Alfred's Work in Wessex

Until the year 896 King Alfred continued his war against the Danes under their last great leader, Haesten.' But by 881 his military work had been largely accomplished, and he was able to turn to matters of internal reorganization and reform.

His first consideration was for the defences of his kingdom. Already, in 877, had he commanded long ships to be built for the protection of the coast, and with these in 882 and again in 885 he had defeated and captured ships of the Danes. In 897 he enlarged the navy by the construction of ships twice as large as the others and propelled by sixty oars or more. In the army his changes were even more radical. He increased the number of thegns, who had been at first attendants on the royal household and later had become a territorial nobility, and required of them a more regular military service. He divided them into three groups, one of which was always to be with him as he travelled from one royal estate to another for the king had no fixed court. In this way he provided for a permanent body of heavy-armed men. The fyrd, or body of foot-soldiers, he divided into two parts, one of which remained at home, while the other fought with the king and the thegns. He also mounted many of his men on horseback for greater rapidity of movement. To others of his people he intrusted the erection of fortified camps and the strengthening and defence, of the burgs. It is a noteworthy evidence of the success of these changes that not only was Alfred able to ward off the attack of H sten, but that for nearly a century after this time his successors were almost continuously victorious in all conflicts with the Danes.

Alfred strengthened also the organization of the church, and brought it into closer contact with the Continental church of which it was a part. During a visit to Rome in 853, when but five years old, he seems to have received at the hands of Leo IV some special recognition, the exact nature of which is not known. Asser and the Chronicle say that the pope hallowed Alfred as king and took him as his bishop's son," the latter referring to the act of confirmation. But whether the hallowing" was a consecration as future king of Wessex or as an under-king of Kent is doubtful. Alfred, in after years, constantly sent alms and letters to Rome and received gifts of books and relics in return. He did what he could for the monasteries that had suffered so terribly from the Danish attacks. He erected two new monasteries in Wessex, one at Athelney and another at Shaftsbury, the latter of which he placed under his own daughter as abbess; and to each he gave an ample endowment. He strengthened neighboring monasteries in Mercia, and gave freely, not only to churches elsewhere in England, but also out of it, in Brittany and Ireland. He was constant in his attendance upon worship, and was accustomed to pray secretly at night in the churches or at the relics of the saints.

For learning and literature his work is especially famous. He organized schools both at his court and at the monasteries, demanding the attendance of his own children as well as those of the nobility, that they might read Latin and Saxon books and learn to write. About him he gathered men of learning: Werefrith of Worcester, Plegmund, thelstan and Werewulf, priests and scholars from Mercia, Grimbald of St. Omen's, and John the Old Saxon from the continent, all of whom aided him in his work. He read books, and had others read to him. For the instruction of the clergy, he translated, from the Latin, Gregory's Pastoral Care; and though occupied with matters of state and in poor health found time to translate and comment upon Boethius, De Consolatione Philosophioe, and Orosius, History of the World. Either he himself or one of his Mercian scholars made a version of Baeda's Ecclesiastical History; - and a group of monks, probably at Winchester, gave a splendid impetus to Anglo-Saxon prose by gathering together the annals kept in the monasteries and continuing them in the form of a chronicle. The translation of Baeda and the writing of the Chronicle bear witness to the growing national spirit that Alfred was stimulating in Wessex.

In law and government the king's efforts were no less successful. He gathered into one code, the laws of the West Saxon kingdom, comprising church laws adopted in the synods, those of thelbirht of Kent, those of his own predecessor, Ine of the West Saxons, and those of Offa of Mercia. To these he added a few of his own, prefacing the whole with an elaborate introduction, composed of the, Ten Commandments, part of the Law of Moses, a letter of the Apostles from Jerusalem, and some original remarks of his own. This collection is of great importance ; for not only is it one of the greatest monuments of this prudent and far-sighted king, but it laid the foundation for law in Wessex, and upon it were built the laws of his successors.

What he did for government is more difficult to determine; for later generations, impressed with Alfred's greatness, attributed to him laws that were not his, and political changes that he did not effect. We know that he was constantly exhorting his ministers to govern more wisely, and that he himself kept careful watch to see that justice was done throughout the kingdom. He made the central government more efficient by frequent meetings of his chief advisers, and also controlled local affairs by sending chosen persons to see that peace was maintained and that the good of his people was considered in the smaller districts.

In general he encouraged hunting and manly pursuits, fostered the making of articles in gold, and promoted trade and commerce. He restored cities and towns, and rebuilt many royal villas; he was in frequent communication with the world outside of England; he exchanged letters and gifts with foreign kings and patriarchs, notably Elias III of Jerusalem, and he is said to have sent Si-helm to the shrine of St. Thomas, in India. We know that he dispatched Othere on a voyage to the northeast. All this was accomplished by a man who was tormented during his life by a grievous sickness, and who died at the early age of fifty-two, October 26, 901 (899 ?).