The Medieval Life of King Alfred the Great
eBook - PDF

The Medieval Life of King Alfred the Great

A Translation and Commentary on the Text Attributed to Asser

  1. English
  2. PDF
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

The Medieval Life of King Alfred the Great

A Translation and Commentary on the Text Attributed to Asser

About this book

Very few King's earn the appellation 'Great'. Alfred is the only English King honoured with this name and is credited with various successes (the foundation of a navy, English education system and religious revival). His memory looms large in the English Imagination. The medieval 'Life' of King Alfred of Wessex purports to be written by Asser, a monk in the King's service. This account of one of England's best loved and most famous kings has been accepted as offering evidence on most aspects of life in early medieval England and beyond. It was used in Victorian times to create a 'Cult' of Alfred. Alfred Smyth offers a carefully annotated translation of the 'Life' together with a long commentary. He argues that the 'Life' is a forgery which has profound implications not only for our understanding of the early English and medieval past but also for the nature of biography and history. This close scholarly rendering of the text allows the reader access to the intricacies of medieval history.

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Yes, you can access The Medieval Life of King Alfred the Great by A. Smyth in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Ancient History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Contents
  3. Abbreviation
  4. Acknowledgement
  5. Preface
  6. Introduction
  7. Translation of the Life of King Alfred
  8. Commentary
  9. 1 A Tour around the Manuscripts
  10. 2 The Author of the Life
  11. 3 The Author’s Latin Style
  12. 4 The Author’s Use of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
  13. 5 Why Was the Life of King Alfred Written at Ramsey in c. AD 1000?
  14. Notes
  15. Index