alfred the great?

Question

give me any info u have on him...and not in huge words please!
mostly childhood

Answer 1

Alfred (also Ælfred from the Old English: Ælfrēd) (c. 849 – 26 October 899) was king of the southern Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex from 871 to 899. Alfred is noted for his defence of the kingdom against the Danish Vikings, becoming the only English King to be awarded the epithet 'the Great' (although not English, Canute the Great was another King of England given this title by the Danes). Alfred was the first King of the West Saxons to style himself 'King of the Anglo-Saxons'. Details of his life are discussed in a work by the Welsh scholar, Asser. A learned man, Alfred encouraged education and improved the kingdom's law system.

Childhood
Alfred was born sometime between 847 and 849 at Wantage in the present-day ceremonial county of Oxfordshire (though historically speaking in the historic county of Berkshire). He was the fourth son, and fifth child, of King Ethelwulf of Wessex, by his first wife, Osburga.

At five years of age, Alfred is said to have been sent to Rome where, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he was confirmed by Pope Leo IV who "anointed him as king." Victorian writers interpreted this as an anticipatory coronation in preparation for his ultimate succession to the throne of Wessex. However, this coronation could not have been foreseen at the time, since Alfred had three living elder brothers. A letter of Leo IV shows that Alfred was made a 'consul' a misinterpretation of this investiture, deliberate or accidental, could explain later confusion. It may also be based on Alfred later having accompanied his father on a pilgrimage to Rome and spending some time at the court of Charles the Bald, King of the Franks, around 854–855. In 858, Ethelwulf died and Wessex was ruled by three of Alfred's brothers in succession.

Asser tells the story about how as a child Alfred's mother offered a volume of Anglo Saxon poetry to the first of her children able to read it. This story may be true, or it may be a myth designed to illustrate the young Alfred's love of learning.

Answer 2

Alfred the Great is the first acknowledged King of all England.
He was a Wessex King. Wessex was a small kingdom in the south of England.

Answer 3

Alfred the Great was a teacher of philosophy and the sciences who taught Thomas Aquinas who was one of the greatest theologians of the CatholicChurch history.

Answer 4

an english king