Alfred or Aelfred the Great was a King of England. He was born in 849 at Wantage, Berkshire and died in 901. He was one of the most illustrious rulers on record. His father was Ethelwolf, son of Egbert, king of the West Saxons. He succeeded his brother Ethelred in 872, at a time when the Danes, or Nosemen, had extended their conquests widely over the country, and they had completely overrun the kingdom of the West Saxons by 878. Alfred was obliged to flee in disguise, and stayed for some time with one of his own neat-herds.
At length he gathered a small force, and having fortified himself on the Isle of Athelney, formed by the confluence of the rivers Parret and Tone, amid the marshes of Somerset, he was able to make frequent sallies against the enemy. It was during his abode here that he went, if the story is true, disguised as a harper into the camp of King Guthrum (or Guthorm), and, having ascertained that the Danes felt themselves secure, hastened back to his troops, led them against the enemy, and gained such a decided victory that fourteen days afterwards the Danes begged for peace. This battle took place in May, 878, near Edington, in Wiltshire. Alfred allowed the Danes who were already in the country to remain, on condition that they gave hostages, took a solemn oath to quit Wessex, and embraced Christianity. Their king, Guthrum, was baptized, with thirty of his followers, and ever afterward remained faithful to Alfred. They received that portion of the east of England now occupied by the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridge, as a place of residence.
The few years of tranquillity (886-893) which followed were employed by Alfred in rebuilding the towns that had suffered most during the war, particularly London; in training his people in arms and no less in agriculture; in improving the navy; in systematizing the laws and internal administration; and in literary labours and the advancement of learning. He caused many manuscripts to be translated from Latin, and himself translated several works into Anglo-Saxon, such as the Psalms, AEsop's Fables, Boethius on the Consolation of Philosophy, the History of Orosius, Bede's Ecclesiastical History, etc. He also drew up several original works in Anglo-Saxon. These peaceful labours were interrupted, about 894, by an invasion of the Norsemen, who, after a struggle of three years, were finally driven out.
Alfred married, in 868, Alswith or Ealhswith, the daughter of a Mercian nobleman, and left two sons: Edward, who succeeded him, and Ethelwerd, who died in 922. Alfred presents us with one of the most perfect examples of the able and patriotic monarch united with the virtuous man. Research Alfred
Egbert was king of the West Saxons in 802 and later the sole monarch of England and Bretwalda. He died in 839. The son of Ealhmund, a king of Kent, he was driven into exile to the court of Charlemagne and returned to England as king of the West Saxons in 802. he then subdued West Wales or Cornwall, defeated the king of Mercia at Ellandune, annexed Kent, and in 829 became overlord of all the English kings. He was defeated by Scandinavian pirates in 836, but in 838 routed a formidable army of Northmen and west Welsh at Hingston Down, in Cornwall. Research Egbert
Ethelbert was King of Kent. He was born about 560 and died in 616. He succeeded his father, Hermenric, and reduced all the Anglo-Saxon states, except Northumberland, to the condition of his dependants. Ethelbert married Bertha, the daughter of Caribert, king of Paris, and a Christian princess, an event which led indirectly to the introduction of Christianity into England by St Augustine. Ethelbert was the first Anglo-Saxon king to draw up a code of laws.
Ethelbert was king of the East Angles in 790. He was treacherously put to death in Mercia in 792, when Offa, king of Mercia, overran the country, which was finally subdued by Egbert.
Ethelbert was King of England. The son of Ethelwulf, he succeeded to the government of the eastern side of the kingdom in 857, and in 860, on the death of his brother Ethelbald, became sole king. His reign was much disturbed by the inroads of the Danes. He died in 866. Research Ethelbert
Ethelwulf was king of Wessex and Kent. He was a son of Egbert and was at first successful against the Northmen, but suffered defeat at Charmouth around 842. he avenged that defeat with a naval victory off Sandwich in 851 and in a land fight at Ockley in 852. He eventually resigned to Athelbald the kingship of Wessex, retaining only that of Kent and died in 858. Research Ethelwulf
Offa was king of the East Saxons in 700 until he became a monk at Rome.
