October 26, AD 899

Alfred the Great

Alfred dies and Edward succeeds him

Alfred's death date survives as a countdown to a feast: six nights before All Hallows.

26 October 899

Alfred died on 26 October 899. Tenth-century calendars record the day, and the Parker Chronicle describes it as six nights before All Hallows.

Medieval manuscripts label the annal 900 or 901, because of differing year starts and later annal numbering. Reign-length calculations and the Chronicle's September year-start support the modern date.

The Chronicle gives his reign as 28½ years.

What the sources leave out

The annalistic and calendar notices record the death but preserve no medical cause.

They establish his burial at Winchester, but not where he died.

He was not called the Great in his lifetime; recent scholarship traces the established sobriquet to the sixteenth century.

A contested succession

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says Edward, Alfred's elder son, then succeeded to the kingdom.

The succession was challenged almost at once by Alfred's nephew Æthelwold, son of his elder brother Æthelred.

Æthelwold seized the royal residences at Wimborne and Christchurch against Edward and his council, then fled by night.

Sources

Researched 24 Aug 2026 6 sources not yet audited

How this was checked

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What the sources leave uncertain

The day, 26 October, is strongly supported by multiple calendars and the Chronicle’s relation to All Saints’ Day.
Medieval manuscripts label the annal 900 or 901 because of differing year starts and later annal numbering. Reign-length calculations and the Chronicle’s September year-start support the modern date 899.
The sources establish Alfred’s burial at Winchester but do not securely identify where he died or what caused his death.