Alfred the Great

Gone Medieval

History Hit

History

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 5 July 2022

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Alfred the Great - King of the West Saxons and later King of all the English not under Scandinavian rule - is the only English King to be given the title “the Great”.

So why did he become such a legend that to become a British citizen you now have to answer questions about him?

In this episode of Gone Medieval, Dr. Cat Jarman talks to historian, TV producer and publisher Justin Pollard, whose book on Alfred the Great dubs him “the man who made England.”

The Senior Producer on this episode was Elena Guthrie. It was edited by Thomas Ntinas and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	If you're a fan of the podcast, I've got some exciting news for you. We're publishing a book.
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0:25.7	This episode is sponsored by the London Review of Books, Europe's leading magazine of books
0:32.8	and ideas. There are plenty of reasons to read the London Review of Books, the finest book
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1:20.5	That's a saving of 94% off the cover price. Go to lrb.me forward slash hit now.
1:36.8	Hello and welcome to Gone Medieval. My name is Dr Cat Jarman. Alfred the great
1:43.0	King of the West Saxons from 871 and later King of all the English who are not
1:48.0	under Scandinavian rule. Here's the only English King ever to have been given the title
1:53.7	they great. But why is that? And what did Alfred do for us? And why has he become such a legend
2:01.6	that if you want to become a British citizen and take the required life in Britain test,
2:06.0	you will have to answer questions about him. As a little aside here, I acted in one of those
	...

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