Notes:

[dunbar_tree.FTW]

Alfred was one of the greatest military leaders in history; crowned at

Winchester Cathedral in 871; founded the British Navy; a scholar, etc.  The

Mercian kingdom ended during his reign "and in 886 Alfred's authority was

accepted by all Englishmen who were not under the power of the Danes.  From

this time onward the history of Wessex is the history of England."

{-Encyclopaedia Britannica, '56, 23:520; cf.8:483. Primary source is "Life

of King Alfred," Bishop Asser, trans. L. C. Jane (London: Chatto & Windus

Ltd., 1924).}

        ----- Compton's Encyclopedia (America Online, 1995) records:

ALFRED THE GREAT  (848?-899). The course of English history would have been

very different had it not been for King Alfred. He won renown both as a

statesman and as a warrior and is justly called "the Great."

   The England of Alfred's time was a country of four small Saxon kingdoms.

The strongest was Wessex, in the south. Born in about 848, Alfred was the

youngest son of Ethelwulf, king of Wessex. Each of Alfred's three older

brothers, in turn, ruled the kingdom. Alfred was by temperament a scholar,

and his health was never robust.

   Nevertheless in his early youth he fought with his brother Ethelred

against Danish invaders. Alfred was 23 when Ethelred died, but he had already

won the confidence of the army and was at once acclaimed king in 871. By this

time the Danes, or Vikings, had penetrated to all parts of the island. Three

of the Saxon kingdoms--Northumbria, Mercia, and East Anglia--had one after

another fallen to the Danish invaders.

   Under Alfred's leadership, the Saxons again found courage. The worst

crisis came in the winter of 877, when the Danish king, Guthrum, invaded

Wessex with his army. In 878 Alfred was defeated at Chippenham, where he was

celebrating Christmas, and was forced to go into hiding.

   A few months later he forced Guthrum to surrender at Chippenham. The Danes

agreed to make the Thames River and the old Roman road called Watling Street

the boundary between Alfred's kingdom and the Danish lands to the north. The

treaty, however, did not assure permanent peace. The Danes assaulted London

and the coast towns repeatedly. In about 896 they finally admitted defeat and

ceased their struggle for a foothold in southern England.

   Alfred was much more than the defender of his country. He took a keen

interest in law and order and was concerned with the improvement of the

cultural standards of his people. He encouraged industries of all kinds and

rebuilt London, which had been partly destroyed by the Danes. He collected

and revised the old laws of the kingdom. He invited learned men from other

countries to instruct the people because even the clergy of Wessex no longer

knew Latin, the international language of the church. He established a school

similar to the Palace School of Charlemagne.

   The "books most necessary for all men to know" were translated from Latin

into English so that the people might read them. Alfred himself took a part

in preparing the translations. The `Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' was probably begun

under his direction.

   Alfred died at the age of about 51 in 899. He was in no sense a true king

of England, for he ruled less than half of the island. After his death,

however, his capable son, Edward the Elder, and his grandsons extended their

rule over all of England.

 - - - - -

From an Internet article at Ancestry.com:

  "A British and U.S. archaeological team believes it has found the grave of

King Alfred, the great Saxon king, best remembered for fighting off the Danes

in the ninth century. As then befitted a king of great piety, Alfred was

buried in 899 at the New Minster church in Winchester, 65 miles southwest

of London. His remains are thought to have been moved 200 years later to

Winchester's Hyde Abbey, one of the great medieval monasteries. But the

abbey was destroyed in 1538, and the site believed to be Alfred's tomb now

lies next to a parking lot."

married Ealhswith in 868 in England. (daughter of Mucill, Ethelred Earl ofGaini and Eadburh, of Mercia) died on 5 Dec 905 in St. Mary's Abbey, Winchester, Dorset; was buried in Winchester. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Princess of England

Lady married Baldwin, Count of Flanders II in 884. II (son of Baldwin, Count of Flanders I and Judith Princess of Aquitaine) was born in 865; died on 2 Jan 919. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

[dunbar_tree.FTW]

Edward succeeded his father in October 899; often repulsed the Danish
Vikings; received the submission of Welsh and Scottish kings; was buried in
the "New Minster" at Winchester. He unified most of England south of the
Humber River. {See "Anglo-Saxon England," 3rd Ed., Frank M. Stenton, 1971.}

Family/Spouse: Ethelhelm, Elfleda of. Elfleda was buried in Winchester Cathedral. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

I married Kent, Eadgifu of in 919. Eadgifu (daughter of Sigehelm, Earl ofKent) died on 25 Aug 968; was buried in Canterbury Cathedral. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

[dunbar_tree.FTW]

Arnulf was preoccupied with fighting off the Northmen. "In his old age he
placed the government in the hands of Baldwin, his son by Adela, daughter
of the count of Vermandois, and the young man in a short reign did much for
the commercial and industrial progress of the country, setting up the first
weavers and fullers at Ghent, and instituting yearly fairs at Ypres, Bruges
and other places. On Baldwin III's death in 961 the old count resumed
control and spent the few remaining years of his life in securing the
succession of his grandson Arnulf II...." {Encycl.Brit., 1956, 9:356}

I married Vermandois, Alix de in Feb 934. Alix (daughter of Herbert, Count of Vermandois II and Liegarde, of France) died in 960 in Bruges. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

[dunbar_tree.FTW]

"Smyth (Alfred the Great) says she married Conrad of Burgandy. There is
confusion in that she married "a Prince near the Alps"; but Boleslaw seems
the most likely." - Brian Thompsett ( 1999) at his Web site:
http://www.dcs.hull.ac.uk/public/genealogy/royal
This disputes the descendancy from her in AEM's database.

