Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Princess of England

Lady married Baldwin, Count of Flanders II in 884. II (son of Baldwin, Count of Flanders I and Judith Princess of Aquitaine) was born in 865; died on 2 Jan 919. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Arnulf, Count of Flanders I was born in 890; died on 27 Mar 966.

Notes:

[dunbar_tree.FTW]

Alfred was one of the greatest military leaders in history; crowned at

Winchester Cathedral in 871; founded the British Navy; a scholar, etc.  The

Mercian kingdom ended during his reign "and in 886 Alfred's authority was

accepted by all Englishmen who were not under the power of the Danes.  From

this time onward the history of Wessex is the history of England."

{-Encyclopaedia Britannica, '56, 23:520; cf.8:483. Primary source is "Life

of King Alfred," Bishop Asser, trans. L. C. Jane (London: Chatto & Windus

Ltd., 1924).}

        ----- Compton's Encyclopedia (America Online, 1995) records:

ALFRED THE GREAT  (848?-899). The course of English history would have been

very different had it not been for King Alfred. He won renown both as a

statesman and as a warrior and is justly called "the Great."

   The England of Alfred's time was a country of four small Saxon kingdoms.

The strongest was Wessex, in the south. Born in about 848, Alfred was the

youngest son of Ethelwulf, king of Wessex. Each of Alfred's three older

brothers, in turn, ruled the kingdom. Alfred was by temperament a scholar,

and his health was never robust.

   Nevertheless in his early youth he fought with his brother Ethelred

against Danish invaders. Alfred was 23 when Ethelred died, but he had already

won the confidence of the army and was at once acclaimed king in 871. By this

time the Danes, or Vikings, had penetrated to all parts of the island. Three

of the Saxon kingdoms--Northumbria, Mercia, and East Anglia--had one after

another fallen to the Danish invaders.

   Under Alfred's leadership, the Saxons again found courage. The worst

crisis came in the winter of 877, when the Danish king, Guthrum, invaded

Wessex with his army. In 878 Alfred was defeated at Chippenham, where he was

celebrating Christmas, and was forced to go into hiding.

   A few months later he forced Guthrum to surrender at Chippenham. The Danes

agreed to make the Thames River and the old Roman road called Watling Street

the boundary between Alfred's kingdom and the Danish lands to the north. The

treaty, however, did not assure permanent peace. The Danes assaulted London

and the coast towns repeatedly. In about 896 they finally admitted defeat and

ceased their struggle for a foothold in southern England.

   Alfred was much more than the defender of his country. He took a keen

interest in law and order and was concerned with the improvement of the

cultural standards of his people. He encouraged industries of all kinds and

rebuilt London, which had been partly destroyed by the Danes. He collected

and revised the old laws of the kingdom. He invited learned men from other

countries to instruct the people because even the clergy of Wessex no longer

knew Latin, the international language of the church. He established a school

similar to the Palace School of Charlemagne.

   The "books most necessary for all men to know" were translated from Latin

into English so that the people might read them. Alfred himself took a part

in preparing the translations. The `Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' was probably begun

under his direction.

   Alfred died at the age of about 51 in 899. He was in no sense a true king

of England, for he ruled less than half of the island. After his death,

however, his capable son, Edward the Elder, and his grandsons extended their

rule over all of England.

 - - - - -

From an Internet article at Ancestry.com:

  "A British and U.S. archaeological team believes it has found the grave of

King Alfred, the great Saxon king, best remembered for fighting off the Danes

in the ninth century. As then befitted a king of great piety, Alfred was

buried in 899 at the New Minster church in Winchester, 65 miles southwest

of London. His remains are thought to have been moved 200 years later to

Winchester's Hyde Abbey, one of the great medieval monasteries. But the

abbey was destroyed in 1538, and the site believed to be Alfred's tomb now

lies next to a parking lot."

married Ealhswith in 868 in England. (daughter of Mucill, Ethelred Earl ofGaini and Eadburh, of Mercia) died on 5 Dec 905 in St. Mary's Abbey, Winchester, Dorset; was buried in Winchester. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

[dunbar_tree.FTW]

Smyth ("Alfred the Great") says she died in 902.
She became a nun at widowhood, and was regarded as a saint after death.

Notes:

[dunbar_tree.FTW]

Aethelwulf reigned 839-858, "chiefly occupied with struggles against the
Danes" {-Encycl.Brit., 1956 Ed. 1:276}. In 855 went to Rome with Alfred; on
way home married Judith, daughter of Charles the Bold. Aethelwulf ruled
Wessex 839-856 (abdicated) and was Under-King of Kent 825-839 and 856-858.
His daughter Aethelswith m. (Easter, 853 at Chippenham) Burgred, King of the
Mercians (who succeeded Berhtwulf). His third son, Aethelbert, reigned
860-866 (buried at Sherborne).

married Osburh in 830 in Winchester, England, and was divorced in 846. Osburh died in 853. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

[dunbar_tree.FTW]

Osburh ("Osburga") was daughter of Earl Olsac the Thane, Grand Butler of
England (known as The Cupbearer).

Notes:

Married:
divorce

Ethelred married Eadburh, of Mercia on Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

[dunbar_tree.FTW]

Egbert is son of King Ealhmund of Wessex who descends from Cerdic, King of the West Saxons (reigned 519-34) - see AEM Charts. Cerdic led the Saxon conquest of Britain from the Briton tribes. Egbert is known as the first king of all England. He
succeeded to the throne in 802 and "overthrew the Mercian king Beornwulf in 825. This led to the annexation by Wessex of
Sussex, Surrey, Kent and Essex and the temporary recognition of West Saxon supremacy by Mercia." {-Encycl.Brit.,`56,23:520} His wife, Raedburh, is said to be a sister of the King of Franks. Egbert's later years saw many Danish Viking raids on England.
{Ref. Harold W. Smith, "Saxon England," gens. 9-13. Also: "The Earliest English Kings," D. P. Kirby (London: Routledge, 1992), pp. 189-95.} Europ