For centuries, historians have been puzzled by a private battle that plagued Alfred the Great, the only English monarch ever to earn the title “the Great. ” Now, modern medical experts have proposed a devastating explanation for the chronic illness that he endured throughout his reign. Alfred ruled the kingdom of Wessex from 871 to 899, standing out as one of the most dedicated and beloved rulers of his era. Despite living with constant pain, he prioritized his kingdom above all else, earning the adoration of his people.
Much of what we know about him comes from a biography written by the Welsh scholar Asser, a document unique for its time, as Alfred was the only Anglo-Saxon king to receive a full-length biography. His path to the throne was anything but guaranteed. A century before he was born, the idea of him inheriting it would have been unimaginable. Before his grandfather Egbert became king, the throne was constantly contested among three warring families, and sons rarely inherited directly from their fathers.
Egbert broke that pattern by passing the crown to his son, Alfred’s father, Æthelwulf. As the youngest of five brothers, Alfred began his life in relative obscurity. He was nowhere near the heir apparent, and written records of his early years are scarce. Even his birth date is unclear, with most agreeing it occurred around the mid-800s.
Asser wrote that it was 849, though other sources suggest he was a few years older when he took the throne. One of the few stories from his childhood is considered apocryphal. According to the tale, his mother offered an elaborately designed book of poetry to whichever of her sons could memorize it first. Young Alfred, recognizing the value of the gift, took it to his teacher, learned the entire book, and recited it perfectly to win the prize.
The story is particularly notable because he was likely less than six years old at the time, and his mother passed away when he was six, with Alfred not learning to read until he was twelve. Alfred’s rise in historical records began in 865, when his fourth older brother, Æthelred, took the throne. With only the two of them remaining in the line of succession, Alfred was recognized as the potential successor. His first notable appearance came on the battlefield, fighting alongside his brother against the Viking leader Ivar the Boneless in the kingdom of Mercia.
Though they ultimately failed, Alfred also formed a crucial political connection behind the scenes, marrying a Mercian nobleman’s daughter named Ealhswith in 868. Æthelred’s reign lasted only five years, ending with his death in 871. Although he left behind two sons, they were too young to rule, and a prior pact between the brothers meant Alfred inherited nearly everything their father had left them, including the title of king. This put Alfred in charge of protecting Wessex from the relentless Danish invasion, even as he dealt with his brother’s funeral and the matters of succession.
Preoccupied, Alfred could not lead the Saxon army as it fell to Viking forces. Realizing he could not win through force alone, he made the drastic decision to pursue diplomacy. Meeting with Danish leaders, he struck a peace agreement in which the Vikings promised to leave the Anglo-Saxon regions. The Danes did not honor their end of the deal for long, returning to Wessex in 876.
Alfred formed a blockade to prevent their advance, but could not retake the town of Wareham. He arranged another meeting with Viking leaders, and the Danes swore on a symbol of Thor to solidify the agreement, but they brutally betrayed Alfred, slaying the hostages before escaping to Devon. The nightmare escalated in 878. While Alfred was staying in Chippenham over the winter, the Vikings ambushed the town in a horrifyingly bloody affair.
Alfred escaped with a handful of men, but the Danes massacred nearly everyone else. During this escape, he retreated into the Somerset Levels, where a famous legend places him in a humble cottage. According to the story, a woman sheltering him asked him to watch wheaten cakes baking by her fire. Lost in thought about his kingdom, he let them burn, and the woman scolded him soundly for his carelessness.
While Alfred was evading his enemies, the Danes continued to ravage Anglo-Saxon lands. Every Anglo-Saxon kingdom except Wessex had fallen. Alfred established a fort at Athelney and began harassing the Danes for weeks. Finally, he rallied his men and met the enemy near Edington, where the Saxons emerged victorious and pushed the Vikings back to Chippenham.
Alfred showed no mercy, cutting off the Viking supply and starving them into submission. Their leader, Guthrum, agreed to negotiate, and Alfred accepted his surrender on the condition that Guthrum receive a baptism. The Treaty of Wedmore, signed afterward, demanded that the Danes finally depart from Wessex. They settled in East Anglia, and the land they occupied in the northeast of England became known as the Danelaw.
With peace hard-won, Alfred turned his attention to a pressing internal issue: the profound lack of education in Wessex. Believing that the Vikings had been sent by God as punishment for ungodly living, he hoped to fix this through learning. He invited scholars from outside Wessex to take positions in courts and the church, and he established a court school to teach English and Latin to children, including those outside the nobility. Alfred did not neglect political matters.
In 886, he marched on London, reoccupying the city from Danish control, and placed his son-in-law in charge of its defense. This move helped him solidify his claim as the King of the Anglo-Saxons, envisioning a prosperous future for his kingdom and giving his son an advantage in retaking other Danish lands. The uneasy peace did not last. After Guthrum perished in 889, ambitious Viking leaders resumed hostilities.
Alfred knew his previous victories had relied on his own leadership and luck, and he saw that the Saxons could not keep fighting the same way. The Vikings would fortify strongholds and choose targets carefully, while the Saxons charged head-on, allowing the Danes to outlast them. Alfred enacted major reforms, building an array of 33 fortified settlements known as burhs, linked by an interconnected web of roads. He positioned them with tactical precision to allow swift responses to attacks from nearly anywhere in his territory.
He also strengthened alliances with Mercia and Wales, and in 896, he built a navy, though historians note he was not the creator of the English navy, as previous kings of Wessex had their own royal fleets. In the early 890s, the feared day arrived. The Vikings invaded again, sailing into England in two separate groups totaling 330 ships. This was no common raid; the invaders brought their wives and children, clearly intending to conquer and inhabit the region rather than simply pillage.
Thanks to Alfred’s planning, the Saxons were ready. They forced the Danes back through Essex, up the Thames Valley, and into Chester. Alfred ordered his men to destroy all of their provisions, and the starving Danes retreated. By around 896, the Vikings realized they had lost and ceased their invasion.
Even after defending his kingdom, Alfred still faced a more personal battle. He had struggled with a painful illness for years, and it eventually took his life in 899. Modern scholars have finally looked back at the symptoms documented by his biographer, Asser, and doctors today believe he likely suffered from Crohn’s disease or a similar illness. Alfred’s legacy lived on through Asser’s biography and through the king’s own actions.
Constantly demonstrating mercy and charity, he was popular among nobles and commoners alike. Despite living only to around the age of 50, he improved his kingdom’s defense, education, and legal systems. He was not without critics, as his expensive burh system drew complaints from the nobility, but his character defined his reign. Having been illiterate until age 12, he retained an unyielding desire to learn, and he was regarded as the most open-minded and tolerant of his brothers.
Alfred the Great built the foundations for his descendants to unify England. Through his reforms and his determination to defend his kingdom against impossible odds, he became a legend in English history, a king who achieved greatness despite constant pain and seemingly insurmountable challenges.