Elfgifu married Alberic on Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

[dunbar_tree.FTW]

Edgiva m. (2) 951 in St.Quentin, France to Herbert the Elder of Meaux,
Count of Meaux & Troy, and with him had:
Child 2: Stephen I of Vermandois, Count of Vermandois, b. ca. 952;
Child 3: Agnes, b. 953.

Edgiva married Charles, King of France III in 918. III (son of Louis, King of France II and Paris, Adelaide of) was born on 17 Sep 879; died on 7 Oct 929 in Peronne. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

[dunbar_tree.FTW]

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle calls him "the deed-doer"; Florence of Worcester
calls him "Edmundus magnificus"; "buried at Glastonbury, an abbey which he had
entrusted in 943 to the famous Dunstan" {-Encycl.Brit., 1956 Ed., 7:962}. He
reigned 940-946. He regained northern England and Strathclyde from the
Vikings and gave Strathclyde to his ally Malcolm I MacDonald, King of Scots.
Edmund I is known as a legal reformer, especially for his restrictions on the
"blood feud." An outlaw, Leolf, stabbed him at a banquet to St. Augustine.

Family/Spouse: Elgiva, Saint. Saint died in 944. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

[dunbar_tree.FTW]

Elstrude m. Sigfrid, Count of Guines; their dau. Heloise m. Crispin de Bec
- per John S. Wurts, "Magna Charta," p.2896.

Elstrude married Sigfrid, Count of Guines on Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

III married Saxony, Matilda of on Yes, date unknown. Matilda (daughter of Billung, Duke of Saxony Hermann) died on 25 May 1008. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

[dunbar_tree.FTW]

[Parents are presumed - cf. W.H.Turton, "The Plantagenet Ancestry" (Balt.: Gen.Pub.Co., 1968), p. 112. "Ancestral Roots..." (Balt., 1992) 250-17 reports she is Eldegarde, (dau. or niece of Ermenfroi, Count of Amiens ?, prob. a Carolingian princess),
who m. (2) Waleran, a count...." However, it is highly unlikely that this Hildegarde of Flanders could have been the daughter of Arnulf I "The Elder", Count of Flanders -- if Raoul died in 936 and Arnulf married Alix De Vermandois in February 934.
Supposedly Hildegarde is a daughter from this marriage, but it appears unlikely even if the years are not exactly correct that a daughter of this marriage married Raoul De Gouy.]

Hildegarde married Gouy, Raoul ("Ralph") de on Yes, date unknown. Raoul died in 936. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

[dunbar_tree.FTW]

{W.H.Turton Identifies her as Mildegarde de Gand, dau. of Wichmann, Count
of Gand (d. ca. 949) - "The Plantagenet Ancestry" (Balt.:Gen.Pub.Co.,
1968), p. 20.}

Hildegard married Dirk, Count of Holland II between 940 and 945. II (son of Dirk, Count of Holland (First) I and Genna Princess of Italy) died on 6 May 988. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

I married Blois, Ildegarde of on Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

IV married Saxony, Gerberga of in 939. Gerberga (daughter of Henry, The Emperor of Germany I and Ringelheim, Mathilda of) died on 5 May 984. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

[dunbar_tree.FTW]

Coronation delayed (because Archbishop Dunstan disapproved his lifestyle) until 973 (at Bath);
with Dunstan he reformed monastic houses on Rule of St.Benedict; m. (1) Aethelflaed ("the
white duck"), dau. of Earl Ormaer, & had Edward the Martyr; m. (2) Aelfthryth, dau. of Earl
Ordgar, & had Aethelred II; also had daughter, Eadgyth (St.), Abbess of Barking, b. ca. 962,
by Wulthryth, "an inmate of the convent at Wilton", who declined marriage. Edgar's reign "is
often regarded as the highest point of effective power reached by the Old English monarchy...a
time of peace for the greater part of England." He is fame is due "to his lavish patronage of
the church, and to the encouragement which he gave to the great men, Dunstan, Ethelwold, and
Oswald, who in his reign were reviving monastic life in England." {-Encycl.Brit.,'56,8:484.}
Edgar reigned from October, 959 to 975. Edgar's reign is the setting of "The King's
Henchman," a play by Edna St.Vincent Millay (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1927).

married Devonshire, Aelfthryth of in 965. Aelfthryth was born in 945 in Lydford Castle, Devon; died on 17 Nov 1002 in Wherwell Abbey, Hampshire. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]