The Unknown ‘Great’
I don't follow the church calendar closely, but it does offer moments of inspiration, especially in October! There's Ignatius, (Oct.17th), whose letters written about A.D.110, on the way to his martyrdom are so powerful; the earthy spirituality of St. Theresa (15th) that got her on the Inquisition's list in the 16th century, the work of William Tyndale(6th), giving his life for translating the Bible. But my favourite is King Alfred the Great (26th). Of course, we've all heard of him, 'Burnt the cakes, didn't he? Bit of a warrior, right?' And for most of us, that's about it.
This man was born in a Christian home when the Saxons were beginning to form some sort of Christian culture out of all their quarrelling tribes. Then came the Danes, the Vikings - brutal, efficient, pagan warriors, covering the land with pillage and slaughter, and it fell to young Alfred to take the Saxons through to victory, set up a system of defenses ('burghs'), create a navy. But he had a surprising way of conducting warfare: when h efinally defeated the Viking king Guthrum, there was no slaughter, no booty, no, just: - "Leave England, or become a Christian"!!
But there was more to Alfred, much more. He was passionate for education - started a court school, imported renowned teachers. He is credited with founding Oxford University. Textbooks in Anglo-Saxon were needed: he himself translated Boethius'; Philosophy, Bede’s History, the Psalms and other scriptures, and, with others, many more besides (oh, and wrote some poetry). That’s only for a start. His greatest achievement was a Law Code that has survived as the basis of our law to this day. It involved a reformation of land tenure in ‘shires’, which is still reflected in some of our county names. It was formed from an application of biblical law to the current tribal law, so profoundly that it distinguishes us from the Continent, which mostly used Roman law, and has repeatedly protected us from the excesses of power, bloody revolution, dictatorship, and corruption that have bedeviled so many other countries.
There was one thing that was rather a nuisance. For most of his life, Alfred was afflicted with recurrent epilepsy. How on earth did he cope? Well, his words continually spoke of God's grace, and his responsibility to God to work for His glory.
I pray we might re-discover some of this heritage, and treasure it. We're losing much if it, and I am afraid...
John Peck