Why Is Alfred The Great A Good Ruler

William I became known as William the Conqueror through his will and determination. William gained power through his father and soon he climbed high enough to conquer England and become its new king.

Charlemagne was a great leader in the Middle Ages and was the founder of the Carolingian Empire. The largest empire in Europe since the Roman Empire. He kept the society in order by enforcing laws and he also encouraged education. He helped define and shape medieval Europe and was a uniting force after the Roman Empire had fallen.

Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, was a powerful king who reunited most of Western Europe through his conquests. He was an able administrator and brought about economic reforms to bring prosperity in his kingdom. Charlemagne is famous for his work towards the development of education like building of schools and standardization of curriculum. He ended the Dark Age in Western Europe by initiating the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of cultural enhancement. Charlemagne also took several steps to spread Christianity in his vast empire, paving the way for making it the dominant religion in Europe. Here are the 10 major accomplishments and achievements of Charlemagne, who is called the Father of Europe due to his immense contribution in the development of the continent.

Of William I’s (1066-1087) sons, William the II (1087-1100) was a better king than his younger brother Henry I (1100-1135). William I’s was the first Norman king to rule England. He split his heritance between his three living sons. Robert received the rule of Normandy, William II received England and Henry I received five thousand pounds. In early medieval England a good king was a heroic soldier and a strong leader who was fair but enforced the law. It was also important that they were Christian and unsinful. William II “The Rufus”-because of his red face or temper, was true to himself and what he believed in while Henry I “Beauclerc”-because of his high level of education, was a brutal and selfish king, not only to his people, but also

King Alfred the Great was born at Wantage, in 849, on a royal manor of his father's holding, a family estate which long afterward he himself would leave in legacy to his wife. Alfred was the youngest of five children, four sons and a daughter, born to Ethelwulf by his wife Osburh. When Alfred was four years old, his father, the king, who by now had long despaired of getting to Rome in the present state of things, decided to send Alfred there, to at least receive the blessing of the Holy Father. The pope at the time, Leo the IV, gave Alfred the blessing to become king. Alfred's time came in the year mid-April 871, when King Æthelred died. Only a king of full age could defend the land, and although Æthelred

Charlemagne, the greatest king of the dark ages, shaped the standards of Europe and influenced the people for thousands of years, solidifying the idea that the dark ages weren’t so dark. After the death of his father, Frankish king Pippin III, in 768, the realm was divided into two sections. Charlemagne and his brother, Carloman, both received the sections, and a feud started almost immediately. When Carloman died in 771, Charlemagne took control of both sections in hopes of reuniting the Frankish realm. He was king of the Franks from 768-814, and he was also the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 800-814 (Frassetto). Because of his generosity, attractive personality, and need for knowledge, Charlemagne was a very respected leader. During his reign, he was able to conquer and gain control over almost all of the mainland of Europe. Though it took over 50 battles to do so, he was able to unite a large portion of

Charlemagne, also known as Charles the great was a ruler in times of turmoil in Europe during the middle ages. Charlemagne came from a powerful family tree which made a huge impact on why he rose to power. His family history and their backgrounds is what prepared him to take on the task of becoming King of the Frankish Empire and protecting it from intruders. Charlemagne accomplished much during his reign. He focused on bringing education back into medieval Europe but, also discovered a more efficient way to govern his people. His conquests against the adversaries of the Holy Roman Empire is what lead to his expansion and spreading his Empire across most of Europe which he eventually established the Carolingian Empire in the later years of his supremacy. This also led to strong relationships with the Catholic Church and the State. Charlemagne’s goal was to spread Christianity throughout all of Europe and was willing to fight for his religion. One group in particular he fought with the most was the Saxons who he nearly eliminated their whole population.

Frederick II or Frederick the Great was a monarch of Prussia that reigned from 1740 to 1786. Another monarch which reigned during Frederick the Great’s reign was Maria Theresa, of the Hapsburg family, who reigned from 1740 to 1780 over Austria. She came into power because her father, Charles VI, created a document called the Pragmatic Sanction. The Pragmatic Sanction is a document that other monarchs signed to allow Maria Theresa to inherit the Hapsburg land. However after Charles died, not all the countries agreed with the Pragmatic Sanction. This lead to conflict between Prussia and Austria. Because of this conflict, historians debate which ruler was more effective and powerful. Frederick the Great is a more effective and powerful ruler because he won several wars against Austria, he had a stronger alliance with Russia, improved Prussia’s domestic affairs, and succeeded in foreign affairs.

Asser looked up to Einhard and had a copy of Einhard’s, The Life of Charlemagne. He used it to help inspire him on how to be successful in writing The Life of King Alfred. Opposed to Einhard, Asser wrote his book about Alfred when Alfred was alive. Alfred was King of Wessex reigning from 871-899. Alfred endured many obstacles dealing with the war, however, he never gave up. Alfred became King in the middle of war. He defeated the Vikings in April of 878. Vikings were Scandinavian people who left homes to raid, pillage, trade, settle or all of the above. Many nations were paying tribute to the Vikings so that they could stop their attacks. Gunthrum, in charge of half of the Great Army led a surprise attack on Wessex, Alfred’s men were repulsed. Alfred secured his loyalty of his men by defeating the Vikings. Alfred was also a religious King, he prayed every night; certain psalms; and he learnt the daily course. He was not wasteful in which he gave money to the church. Unlike Charlemagne, Alfred the Great was a very literate person. He was big on education. He created education reforms, educated his sons and his royal court, tried to learn how to translate Latin into old English was always wanting to learn more. Alfred was deemed pious because he took care of the poor. Alfred was an active

Alfred the Great was born in the royal village of Want age. He was born in the year 846 A.D... He was born into a family that supposedly could trace their roots all the way back to Adam. His father was king Ethelwulf and his mother was Oostburg noble both by birth and nature. He grew up being loved by everybody around him, his family, friends and even all the people. He was more loved by the people than his older brothers. He was well educated by the court. But even though he was well educated he never got to learn what he wanted to learn the most: liberal arts. He couldn't learn this because there were no good teachers in the kingdom of the West-Saxons.

He was courageous in the multiple battles in which he felt was his responsibility to fight. He also never forgot to boast about his accomplishments after he won. From his very first fight against Grendel to his older days as a ruler of the Geats, Beowulf was the hero everyone idolized and looked for when there was trouble in their land. Like a Batman to little kids today, Beowulf was always the superhero for the

During that time he practically doubled the land given to him by his father. He successfully waged war against many including the Bretons, Bavaria, the Slavs, Esthonians, Danes and an especially long thirty-year war against the Saxons. He was a respected and feared by many of the rulers of other lands.

King Alfred was known as the best Anglo-Saxon rulers. "Alfred was someone who has had greatness thrust upon him." Alfred was the only surviving Anglo-Saxon province. Almost being apart of the Vikings, he had stayed strong and won a decisive victory in The Battle of Edington. "Alfred promoted himself as the defender of all Christian Anglo-Saxons against the pagan Viking threats. "As his reputation "as a learned and merciful man of a gracious and levelheaded nature who encouraged education and improved his kingdom's legal systems, military structure and his people's quality of life" he was known as the greatest Anglo-Saxons to ever