ALFREDO IL GRANDE. — King of the West Saxons (871-901), b. at Wantage (Berkshire) in 849, d. at Oxford 26 Oct. 901. He was the fifth son of Ethelwulf and succeeded his brother Ethelred in 871. He was a man of great energy and piety, and his reign was marked by the struggle against the Danish invasions. He reorganized the army, fortified the towns, and established a system of burhs (fortified places) to resist the invaders. He also promoted learning and education, inviting scholars from abroad and encouraging the translation of important works into the vernacular.
He ordered the beginning of an Anglo-Saxon chronicle in which the principal events of each year were listed. He himself translated from Latin the Historia ecclesiastica of Bede, the Historia adversus paganos of Orosius, the De consolatione Philosophiae of Boethius, and the Regula Pastoralis of Pope Gregory, copies of which he sent to each bishop in his kingdom. Translations of psalms, fragments of Holy Scripture, and a collection of proverbs are also attributed to him.