Alfred the Great
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Well, well, another university is accused of trying to stop other researchers’ work! See here: (https://discover.swns.com/2026/07/researchers-snubbed-by-university-in-bid-to-dig-for-king-alfreds-remains/) It’s Winchester this time, and the lost king is Alfred the Great. Oh, echoes of Leicester and Richard III. Anyway, here’s another link about this: https://discover.swns.com/2026/07/researchers-snubbed-by-university-in-bid-to-dig-for-king-alfreds-remains/ Is The Lost King 2 on the horizon….? Hmm. Probably not.
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Alfred the Great; archaeology; royal resting places;
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There are actually very few ‘English’ names that originally arise from Old English / Anglo Saxon. My own comes from the bible, so Hebrew, and is the feminine form of John, which means ‘God is gracious’. What about Richard? As a name it has been popular here for centuries (if not in the Royal family),…
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In 2008, archaeologists made a find that was possibly even more astounding than the discovery of Richard III’s remains. Beneath the floor of Magdeburg Cathedral in Germany, they opened a sarcophagus that was believed to be a cenotaph, or empty, symbolic memorial. Inside, they found a lead coffin which turned out to contain the remains…
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Did you know that Richard was a direct descendent of Alfred the Great? Here is the pedigree, derived from the Genealogics website. This time you need to follow the pink circles. Although most people ‘know’ that Alfred is famous for burning some cakes that he was asked to watch, this is fallacious. It’s likely the…
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It’s always amusing to ponder things concerning people from the past, and in this article the idea is to imagine a Secret Santa doling out gifts to specific figures. For instance, Alfred the Great should be given an air fryer, to solve his cake-baking hang-ups. And King John would surely benefit from a snorkel…
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This Union: The Ghost Kingdoms of England
Aethelbald of Mercia, Aethelflaed, Alfred, Alfred Jewel, Alfred the Great, Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, Anglo-Saxons, Athelney, Athelstan, Cerne Abbas Giant, coins, Colchester, conversion, Ealdfrith, East Anglia, Edward the Elder, Gareth Williams, Guthrum, Ian Hislop, Ipswich, Janina Ramirez, Jarrow, Lindisfarne, Marc Morris, Mercia, monasteries, Northumbria, Offa, Offa’s Dyke, Oswald, Penda, Philip Wise, Picts, Radio 4, Raedwald, Roman Empire, Rule Britannia, Scotland, St. Athelwald, St. Dunstan, St. Eadwald, stained glass, stone, Sutton Hoo, Thomas Arne, Venerable Bede, Viking raids, Wales, Wearmouth, Wessex, Winchester, WuffingsThis is an excellent series on BBC4 about the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that eventually evolved to fill the vacuum left by departure of the Roman legions. In the first episode, Ian Hislop visits East Anglia, particularly Colchester, Ipswich and Sutton Hoo, viewing some coins with Philip Wise and hearing about the Wuffingas, apparently descended from a…
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“….AN initiative to find the bones of Alfred the Great in the Hyde suburb of Winchester, sponsored more than 20 years ago by the City Council, has had a surprising outcome. This is the launch of a series of whodunnits in settings that many readers will find easy to imagine. “….The first title, Charter…
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“…Imagine knowing the entire list of British monarchs by heart at age 10. Imagine knowing about cavemen courting rituals or what soldiers ate during World War I. Imagine becoming so invested in the life of the infamous King Richard III of England that you joined the Richard III Society, a group dedicated to finding his…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 