Alfred (Aelfred), King Of The West Saxons

(849-899)

   The great king of Wessex (871-899), a Saxon kingdom in southwestern England. He prevented England from falling to the Danes by defeating them at the Battle of Edington (Wiltshire) in 878 and recapturing London in 886. Famous as these victories are, his patronage of learning has earned him equal respect. He is remembered as "the darling of the English," and "England's schoolmaster." Compilation of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle began during his reign. He encouraged the best scholars to the monasteries and bestowed upon them some of them highest ecclesiastical honors. He gladly received all strangers who brought with them any knowledge or any useful art. He was buried at Hyde Abbey, Winchester. One of Alfred's poems is "The Proverbs of Alfred." A quotation attributed to him runs, "I desire to leave to the men that come after me a remembrance of me in good works."

   Sources: Bartleby.com has a useful bibliography: Alfred and the Old English Prose of his Reign. Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. Encyclopedia of Britain. Bamber Gascoigne. London: Macmillan, 1994. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry. Columbia University Press, 2005 (http:// www.columbiagrangers.org). The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.