King Alfred: Bishop Asser

One source we have about King Alfred comes from the writings of Bishop Asser. His famous piece of work, The Life of King Alfred, charts the history of the King from his childhood through to the establishment of the boundaries of the Kingdom of Wessex.

Asser was a Welshman. The Welsh were related to the Romano-Britons, who were replaced by the Anglo-Saxons in England, a few centuries earlier. They were pushed West into Cornwall and Wales. To be fair, they brought it on themselves, as they had invited the Anglo-Saxons over to help to fight the other groups in Britannia. And the Saxons liked it so much, they stayed.

Asser was the Bishop of St David’s in Wales, when he was asked to join King Alfred’s court. To my mind, it seems a strange request, that an Anglo-Saxon would ask a Welshmen for help. Surely there were adequate churchmen in Wessex. Asser may have come to Alfred’s attention, as several South Wales’ kings had submitted to Alfred’s rule as their overlord.

They first met at West Dean in Sussex in AD 885 and he spent most of the year with Alfred. He read aloud any book the King desired. Asser then lived in Somerset and met with Alfred on a regular basis. During this time, he taught him Latin and probably guided his learning.

The Bishop became an important aide to the King, helping him to translate Pope Gregory’s Pastoral Care and Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy.

In return for all of this, the King made Asser the Bishop at the See of Sherborne in AD 892. And in the next year, he wrote the Life of King Alfred.

Bishop Asser was a well read and learned man. It is believed he may have based this work on the similar Life of Charlemagne. His use of Latin was verbose, though a little loose grammatically. He quotes from many varied sources. And writes in a way which showed he was loyal to Alfred.

There are two lessons we can learn from Bishop Asser’s life. Firstly, a king needs to surround himself, not just with warriors, but with the wise too. Wise counsel is far more effective than a man who can handle a sword.

In our own personal lives, we should surround ourselves with not just good wise friends, but also writers from the past. Even though they may have lived without the modern technology we have today, the human experience hasn’t changed much for millennia. And what they said generations ago, can echo into our decision making today.

The second lesson is how Christianity created a framework by which an Anglo-Saxon king could successfully communicate with a Welsh bishop. This cannot be underestimated. You could imagine the blood feud between these two groups went deep, but the forgiveness Christianity encourages, created an environment, for not just a working relationship, but also a friendship.

I know Christianity has been used to divide communities, but when we wisely live out Christ’s teachings, it can’t help but bring people together in harmony. Even the most vehement enemies. And we shall explore this later in Alfred’s life.