Alfred the Great

Alfred the Great was born in 849, in the south of England. He was the youngest of four brothers. Kings at that time were usually good soldiers, but they didn't often know how to read. But Alfred went to Rome with his mother. He learned to read and write there.

At that time there were a lot of Danish soldiers in the north of England. The Danish kings wanted to be kings of all England. They killed Alfred's three brothers, burned English towns, and killed Alfred's people. Soon the Danes were in London and most of the south of England. Alfred was king in the west of England, but the Danes came there, too. Every year the Danes were stronger and stronger.

But Alfred and his men learned to fight better and better. The Danes began to lose, and Alfred's soldiers went east, to Winchester and London. The English people were happy to see them. "We want Alfred to be our King," they said. "Not the Danes." Sometimes, they made big white horses on the hills, because they were happy and free.

The Danes went back to the north of England. Alfred was king in the south of England, and the Danish king, Guthrum, was king in the north.

Guthrum was afraid of Alfred and didn't want to fight him any more. But more Danish soldiers came over the sea in their big ships.

In the south of England they burned towns and killed people. But then Alfred's men made some big new ships. Every time the Danes came, Alfred's men were ready for them. So the Danes went to different countries, and England was quiet and free.

Alfred lived in Winchester, in the south of England. He was king for twenty-eight years. In his time, English people made a lot of new schools. They began to write the first books in English, too. English people remember him because he was a strong, good king.

Tim Vicary: Kings and Queens of Britain; Oxford Bookworms Factfiles (Stage 1: 400 headwords); Oxford University Press, 1997, page 4 f.