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With this latest Viking invasion having been thwarted, Alfred took steps to ensure the future safety of his people Across his kingdom he created a series of fortified market places called burhs, which, in addition to aiding the economy of the realm, provided strong points of defense against Viking raids These were strategically situated so that no burh was more than one day’s march (approximately 20 miles) from another Alfred also reorganized his army so that at any one time, only part of the fyrd, or levy, was out in the field or defending the burhs, while the men in the other half would remain home tending their own and their absent kinsmen’s farms and livestock This enabled Alfred to extend the time of service for which each half of the fyrd could be deployed, because it removed problems of supply and also relieved men from worrying about their families and farms back home These measures proved immensely effective, not only allowing Alfred to successfully defend Wessex, but even enabling him to go on the offensive against the Vikings, so that by 879 much of Mercia had been cleared of Vikings, and in 885–886 he captured London After the Danes launched a massive seaborne invasion against England in 892, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us that Alfred also created a new navy, comprised of large, fast ships, in order to prevent any such subsequent overseas invasions from being successful Having dealt with the Vikings, in the second half of his reign Alfred took steps to improve the administration of his realm as well as increase the level of learning and culture among his people In doing so he showed himself to be a competent administrator and possessed of an inquiring and capable mind He established an Anglo-Saxon law code, by combining the laws and practices of Wessex, Mercia and Kent, and he kept a tight rein on justice throughout his lands Like others of his time, the king had a deep respect for the wisdom and learning of the past, and he worked hard to make a variety of works available to his contemporaries for their religious, moral, and cultural edification He took an active role in improving the spiritual and pastoral qualities of bishops and clerics throughout his realm by personally translating from Latin into the Anglo-Saxon language Pope Gregory the Great’s late sixth-century work titled Pastoral Care He showed a similar interest in philosophical and moral issues by rendering Boethius’s early sixth-century treatise The Consolation of Philosophy into his native tongue, while sprinkling throughout his translation numerous personal observations Alfred further engaged his passion for ethics, history, and theology by translating from Latin Ali ibn Abu Talib into Anglo-Saxon the work of the fifth-century Spanish prelate Paulus Orosius known as the Universal History This latter work undertook to explain all history as the unfolding of God’s divine plan To help foster a sense of pride and awareness of Anglo-Saxon history, Alfred rendered (rather loosely) the Venerable Bede’s eighth-century work Ecclesiastical History of the English People To this same end he ordered the compilation of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle that was continued from his reign until the middle of the 12th century Around 888 Bishop Asser of Sherborne wrote his Life of King Alfred, celebrating the king as a vigorous and brave warrior, a just ruler, and a man of letters and intellect as well The political, military, and cultural accomplishments of King Alfred the Great are significant, especially when viewed within the larger context of late ninthcentury European history As much of the Carolingian dynasty fell into the chaos of feudalism because of the raids of Vikings, Muslims, and Magyars and the infighting among Charlemagne’s heirs, Alfred’s victories over the Vikings, and his subsequent expansion into Mercia and Kent, began a process that would result in his successors uniting all of England under the House of Wessex and in a fusion of Anglo-Saxon and Viking culture Thus he is credited with establishing the English monarchy and alone among all English rulers bears the title “the Great.” See also Anglo-Saxon culture; Charlemagne; Vikings: Norway, Sweden, and Denmark Further reading: Abels, Richard Alfred the Great: War, Kingship, and Culture in Anglo-Saxon England London and New York: Longman, 1998; Smyth, Alfred King Alfred the Great Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995 Ronald K Delph Ali ibn Abu Talib (c 598–661) founder of Shi’ism Ali ibn Abu Talib was the second convert to Islam The son of Muhammad’s uncle Abu Talib, Ali married his cousin Fatima, the daughter of the prophet Muhammad and Khadija Ali and Fatima had two sons, Hasan and Husayn, who both played key roles in the history of Islamic society Ali also fought courageously in the battles between the small Muslim community based in Medina and the Meccan forces prior to the Prophet’s triumphal return to Mecca
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