So, irl aflred the great is kijg worthy of the epithet “the great” he consolidated wessex, held of the vikings and laid the foundation of england. Now, what if Alfred drove the vikings out of the anglo-saxon lands and United the angles and saxons under one crown about a generation early?
AHC/WI: Alfred the greatests
- Thread starter The Anglo-Dutch Union
- Start date
Interesting WI. My two cents:
A generation early? Do you mean Alfred achieved what his son (Edward) and daughter (Æthelflæd) accomplished?
Or perhaps what his grandson (Athelstan) achieved?
Or perhaps the England that his great-grandson (Edgar) inherited? (Bear in mind England had been divided between Edgar and his older brother Eadwig for the previous two years…)
Certainly, militarily, Alfred could have achieved more but I’m not sure he could have progressed as far as Edward and Æthelflæd, let alone as far as Athelstan. A more rapid consolidation and expansion of Wessex under Alfred may have bled Wessex dry, leaving it over-extended … which would have left it vulnerable – not only to external ie Danish threats but – internally.
Constant campaigning to rid the land of the Vikings – which is what it would take for it to happen in his lifetime – will probably mean some of those other things that made Alfred great are not developed properly. Law, education, promoting the concept of ‘England’ are things that need time.
Alfred may have been the only English king but Wessex was not the only English kingdom. The ‘free’ Mercian rump did not disappear until the death of Æthelflæd. Alfred earned a lot of brownie points by not incorporating ‘free’ Mercia into Wessex. Any attempt to incorporate it earlier will probably be resisted… will Æthelflæd be loyal to her husband (Æthelred) or her father?
If Alfred is successful as per the WI, I think the situation upon his death will be a lot more unstable. For example, will the revolt of his nephew (Æthelwold) gain more traction?
I was mostly thinking about him reaching the same heights/unification as his great-grandson. Although you make some great points about it's difficulty ngl
The problem – and it has been noted in discussions on this board before – is that OTL resilience of the line of Cerdic and the survival and consolidation of Wessex and its eventual expansion into England already looks like a wank.
It is only my opinion, hopefully a realistic one rather than a pessimistic one.
A crucial question what may or may not be possible: Is Alfred doing all this in the same time as his OTL lifespan, or is he getting another twenty years of good health (which might be said to be a generation early if we're counting his generation instead of his children's doing it)?
Alfred already did a lot in his life, to sidestep questions of how OTL looks relative to other timelines, doing more would be difficult.
Alfred already did a lot in his life, to sidestep questions of how OTL looks relative to other timelines, doing more would be difficult.