Alfred and Oxford In the ninth century the Vikings, not content with having harried coastal towns

for many years, had launched full-scale invasions of England, and much of the country had fallen beneath the onslaught. It was King Alfred of Wessex, then, his kingdom greatly reduced at the beginning of his reign, who put in place the administrative structure that gave resistance to the Vikings a new form, and allowed them to be slowly removed from the country, and led to Alfreds being hailed as the first king of all the Britons, as the country was untied in struggle against the barbarian foe. In 911 Edward the Elder, Alfreds son, took control of London and Oxford and incorporated them into the system of burhs, fortifying them, and regularising their administrative structure, so they war could afford to be waged against the invaders, and directly continuing Alfreds policies. This incorporation of Oxford into the system of Alfredian politics show that, by this point it was considered an important enough city to so do, and marks a pivotal point in its history. Many have seen the rise of the city as a political entity, and the learned nature and emphasis on learning of King Alfred as being more than coincidental. Indeed, University College claimed until the nineteenth century that it was established by order of King Alfred. In his Historium Regum Angliae (1490), John Rous says: For the initial foundation of this University this noble King Alfred established, at his own expense, three Doctors in the city of Oxford, respectively in Grammar, in the Arts and in Theology And in history and Antiquities of the University of Oxford (1674) by Anthony Wood, the author states that Alfred sent for scholars from France to teach those he had living in Oxford, but the author adds the caveat that he himself finds it hard to believe. Coins from the reign of Edward the Elder have been found on New Inn Hall St. More excitingly, coins have been found from the reign of Alfred, which have the mint at which they were pressed as Orsnafordia, or Ohsnafordia. Showing that there may very well have been a royal mint in Oxford during Alfreds reign, putting it on a par, in terms of economic importance, with Winchester, and other cities whose later prominence was initially by dint of their Roman connections. Whatever the truth of Alfreds relationship with Oxford, it remains true that there is an important affinity between our conception of the history of Oxford and the life of the first king of all the Britons, as is shown in the recent disputes with Winchester as to where his bones should be buried. Oxford remains, at least, a spiritual home for the warrior king who championed literacy and learning.