Alfred the Great Quotes

A King Who Translated Books

In his later years, despite suffering from chronic illness all his life, Alfred translated Latin texts into Old English himself, so ordinary people could read them. Around 890 he sent copies of Pope Gregory's Pastoral Care to every bishop in England, with a personal preface explaining why learning mattered. Each copy came with a jewelled pointer called an aestel, worth fifty mancusses. He died on October 26, 899. His grandson Æthelstan would go on to become the first king of all England. Alfred had called himself simply 'King of the Anglo-Saxons.' He was the only English king ever called 'the Great.'