Alfred the Great, King of Wessex from 871 and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 to 899, is widely regarded as the founder of England's first royal fleet, but recent research has found evidence that the first recorded naval victory of the Anglo-Saxons occurred 20 years before Alfred was crowned King of Wessex and 24 years before his first naval victory as king.
The study, titled Kingship and Maritime Power in 10th Century England , has been published in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology.
According to its author, Matt Firth, nationalist rhetoric, growing up around the Royal Navy and its central role in the identity of the British Empire since at least the 18th century, has given rise to some 'facts ' questionable about its origins . The idea that Alfred the Great founded the royal navy is widespread – and the claim has been uncritically reproduced by such reputable authorities as the National Museum of the Royal Navy, the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and the Royal Navy history website. BBC.
Firth and Dr. Erin Sebo of Flinders University's College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences began studies to identify the importance of naval power to kings in the early Middle Ages, and began to find evidence questioning the status of Alfred the Great as founder of the Royal Navy.
Using a combination of 10th-century historical texts and mounting archaeological evidence for medieval ship design, the new research shows that Alfred was not the first English monarch to coordinate a fleet to defend the country against a Viking attack.
Anglo-Saxon chronicles report a clash in 851 between an ealdorman (a kind of earl) named Elchere together with King Æthelstan of Kent (839-c.853), who supposedly defeated a Viking force near Sandwich – which would mean the first recorded case of victory by an English fleet. This implies that a tradition of defensive naval action existed at least as early as the reign of Alfred's father, Æthelwulf of Wessex (839-858).
The first recorded naval engagement of Alfred's reign is an attack on a fleet of seven ships in 875; the second is a skirmish with a flotilla of only four ships in 882. There is also evidence that the legend bestowed on Alfred the Great as a naval visionary greatly exaggerated his abilities and successes at sea.
Alfred's ship designs, as described in the records, were impractical and he failed as a sea force in his first sea battle against more experienced Viking sailors , says Firth.
Sea power was important during his reign, but there is little evidence of continuity between the ad hoc fleets of the 10th century and the rise of a Royal Navy. For Firth, suggestions of vast fleets maintained by his successors are both logistically and technologically impossible .
The new research also sheds light on the famous burial ships of medieval England and Scandinavia, a hot archaeological topic due to new discoveries in Iceland and Norway in the last 18 months.
The similarities in burial configuration and ship design in these regions demonstrate continuing cultural contact, which led to comparable technological innovations in warship design between England and Scandinavia, and to common cultural attitudes about the importance of warships. and the prestige of sea power.