Alfred "The Great"

849 - 899  (50 years)

• Name	Alfred "The Great"
  Birth	849	Wantage, Berkshire, ENG
  Gender	Male
  Nickname	The Great
  Name	The Great  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
  Death	28 Oct 899  [5]
  Person ID	I6919	Ancestrees
  Last Modified	3 Mar 2026

  
  

  Father	Aethelwulf, King Of Wessex,   b. 801   d. 13 Jan 858, Winchester Cathedral, London, ENG (Age 57 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	Osburga,   b. 810   d. 856 (Age 46 years)
  Relationship	natural
  _MARRIED	N
  Family ID	F3509	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Eahlswith Of The Gaini, *,   b. 852   d. 902 (Age 50 years)
  Marriage	868	Winchester, Hampshire, ENG
  Children	1. Ethelgiva,   b. Abt 871   d. Yes, date unknown  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   2. Edward The Elder King Of England, *,   b. 875, , Wessex, England d. 924 (Age 49 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   3. Elfrida,   b. Abt 869   d. 929, Ghent, , , England (Age 60 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   4. Elthelflaed Of Mercia   d. 919  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F1046	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	3 Mar 2026

  
  

• Photos

  Alfred The Great.jpg

  
  

• Notes

  Alfred reigned as King of England from 871-899. He defeated the Danish in their attempt to conquer England at Edington in 878. He enabled the Danes to keep conquered territories in Mercia and East Anglia if the Danes' King Guthrum converted to Christianity. He then fortified against futher Danish invasion by building a navy of ships to defend himself along the southern coast as well as forts along Wessex. This apparently was needed from the years of 885-886 and again in 892-896. In 886, he gained London as a territory of England. He controlled all of England except for the territories held by Danes. (C-865, 1857)What the military strength of this "Great" King enabled him to do was to spread an amazing idea at the time that helped the world move forward. "Alfred considered learning and literacy to be crucial for the acquisition of wisdom and therefore necessary for men to live in accordance with God's will. During his reign he insisted that freedmen of adequate means learn to read English, and he himself translated Latin texts into the vernacular for the benefit of his people" Encyclopedia Britannica.

  
  

• Sources

  [S640] Albert F. Schmuhl The Royal Lines. [S1712] Stevens, Luke, Stevens, Luke, Line of Adam. [S1713] The Official Website of the British Monarchy at http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page428.asp. [S803] Blazier, Jo Ann, The Howards, From England to the Ohio Valley (c2002). [S219] Tompsett, Brian, Royal and Noble Genealogical Data on the Web at http://www.dcs.hull.ac.uk/public/genealogy/GEDCOM.html. [S7] Robert Jesse Harry, The Ancestors and Descendants of Hugh Harry and Elizabeth Brinton.