Alfred The Great's Character
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Alfred The Great had an abundance of qualities that stood him in good stead in the face of the fearful threat of the Vikings . Firstly, Alfred had a seemingly endless supply of resilience. In 878, Alfred’s kingdom of Wessex was having to withstand Viking incursions led by a man named Guthrum who was already king of East Anglia and now had his eyes set on further conquest. Alfred soon found himself deep in trouble and on the run. The king could be seen trudging through swamps and woodland in the south west, trying to avoid capture. If Alfred was indeed captured, he may well have gone the same way as another Anglo Saxon king, Edmund of East Anglia , who was brutally martyred. It was during this ignominious retreat that Alfred had to employ all the resilience at his disposal. Since about 868, around the time of his wedding, Alfred had been suffering from Crohn's disease which brought him terrible and recurring pain that could be debilitating. Alfred, however, could not let illn...