That his lay subjects as well as the clergy might have works in their possession worth reading, Alfred set himself to learn the Latin language, with a view of translating from it such works as he thought most likely to please and instruct them. The works which he so translated, arranged in the order of their importance, are as follow: first in interest and in value, is his translation of the venerable Bede's History of the English Church, which is the earliest history of the English people as well as of their church, and is still the foundation of nearly all our knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon race in the times which Bede describes. In addition to this delightful account of their own country and race, Alfred supplied his subjects with a knowledge of other countries, by means of a translation of the Universal History of Orosius, to which he made such additions as the information current in his age enabled him to supply. The most important of these additions are an account of Germany, or rather of all countries in which the German language was spoken in his times, extending from the Mediterranean to the northern bay of the Baltic, the gulf of Bothnia; and also two accounts of voyages of discovery, one to the north cape of Europe, made by Ohthere, a mariner and whaler of Norway, and another to the recesses of the Baltic, made by another mariner named Wulfstan, probably a native of Schleswic. These additions to the work of Orosius entitle Alfred to be considered the best-informed geographer of his age. In addition to these historical works, Alfred translated the work of Boethius, "On the Consolations of Philosophy," adding to it many original observations, especially in the second and third books. In the former, he lays down the wisest and freest principles of government; in the latter, leaving the philosopher, he assumes the character of the christian, and writes warmly and piously of the goodness, wisdom, and holiness of God. In addition to these works on history, geography, and philosophy, Alfred also translated the Pastoral of Gregory the First, and Gregory's work "On the Care of the Soul." Many other works have been attributed to Alfred, but of the above there is no doubt.
In the midst of these peaceful pursuits, the great king and his subjects were roused from all thoughts of peace by another frightful invasion of the Danes and Northmen, led by Hastings, a warrior of unrivalled skill amongst the sea-kings of that age; they were aided by the Danes who were already settled in the eastern and northern counties of the kingdom. In the year 892, a Danish fleet, consisting of 250 vessels, landed a large army of Danes and Northmen at Lymme in Kent; and soon after a second fleet of eighty vessels landed Hastings himself, and a host of his followers, at the mouth of the Thames. At the same time the whole Danish population in the north and east of England rose in arms, and made common cause with the invaders. But Alfred proved himself fully equal to this, as he had done to all other emergencies. In the years of peace which the kingdom had enjoyed, he had fully organized his people for the defence of their homes and country, and, after three desperate campaigns, the foreign invaders were driven out of the kingdom, and those who remained in the north and eastern counties were compelled to sue for peace and pardon.
The Danes and Northmen, having the command of the sea, landed wherever they thought fit, in spite of the feeble navy of Alfred; but wherever they landed they were defeated, either by the heroic king or his able officers and loyal subjects. In the first campaign the Danes were defeated in a pitch battle at Farnham in Surrey, and their entrenched camp at Benfleet in Essex, was stormed and taken by an army, chiefly raised in and about London. In this assault the wife and two sons of Hastings were taken prisoners, but they were generously returned to the Danish chief, not only without ransom, but loaded with presents. In the same campaign the Danes were defeated at Exeter by Alfred in person; and at Buttington, near Shrewsbury, by one of his ablest generals. It is evident from the position of these places that this was an organized system of attacks, directed against all parts of his dominions at one and the same time.
In the second campaign, the Danes were driven into Chester, from which city they were compelled to retire into Wales. After remaining there some time, they passed over into the Danish province of Northumbria, and, marching over that province and over the province of East Anglia, they again arrived in the neighbourhood of London, and constructed a strong camp near Ware or Hertford. This position they held for some time, and even defeated the Londoners in an attempt to storm it; but in the autumn of the same year, Alfred succeeded in rendering this position untenable, by drawing off the waters of the river Lea, which formed its main defence. Driven from the banks of the Lea and the Thames, Hastings marched rapidly to the banks of the Severn, and took up a strong position at Quattbridge, near the present town of Bridgnorth. But the Saxons were at his heels, and after enduring all the horrors of famine, he was again compelled to take flight.
In the spring of the following year, Hastings again attempted to renew the war, but being foiled at all points, he fled from the country, with all those of his followers who had survived the sword of Alfred, leaving the kingdom greatly exhausted, but still free and independent. After the departure of Hastings, no other Danish or Northman chief ventured to land on the coasts of England during the reign of Alfred.
The last four years of Alfred's life were spent in peace, but his frame was giving way under the pressure of disease, and he died on the 28th October, 991, at the early age of fifty-three years, after having reigned thirty years and six months.—T. B.
ALFRED and ARIRAM, two German architects, natives of Bavaria, who lived in the ninth century. The former belonged to the convent of Tegernsee, the latter to that of St. Emmeran. They were the contemporaries of the Emperor Arnulph, and built the imperial palace at Ratisbonne.
ALFRED, son of the Saxon king, Ethelred II., and brother of Edward the Confessor, lived for many years at the court of his uncle, Richard of Normandy, whither his mother Emma had fled with her sons to escape the troubles consequent on the invasion of England by the Danes. After Emma's marriage with Canute, and the death of that king, Alfred was induced, by a letter, purporting to be written by his mother, to land in England with a small force of only six hundred men, to assert his right to the throne against Harold Harefoot. Who the real writer of the letter was cannot be certainly determined, but it is clear that it was intended to ensnare the two sons of Ethelred; and it is not improbable that Emma had to do with it, in order that the way might be more effectually cleared for the succession of Hardicanute, her son by Canute, in whose cause her sympathies were fully enlisted. Alfred was speedily betrayed through the agency of Earl Godwin; and his followers having been cruelly murdered, he was carried, first to London, and then to Ely, where he underwent a mock trial, and was sentenced to lose his eyes. The sentence was so cruelly executed that he died in a few days after.—J. B.
ALFRED, originally a Benedictine monk of Glastonbury, under Dunstan, afterwards abbot of Malmesbury, and bishop of Crediton, then the seat of the present bishopric of Exeter. He died in 999, after having held the see nine years. He maintained a strict discipline over his clergy, and took great pains with the performance of the sacred offices.—J. B., O.
ALFRED, ALURED or ALRED, a canon of the church of St. John at Beverley. He was the author of a chronicle which was published at Oxford, 1716, and which many have thought to be only an abridgment of Jeffrey of Monmouth. Alfred is said to have died about 1136.—J. B., O.
ALFRED or ALURED, who was surnamed the Englishman and the Philosopher, was a writer of the thirteenth century, about whom very little is certainly known. It would appear that he travelled in France and Italy, became at Rome chaplain to Cardinal Ottoboni, whom he accompanied to England, when he came as legate from Clement IV. He seems to have written chiefly on subjects allied to physical science. Several works are attributed to him: "On the Motion of the Heart," "On the Training of Hawks," "De Musica," "De Rerum Natura," and Commentaries on Aristotle and Boethius.—J. B.
ALFRIC or ÆLFRIC, surnamed the Abbot and the Grammarian, is the name of an Anglo-Saxon writer to whom many works are attributed. Little is known of his history. It is not even certain that the works which bear his name are the productions of the same man, different surnames being appended, sometimes "the Monk," and sometimes "the Bishop." He was probably born about the beginning of the tenth century, and was, it is said, of noble descent. He studied under Ethelwold at Abingdon and Winchester, and, it is supposed, was made abbot of St. Albans in 969. It is more certain that he superintended for a time the abbey of Cerne in Dorsetshire. There was an Alfric, bishop of Wilton, who succeeded to the see of Canterbury about the end of the tenth century. Some identify our author
