Alfred the great was born at Wantage in Oxfordshire in 849.  In 870 AD the Danes attacked the only remaining independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom, Wessex, whose forces were commanded by Alfred's older brother, King Aethelred, and Alfred himself  and in 871 Alfred defeated the Danes in the battle of Ashdown in Berkshire.He became king after his brother, but the Danes continued to attack his kingdom. In 878 he again defeated the Danes in the Battle of Edington and to finish the war he negotiaded a treaty with the Danes in 886. Alfred The Great reorganised his army and built a series of well-defended settlements across southern England. He also established a navy to use against the Danish raiders who continued to harass the coast. Alfred established a code of laws and a reformed coinage. He has been important in the story of England because he arranged the translation of  books from Latin to Anglo-Saxon. He died in 899 and he was buried in Winchester.

 

 

Sitography: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/alfred_the_great.shtml