Welcome to the British History Podcast. My name is Jamie and this is episode 248. The

death of Alfred the Great. This show is ad-free due to member support and as a way of thanking

members for keeping the show independent, I offer members only content including extra

episodes and rough transcripts. You can get instant access to all the members extras

by signing up for membership at the British History Podcast.com. And thank you very much to James,

Danielle and Matt for signing up already. By 897, everything Alfred had known had changed.

He was barely in his 20s when he first took the throne and he really hadn't had a chance to stop

for a breath in the decades that followed. For over half of his life, he had been king. And in those

years, he'd proven himself to be an energetic and inventive leader. West six under his rule

had been transformed. Defensive structures, public infrastructure, educational reform, legal

reforms, military reforms, even the creation of a written history. Hell, he even changed the

concept of kingship within the Anglo-Saxon territories. Under Alfred, the entire realm from the

very top and the concepts of what makes a noble with everything from their powers to their

obligations to scholarship, all the way to the bottom with the duties of the peasants and the

organization of their lives. All of it had been molded to fit his vision. And even though it

had been a difficult task, even though he had even lost his kingdom for a time, quite likely due

to a coup. In the end, he got what he wanted. He had even transformed his court into a school

in the model of the great carolingian kings of old. Alfred had really done it all. He was an

Anglo-Saxon version of Charlemagne, a king's Solomon reborn, and consequently, now he was living

in the west six that he had always wanted. Furthermore, much of his reign had been defined by those who

stood against him, but now, half Dan was dead. Guthram was dead. Hastin and his army were gone. East

Anglia and Northumbria were defeated. There were no looming threats from the continent. His

...