Alfred was called ‘the Great’ because he was very important as a great leader of the Saxons at a time when the Vikings were making many fierce raids on England, capturing great areas of territory (eg Mercia and Northumbria) and killing off many royal families. His leadership inspired the Saxons and gave them courage to fight back against the Vikings and many groups rallied under his leadership.

Some people say that the main reason he earned the title 'Great' was because he was a brilliant soldier. He fought off the Vikings (under their leader Guthrum) at the extraordinary battle of Edington in Wiltshire, and then at Chippenham. If Alfred had not done this the Viking Guthrum might have ruled all of England from the end of the 9th century. Instead the Vikings settled in East Anglia and part of Mercia (an area which became known as the Danelaw). So some people say that Alfred deserves to be called 'great' because he showed considerable political skill in securing an agrement with Guthrum to prevent the Danes taking over the whole of England. Although the agreement made between Alfred and Guthrum did not end the fighting for good it established Alfred’s importance. From that point on for the first time in our history Alfred is named in charters (legal papers) and on coins as “King of the English”. Achieving this control of all England marks him out as ‘great’. Furthermore by winning the victory against Guthrum Alfred had also preserved the Christian religion in England.

Alfred was also great because he was a great administrator. He organised his kingdom so that it could withstand the Viking raids and built up strong defences. He built a network of forts and fortified towns known as burhs around his kingdom. These had earth bank defences and walls that gave the people protection from Viking attack. These burhs were very carefully planned with a grid of streets and many of these patterns have survived until today (eg seen in the design of Winchester and the basic structure of London’s streets)

Alfred was also given the title ‘great’ because he reorganised both the army and the navy. For the army he set up a new system. Under this system only the nobles were full time soldiers. The rest were divided into two groups (called fyrd) so that, while one half of the men served as soldiers, the others looked after their farms and guarded the forts. In case of attack the men under arms were ready to fight and the soldiers in reserve could join the army if needed. As well as reorganising the army Alfred also realised how vulnerable the island was to invasion, so he revived shipbuilding. He ordered the building of ships of a ‘new design’ (bigger and faster than the Viking ships and with 60 oars). So some people would say that Alfred was the man who started the British navy!

Another reason Alfred earned the title “Great” because he made new laws using the best of earlier law codes. His law code was the first issued by an English king for 100 years and it helped to give English speaking people a sense of shared identity and a common cause. His laws (or Dooms) were used by his successors as the basis for the Common Law of the land. Alfred also started a survey of the divisions of the land called the Book of Winchester (the forerunner of the Domesday Book).

Finally Alfred earned the title ‘great’ because of his influence on learning. The Viking raids had disrupted the writing of manuscripts and Alfred was concerned about the decline of learning. He encouraged the writing of manuscripts and arranged for many books to be translated into English. He founded schools, set up several monasteries and also ordered the writing of the Anglo Saxon Chronicles. All this earned him the title “England’s schoolmaster’ and some historians say that, through his translations and writings, he “created English literature”.

What do you think is the most important reason why he deserves to be called 'the Great'? You need to make your own judgement.