Alfred the Great (c. 849–899), was the only English monarch to earn this epithet, he was the grandson of Ecbert, son of Athelwulf and the most famous medieval King of Wessex (871–899) because he saved his kingdom from the existential threat of Viking conquest (Danelaw), his grandson Athelstan founded England. In peacetime, Alfred was a profound reformer, establishing a network of fortified settlements called burhs to defend his realm, commissioning the Chronicles, and promulgating a comprehensiv