The purpose of this piece is to examine Alfred the Greats Viking wars and to ascertain why his kingdom of Wessex survived the Viking onslaught in the ninth century.
Anglo-Saxon law and numismatics: A reassessment in the light of Patrick Wormald’s the Making of English Law
October 22, 2012 By
In this article, I wish to return to the references to coinage in the Anglo-Saxon laws in the light of Patrick Wormald’s important research on the laws, especially his The Making of English Law: King Alfred to the Twelfth Century, which has made this difficult evidence much more penetrable to the non-specialist.
The burh of Wallingford and its context in Wessex
May 20, 2012 By
There are many reasons for holding that the 31 burhs listed in the Burghal Hidage constituted a system in its fullest sense. One of the most telling of these is that the burghal territories of these burhs – the areas assigned to them for their upkeep – form a spatial jigsaw whose individual elements interlock with each other within the shires or their precursors.
King Alfred, Mercia and London, 874-886: a reassessment
December 5, 2011 By
The creation of a new burh in London is seen as a natural development of the system of burhs which had been established by Alfred all over Wessex in the previous two years, following his victory over Guthrum’s forces at Edington
Alfred the Great: The Most Perfect Man in History?
November 28, 2011 By
Barbara Yorke considers the reputation of King Alfred the Great – and the enduring cult around his life and legend.
Alfred’s Historia Ecclesiastica
September 5, 2011 By
Alfred’s Historia Ecclesiastica Uijttewaal, B.T. B.A. Thesis, Universiteit Utrecht (2011) Abstract The “English” had been punished by God through the arrival of the Vikings. The British before them, had lapsed in their faith and been sent the scourge of the Anglo-Saxons. This was the message of king Alfred at the end of the 9th century […]
Fragments of Boethius: the reconstruction of the Cotton manuscript of the Alfredian text
June 5, 2011 By
Fragments of Boethius: the reconstruction of the Cotton manuscript of the Alfredian text Irvine, Susan Anglo-Saxon England, 34 (2005) Abstract ‘These fragments I have shored against my ruins’: T. S. Eliot’s metaphor in The Waste Land evokes the evanescent frailty of human existence and worldly endeavour with a poignancy that the Anglo-Saxons would surely have appreciated. […]
Finding Cynuit
April 16, 2011 By
Finding Cynuit By Nick Arnold Published Online (2008) Introduction: Early in 878 an army of supporters of King Alfred of Wessex found themselves trapped in a fort by a Viking army. The siege that followed came at a time of desperate danger for Wessex. Another Viking army led by Guthrum had driven King Alfred and […]
The development of London by King Alfred: a reassessment
March 10, 2011 By
The development of London by King Alfred: a reassessment By Jeremy Haslam Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, Vol.61 (2010) Abstract: A model is presented which characterises the physical, spatial and functional development of London as a new burh of King Alfred in or soon after late AD 879, when he assumed control […]
The Later Pre-Conquest Boroughs and their Defences
February 27, 2011 By
The Later Pre-Conquest Boroughs and their Defences RADFORD, C. A. RALEGH Medieval Archaeology Vol. 14 (1970) Abstract ‘For nearly two centuries before the Norman Conquest the burh, or defensible centre of population, is often mentioned in contemporary documents. The typical burhof the eleventh century was plainly an artificial creation in which men of different lords […]
Rex Francorum et rex Angul-Saxonum: a comparison of Einhard’s Vita Karoli Magni and Asser’s De Rebus Gestis Ælfredi
February 11, 2011 By
Rex Francorum et rex Angul-Saxonum: a comparison of Einhard’s Vita Karoli Magni and Asser’s De Rebus Gestis Ælfredi By Helen Ann Hund Master’s Thesis: Wichita State University, 2007 Abstract: Einhard’s Vita Karoli Magni and Asser’s De Rebus Gestis Ælfredi document the lives of two of the most fascinating kings to influence Western civilization – Charlemagne […]
Castles and the Children of Alfred
November 29, 2010 By
My starting point was The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (Armitage, 1912), a formidable book by a formidable woman.
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