One reason that Alfred the Great's people believed him to be a great was that he created a treaty that saved his people from death, thievery and the raping of his people. The Danes were trying to steal their land and, being vikings, they came hard. Alfred actually designed and manufactured a long boat that was, in many ways, better than the Danes. Even though this invention gave them an advantage the Danes were still tough and had many soldiers. After many battles Alfred was forced to retreat to another location. After he got his troops together he adopted a tactic that his opponents were quite accustomed to: guerrilla warfare. “After fourteen days the pagans were brought to the extreme depths of despair by hunger, cold and fear, and they sought peace'. This unexpected victory proved to be the turning point in Wessex's battle for survival.” (royal.gov.uk). Back in the day, Alfred would have been considered a very good strategist. Therefore the tactic surprised the Danes enough for him to succeed in a key battle. After Alfred lead his people to a promising victory, he assumed a more diplomatic standpoint. Creating a treaty that allowed the Danes to take control in the north and east as long as they respected Alfred's rule everywhere else. This treaty paved way to the new life that Alfred's people could now live. His people no longer worried about their own homes being violated or family members being abused or murdered. Needless to say the king was praised and honored throughout history, and is arguably England’s best ruler. With the installment of the treaty the Danes were not allowed to harrass any of the English people. That is what the people wanted and needed very much. Having joy in their life again was an option. No one thinks about how the people getting assaulted might have felt. Most people here that the Danes would have killed and burned down villages and think “oh that's terrible”, and it is. Most don't think “these people had to live everyday for years wondering if men would storm their home and kill their children, or rape their wife. These people had to endure the worst stress anyone could bear without having a mental breakdown. These people had to protect their children from the most savage, heartless men any where near them”. To relieve these people of that burden I believe is one of the most admirable things a person has done in history. To give up part of a country owned by his fathers before him, passed down from generation, inherited to him. Imagine to have a mansion and the fastest car and the largest bank account in the US and to have to give half of it to teens that have been vandalizing it for 3 years and let them take it from you. I think this shows the amount of maturity and dedication this man had toward his people.

Alfred the Great had an enormous role in the advancement of not only literacy rates but also transitioned his peoples language from Latin to Anglo-Saxon. Alfred brought scholars from Mercia to translate documents he found “most needful for men to know, and to bring it to pass ... if we have