Question 1

True or false: Alfred the Great was King of Wessex in the 9th century.

Accepted Answer

True. Alfred reigned from 871 to 899 CE, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and other contemporary sources.

Question 2

True or false: Alfred the Great personally translated Pope Gregory I's 'Pastoral Care' into Old English.

Accepted Answer

True. Alfred the Great translated the Regula Pastoralis himself, distributing copies to bishops to improve literacy and Latin understanding among the clergy.

Question 3

True or false: Alfred the Great died from injuries sustained in a battle against the Vikings.

Accepted Answer

False. Alfred died of natural causes, likely complications from a chronic illness like Crohn's disease, not in combat.

Question 4

True or false: Alfred the Great invented the English legal system based on the Ten Commandments.

Accepted Answer

False. Alfred issued a law code that did draw on Mosaic law, but he didn't 'invent' the English legal system; it evolved over centuries.

Question 5

True or false: Alfred the Great established a network of fortified towns called 'burhs' across Wessex.

Accepted Answer

True. Alfred created a system of burhs (fortified settlements) so that no one in Wessex was more than 20 miles from a stronghold.

Question 6

True or false: Alfred the Great was never actually crowned king of England.

Accepted Answer

True. Alfred was King of Wessex, not 'king of England.' The unified kingdom of England didn't exist until after his grandson, Æthelstan.

Question 7

True or false: Alfred the Great was the first English king to mint coins with his own portrait.

Accepted Answer

False. Earlier Anglo-Saxon kings, like Offa of Mercia, minted coins with their portraits decades before Alfred.

Question 8

True or false: Alfred the Great sent a diplomatic mission to India to trade with the Caliphate.

Accepted Answer

False. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records Alfred sending alms to shrines of St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew in India, not a trade mission. The Caliphate (Abbasid) ruled from Baghdad, not India.

Alfred the Great Trivia Questions