He fought off Viking invaders and was a clever, cunning ruler. The study of Asser’s work, ‘The Life of King Alfred’, has fuelled many guesses as to the nature of the sovereign’s illness. Putting all this evidence together makes it likely that Alfred the Great’s military innovations were part of a continuing development, that started in the eight century in … This work was thought to have been written for a Welsh audience who might not have been all that keen on a West Saxon king. Published online by Cambridge University Press. He was barely in his 20s when he took the throne and he hadn’t had a chance to stop for a breath for the decades that followed. became gradually better understood as a man of the 890s. Alfred managed to turn the Vikings away and set up conditions Why was Alfred sick on The Last Kingdom? His biographer Asser gave a detailed description of Alfred's symptoms, and this has allowed modern doctors to provide a possible diagnosis. We hope that are our audience wants to support us so that we can further develop our podcast, hire more writers, build more content, and remove the advertising on our platforms. Yet he suffered from some mysterious but painful and recurring illness. Some scholars estimated that he had Crohn’s disease. an appropriate manner of death. Email your librarian or administrator to recommend adding this journal to your organisation's collection. Yet Victorian sensibilities Yes he developed some kind of mysterious illness when he was young. Among the many unfa-vourable reviews of this biography, criticism of Smyth's attitude towards Alfred's illnesses is central in that by J. L. Nelson, 'Review Article: Waiting for Alfred', EME 7 (1998), 1 1 5-24. Alfred often prayed for forgiveness from his god for the ‘sins’ he commited in is youth. Experts now think It might have been epilepsy or chronic chrons disease. He fought off Viking invaders and was a clever, cunning ruler. at Wantage, Berkshire. 3. for this article. He also established our later forgery relies heavily upon his assumption that the text is a work of hagiography, changed. Asser in his Life of King Alfred dwells on the subject of the king’s ill health, a subject that must have interested Asser somewhat. Alfred died on 26 October 899 at the age of 50 or 51. – could continue so many years without remission, from his twentieth year up to his fortieth and beyond. of morbid religiosity’ in Asser's account of Alfred's illnesses in ch. Alfred in The Last Kingdom is based on the real King Alfred - also know as Alfred the Great, who was reported to have a painful, mystery illness. Alfred is the only English king to earn the epithet ‘the Great’, which he was honoured with thanks to his rule of Wessex between 871 to 899. Is there any possibility he could have know of the benefits of taking Frankincense? He also established our justice system. This will also allow our fans to get more involved in what content we do produce. In the year 868, Alfred and his brother King Aethelred were campaigning, trying to rid England of the Vikings. His first burial was in Winchester‘s Old Minster although his remains were subsequently moved next door to the New Minster a few years later. Alfred successfully defended his kingdom against the Viking attempt at conquest, and by his death had become the dominant ruler in England. be stressed that royal sanctity was an entirely posthumous phenomenon in king, now hardly needs to be emphasized. Check if you have access via personal or institutional login, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0263675101000035, Evolving English Strategies during the Viking Wars, Gregory the Great: Reader, Writer and Read, Fragments of Boethius: the reconstruction of the Cotton manuscript of the Alfredian text, The Junius Psalter gloss: its historical and cultural context, The audience for Old English texts: Ælfric, rhetoric and ‘the edification of the simple’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. We've created a Patreon for Medievalists.net as we want to transition to a more community-funded model. Alfred’s life, particularly his early struggles as King of Wessex, were portrayed on film in the 1969 epic Alfred the Great. Alfred the Great had a chronic illness for much of his life, and by any modern standard, he was disabled. Alfred in The Last Kingdom is based on the real King Alfred - also know as Alfred the Great, who was reported to have a painful, mystery illness. Some historians speculate Alfred suffered from Crohn's disease, says History Hit — an "inflammatory bowel disease," says The Mayo Clinic, that's "painful and debilitating" and can lead to malnutrition and even death — perhaps His grandson King Eadred seems to have suffered from a similar illness. His many pursuits (wars, Viking attacks of Alfred's illnesses in the moulding of his outlook, both as a layman and as a prayer [sic], and enduring some form of physical disease’. because it supposedly portrays Alfred as ‘a saintly king, wrapt up in It is an index perhaps of changing historiographical trends that the importance He's the odd sort of … As a young boy, Alfred never desired to become king since he had four elder brothers. and both refused to associate this atmosphere with the ‘historical Alfred’, in Alfred the Great: a diagnosis G Craig BA SRN 117 Richmond Road, Cambridge CB43PS Keywords: Anglo-Saxon; ficus; Crohn's disease King Alfred 'England's Darling' (849-900AD)suffered from a … Yes he developed some kind of mysterious illness when he was young. In the last year of the century, 900, King Alfred died; but his work was accomplished. view of his well-attested military successes. He prevented England from falling to the Danes and promoted learning and literacy. By 897, everything Alfred had known…. This data will be updated every 24 hours. The film featured a cast which included Michael York, Ian McKellan, Julian Glover, and David Hemmings as A rather coloured picture of an over sensitive youth morbidly preoccupied with his health emerges from these speculations, which are normally accompanied by the familiar disclaimer: “The truth will never be known”.