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Alfred the Great ( 848 or 849 in Wantage, Oxfordshire, 26 October 899), from 871 King of the West Saxons (Wessex) and about 886 from the Anglo-Saxons. He was the youngest of the five sons of the late 858 West Saxon King ’thelwulf and his first wife Osburga.
His special importance for the English history is that after a successful defense of the Vikings, he created the basis for a unification of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms under the hegemony of Wessex and promoted the Old English language and literature.

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