Toscead betweox fadungum "Ælfred Micela"

| style="background:#efefef;" align="center" colspan=2 | [[imageBiliþ:Alfred_the_Great.jpg]]

'''Ælfrēd''' ([[847]]? - [[26 Winterfylleþ|26 Ƿinterfylleþ]] [[899]]) ƿæs cyning [[Englaland|Englalandes]]es fram [[871]] tō [[899]], ac hē racode nǣfre ofer andlang lande. Ælfrēd is tīrfæst for ƿeriende his cynerīċe ƿiþ þā Dene ([[Wīcing|Ƿīcingas]]), and for þǣm earnode þone naman, "se Grēata". Cnǣƿþ man his līfes sōþsagu be ȝeƿrite fram [[Wīelisc|Ƿīelisce]] scōlere, [[Asser, Biscop Sherbornes|Asser]]. Ælfrēd ƿæs lārƿita and hæfst bōccræfte ȝebylded and cynerīċes lagas ætīeced.

== Ċildhād ==

== Hīred ==

Alfred's main fighting force was separated into two, 'so that there was always half at home and half out' ([[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]). The level of organisation required to mobilise his large army in two shifts of which one was feeding the other must have been considerable. The complexity which Alfred's administration had attained by [[892]] is demonstrated by a reasonably reliable charter whose witness list includes a ''thesaurius'', ''cellararius'' and ''pincerna''—treasurer—treasurer, food-keeper and butler. Despite the irritation which Alfred must have felt in [[893]], when one division, which had 'completed their call-up (stemn)' gave up the siege of a Danish army even as Alfred was moving to relieve them, this system seems to have worked remarkably well on the whole.

One of the weaknesses of pre-Alfredian defences had been that, in the absence of a standing army, fortresses were largely left unoccupied, making it very possible for a Viking force quickly to secure a strong strategic position. Alfred substantially upgraded the state of many of Wessex's fortresses, as has been demonstrated by systematic excavation of four West Saxon boroughs (at Wareham, Cricklade, Lydford and Wallingford) that "in every case the rampart associated by the excavators with the borough of the Alfredian period was the primary defence on the site" (N.P. Brooks ''The Development of Military Obligations in Eighth and Ninth Century England''). We know that such defences were not constructed by the occasional Danish occupiers, thanks to surviving transcripts of the formidable 11th Century administrative manuscript known as the Burghal Hidage, dated within 20 years of Alfred's death—itdeath—it may well date to Alfred's reign, and it almost certainly reflects Alfredian policy. This documents the established position of these four burhs, among many others, as permanently garrisoned and maintained fortress-towns. By comparing town plans of Wallingford and Wareham with that of Winchester, one can see 'that they were laid out in the same scheme' (P. Wormald in J. Campbell, ed., ''The Anglo-Saxons''). This supports the proposition that these newly established burhs were planned as centres of habitation and trade as well as a place of safety in moments of immediate danger.

== Glēsing ==

[[CategoryFlocc:Lēode]]

[[CategoryFlocc:Englisc wealdend]]

[[CategoryFlocc:Engle]]

[[CategoryFlocc:Ȝeboren in 847]]

[[CategoryFlocc:Ȝestorfen in 899]]