The talk tells the story of not just the only king in English history to be called ‘Great’ it puts the whole Anglo-Saxon period in context briefly telling the history of England from the arrival of the Saxons in the 5th century to the Norman Conquest of 1066 including the coming of Christianity to England at the end of the 5th century. England was initially divided into four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex and East Anglia. By the end of the 8th century England was a relatively peaceful and stable country. But then the Vikings launched their fearsome raids and destroyed the Saxon kingdoms other than Wessex of which Alfred became King in 871AD. Wessex was soon invaded by the Vikings and overrun. There then follows one of the great legends of English history of Alfred burning the cakes whilst thinking about how to beat the Vikings. But thought proved worthwhile when Alfred defeated the enemy at the Battle of Edington! Alfred made peace with the Vikings on condition that they converted to Christianity. The King then secured the future safety of Wessex by building fortified towns known as burhs. Alfred was also a great contributor to education translating many Latin works himself into English. He encouraged his subjects to be literate.

Whilst he never ruled over more than the kingdom of Wessex and a small piece of Mercia it was from his time that the idea of Englishness developed.