Alfred the Great (849-901)

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936), one of the most popular Catholic writers in the early twentieth century, here presents a brief biography of Alfred the Great, the ninth-century hero of his epic poem, The Ballad of the White Horse. In addition to being something of an artist, Chesterton was a close collaborator with Hilaire Belloc and others in the Catholic literary revival in the English-speaking world in the first half of the twentieth century. Entering the Church in 1922, he wrote on many things while defending the Faith in his own inimitable style, full of wit and charm. As the editor of the book from which we have taken this essay put it: He was “a creator of dazzling newness for the oldest orthodox ideas.” [For more of these Catholic essays, see the Table of Contents.]

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