Alfred the Great was born in 849 CE in Wantage. King of Wessex from 871 and later styled King of the Anglo-Saxons, Alfred is the only English monarch to be called the Great. He fought the Danish Great Heathen Army, and after being driven to take refuge in the Somerset marshes, he defeated the Danes at the Battle of Edington in 878, leading to a treaty that left the north and east of England to the Danelaw. He reformed the army, built fortified towns called burhs and created a navy. A scholar, he promoted education and had Latin works translated into English, including those of Boethius and Gregory the Great, and he began the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
Before and after
- August 843 CETreaty of Verdun
- from 25 September 844 CE to 11 November 844 CEViking raid on Seville
- c. 847 CEEruption of Churchill
- 848 CEConstruction of Great Mosque of Samarra
- 849 CEBirth of Alfred the Great
- 850 CEOrigins of Chan Chan
- 850 CEConstruction of Prambanan Temple
- 850 CEDeath of Muḥammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi
- from c. 850s to 950sThe Classic Maya collapse
More in Wars, politics & history
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- from 1202 to 1204Fourth Crusade
- 1279Kublai Khan completes the conquest of China
- from 6 April 1453 to 29 May 1453Fall of Constantinople
- from 22 May 1455 to 16 June 1487Wars of the Roses
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 9th century.