Historic%20Yorkshire

ALFRED, KING OF NORTHUMBRIA.
Oswy,in 670, we findAlfred's claim to the Northumbrian
Crown disputed on account of the bar sinister, and his
younger brother, Ecgfrid, was elected. Alfred either
withdrewfrom his native country for prudential reasons,
or was compelled to abdicate. Whatever was the
immediatecause of his expatriationis of little moment.
He left Northumbria for Ireland, where he spent fifteen
years. While yet in power on the Deiran throne, his
occupations had been those usual to the Anglo-Saxon
youthof the time — athletic andmartialexercise,varied in
his case by considerable attention to politics. During
the periodofhis retirementinIreland,then the great seat
of learning in every branch, he devoted himself to the
study of theology, philosophy, science, and the general
literature of the age. By his assiduity and intellectual
endowments, combined with the great advantage of
havingthe best teachers, he eventually arose to be one of
the most learned and finished scholars of his day. It
must be recollected, however,that pre-eminence in this
respect was not excessively difficult of accomplishment,
as fewcould evenwritetheir own names, even among the
priests, whose class the professed teachers of the nation
were.
At the end of this period of almost compulsory
seclusion, in 686, the Northumbrian throne was again
rendered vacant by the death of Ecgfrid, and the nobles,
to whom the report ofAlfred's great and varied accomplishments
was familiar, offered the crown to him.
He returned, and during the nineteen years he reigned,
governed the people with great wisdom. He established
order in the affairs of both secular and ecclesiastical
government; he founded numerous churches and
monasteries,and was a zealouspromoter of the cause of
learning.
Though liberal of patronage to priests whose qualities
and erudition brought them under his notice, he was far
from beingentirelysubservient to ecclesiasticalauthority,
however highly placed. In his youth he had received
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