He is also credited with the establishment of the English Navy.
Anointed as a king by Pope Leo IV, one story states he was given a prize volume of poetry and told to memorize it by his mother. In adulthood he reorganized civil government by introducing a system of shires, hundreds, and tithings. With the invention of the fyrd he went on to conquer the southwestern half of Britain for the Saxons, achieved by his decisive victory at the Battle of Edington. He is also credited with the establishment of the English Navy. Venerated by the Anglican Church, he became the first King of the West Saxons to refer to himself as "King of the English." Part of the House of Wessex that reigned until the death of Harold Godwinson, FTP, who is the only English King to be awarded the epithet of "Great?"
Anointed as a king by Pope Leo IV, one story states he was given a prize volume of poetry and told to memorize it by his mother.
{Alfred} the Great