What Makes King Alfred Disappointed By Pope Leo IV?

391 Words2 Pages
Alfred was born at Wantage in Oxfordshire in 849, fourth or fifth son of Aethelwulf , king of Wessex, a Saxon kingdom in southwestern England. In 853, Alfred went to Rome, where he was received by Pope Leo IV. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Alfred was anointed a king. Victorian scholars interpreted this as an anticipatory coronation. On the other hand, his succession could not have been predicted at the time, as Alfred had three living senior siblings. A letter of Leo IV demonstrates that Alfred was made a "delegate"; a misinterpretation of this investiture, deliberate or accidental, could clarify the later confusion. It may also be based on Alfred's later having accompanied his father on a pilgrimage to Rome where he spent some