The documentary follows initial investigations of an unmarked grave that was rumoured to contain the remains of King Alfred. By the 890s, Alfred's charters and coinage (which he had also reformed, extending its minting to the burhs he had founded) referred to him as 'king of the English', and Welsh kings sought alliances with him. What did he look like? Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, a defender against Viking invasion and a social reformer; just few of the reasons why he is the only English monarch to be known as “the Great”. And how did he die? King Alfred of Wessex and Mercia (Old English meaning "elf counsel")is the illegitimate son of Judith and Athelstan. When he was born at Wantage in 849, it might have seemed unlikely that Alfred would ever become king , but in a period of increasing Viking attacks, his four brothers all died as young adults. Upon the death of Alfred’s older brother, Aethelred, in 871 AD the crown should have passed to his young son, Aethelwold. How did he live? He is also seen as having a great destiny by his step-father, King Aethelwulf. Pacific View Memorial Park, located at the end of the quiet two-lane Pacific View Drive, is a private 35-acre property offering sweeping views of the ocean. Alfred… This post on Hyde Abbey is adapted and condensed from my book, King Alfred: A Man on the Move, available through Amazon and bookshops. Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in Issue #5 of the Anglotopia Magazine in Spring 2017. However, due to Alfred’s divine blessing by the Pope and a consensus of the Earls of Wessex, Alfred instead was made king. This is my second post on Winchester, the first is located here.. King Alfred was buried at Winchester, in Hampshire, but the … A: Alfred was the fifth son of King Æthelwulf (839-58), ruler of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex – the area south of the river Thames. The Viking King Guthrum ruled the Danelaw (northern England) and parts of Mercia and Northumbria in the late-ninth century. Just who was this King? Support great long-form writing about British History, Culture and Travel by subscribing to the Anglotopia Print Magazine.. On the year of his death in 899 Alfred the Great was known only as Alfred, King … He then set his sights on the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Wessex, ruled by Alfred the Great. An unmarked grave has been exhumed at a church where the remains of King Alfred the Great are thought to be buried. Guthrum and his Vikings made a presumably surprise attack on Alfred’s castle at Chippenham on Christmas, January 6, 878. Alfred died in 899, aged 50, and was buried in Winchester, the burial place of … The mystery of King Alfred's final resting place may be closer to being resolved as St Bartholemew's church at Hyde prepares to ask for permission to exhume and identify the bones in an unmarked grave at the church. 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