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Alfred the Great was born sometime in the year 847 to King Æthelwulf of Wessex and Osburh in Wantage, Berkshire, Kingdom of Wessex(England) also known as the Kingdom of the West Saxons. In 853 Alfred and his family traveled to Rome, where Pope Leo IV confirmed him as the future King of Wessex. In 854 Alfred and his family spent time in the court of Charles the Bald of the Carolingian Empire, where they stayed until 856. In 865 Alfred was granted the title of secundarius by Bishop Asser. In 868 Alfred fought alongside his brother Æthelred I who was King of Wessex against a Viking army led by Ivar the Boneless that was known as the Great Heathen Army, that were launching raids into Wessex from the Kingdom of Mercia which they had conquered years earlier. The Vikings initially won many battles against Æthelred and Alfred. In 871 King Æthelred passed away only being 23, so the title of King of Wessex passed to Alfred. Alfred lost a few more battles to the Vikings, known as "Danes" by the Anglo-Saxons. Alfred eventually paid the Danes a bride to get them to leave his kingdom.

In 877 Alfred lays siege to Exeter and manages to cature the city and expel the Danes from his kingdom. By 878 the Danes had subjugated nearly all of England with the exception of the Kingdom of Wessex. In May of 878 Alfred launched an attack against the Danes defeating them at the Battle of Edington, as one of the terms of surrender for the Viking leader Guthrum, he and his jarls agreed to convert to Christianity. Alfred and Guthrum also signed the Treaty of Wedmore which ceded lands in the Kingdom of Mercia to Wessex. In 886 Alfred occupied London and rebuilt the city which had been destroyed by years of Viking raids. Sometime after he rebuilt London, Alfred considered himself to be "King of the Anglo-Saxons" and had the ambition to try and unite the kingdoms under his rule. In 892 the Danes attempted to raid and colonize Alfred's land again, but by 894 he had fully driven them off. In 896 Alfred began building up the Wessex navy as a means to defeat the Danes on sea to prevent them from raiding inland. Alfred also created the Doom Book which was a set of new laws for his kingdom and well as reforming the military system and many other aspects of Anglo-Saxon life. On October 26th 899 Alfred the Great passed away at the age of 50.

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