throughout his life.

It is thought that he may have suffered fromCrohn's disease.

Statues of Alfred in Winchester and Wantage portray him as a great warrior.

Evidence suggests he was not physically strong and, though not lacking in courage, he was noted more for his intellect than as a warlike character.