Alfred the Great (849 – 899 A.D.) is the only British monarch to attain the moniker, “the Great.” Alfred was great for many reasons, but one is that he continually sought God, humbling himself before the Lord from his youth. He was humble toward God and courageous toward men. Such a man is a useful to God.
“God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble”
James 4:6
Our first stop today was Bath. Bath is a wonderful walking town, with many shops and places to eat. Our target destination though was beyond the shops at the bottom of the hill next to the ancient Roman Baths–Bath Abbey.
Bath Abbey yielded two finds relevant to our quest. The first was a stained glass window in the corner of the abbey dedicated to the coronation of King Edgar the Peaceful, great-grandson of Alfred the Great. Edgar was crowned here at a predecessor church on this spot in 973 A.D. That led us to a plaque in the floor where Elizabeth II had prayed to celebrate the 1,000 year anniversary of the event in 1973.
Our second stop was Athelney, a 90 minute drive south of Bath. When the country was overrun with Vikings, Alfred had his base in Athelney. From here, Alfred would go from village to village raising an army to fight the Vikings and then retreat to this geographically protected spot after battle.
Athelney became for a us a quest for a monument. No offense to the good people of Athelney, but they make the Alfred monument all but impossible to find. I finally had to ask one of the locals.
Athelney though turned out to be a favorite of the GSB team. It demonstrated the importance of reading ahead of a study tour. If we had not read the biographies of Alfred, the monument at Athelney would have meant nothing. As it was, it was like sacred ground. We stood on the spot where Alfred had spent so much time and which was so central to what the Lord did through him to unite and lead a people. It was an example of site over sights.
After Alfred defeated the Vikings and its leader, Guthrum, Alfred did not do what Vikings had done to Saxon leaders—torture and then kill them. Instead he invited Guthrum and his leaders to go through Christian discipleship and then baptized them.
Continue reading “England Travel Journal – Day 6”