Offa was King of Mercia from 757 until his death in 796. He seized the throne after a civil war, and established supremacy over many lesser kings. He consolidated his position by marrying his daughters to the kings of Wessex and Northumbria, and was the first ruler to be called 'king of the English'.
Offa ruthlessly overcame strong opposition in southern England. By the end of his reign, Offa was master of all England south of the Humber; he married his daughters to the kings of Wessex and Northumbria. He had a frontierbarrier (known as Offa's Dyke) built; this continuous ditch and bank ran 149 miles along the boundary between the Mercian and Welsh kingdoms 'from sea to sea'. Offa had dealings with the emperor Charlemagne (a proposed a dynastic marriage between their children came to nothing), and he visited Rome in 792 to strengthen his links with the papacy. The English penny (silvercurrency) was introduced during Offa's reign. In the first recorded coronation in England,
Offa's son Ecgfrith was consecrated in 787 in Offa's lifetime in an attempt to secure the succession. However, Ecgfrith died childless months after Offa. Offa's success in building a strong unified kingdom caused resistance in other kingdoms. The Mercians' defeat at the hands of Egbert of Wessex at the battle of Ellendun in 825 meant that supremacy passed to Wessex. Research Offa
St Swithin (St Swithun) was a British saint and bishop of Winchester. He died in 862. He was probably an English noble, and was in favour with Egbert, king of the West Saxons whose son Ethelwulf made him bishop of Winchester in 852. He was instrumental in the building of bridges and churches. After his death the cathedral at Winchester was dedicated to him. Research St Swithin
Originally a tithe was the tenth part of an income payable for the maintenance of the parish priest. The practice was commanded by Moses, but it seems not to have been continued by Christians of the Apostolic Age. In Great Britain the earliest record of tithes seems to be that of Bede. In 750 Egbert, archbishop of York, directed his clergy to teach their people to pay tithes. Tithes were of three kinds: predial tithes, the produce of the soil; personal tithes, the profits of handicraft or merchandise; and mixed tithes, often included in predial tithes, the produce of animals, including butter and eggs.
Where the income from tithes was more than sufficient for local needs, the tithes were often impropriated to cathedrals and monasteries. The greater tithes impropriated to monasteries often found their way into secular hands, as shown by the existence today of lay vicars and rectors. With the rise of Nonconformity in the 18th and 19th centuries there arose an agitation against the payment of tithes, and, refusing to pay, many persons were imprisoned.
By the Tithe Commutation Act of 1836, and subsequent amending Acts, tithes were commuted to an annual tithe rent charge. The par value of the tithes was fixed according to their amount at the time, and on the assumption that a certain number of bushels of corn were worth 100 pounds. But the real value was to vary each year, according to the average price of corn during the preceding seven years, and this was periodically determined by rather involved tables. The agricultural depression of the 19th century reduced the amount of the tithe rent, and in many years it fell much below 100 pounds. In 1911 it was 71 pounds 4 shillings 1.75 pennies, but after that year it rose steadily, until in 1917 it was 92 pounds 1 shilling and 0.75 pennies. The changes in price occasioned by the Great War led to the introduction in 1918 of a bill which fixed the tithe rent charge at 109 pounds and 3 shillings and 0.75 pennies for the seven years ending January the 1st 1926. Tithe rent charge may be redeemed by arrangement with the board of agriculture on payment of 25 years' purchase. In 1920 471,094 pounds was paid to the ecclesiastical authorities for the redemption of tithe. Tithes in Great Britain were terminated by the Finance Act 1977. Research Tithe
The Heptarchy were the seven principal kingdoms into which England was divided in Anglo-Saxon times. The kingdoms were founded at different times, and at no one time were they all independent monarchies together. In 827 King Egbert of Wessex united the other kingdoms into one, and assumed thatitle of king of England. Research Heptarchy
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
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