Alfred the Great (* 848 or 849 in Wantage, Oxfordshire, † 26 October 899), from 871 King of the West Saxons (Wessex) and about 886 from the Anglo-Saxons. He was the youngest of the five sons of the late 858 West Saxon King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburga. His special importance for the English history is that after a successful defense of the Vikings, he created the basis for a unification of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms under the hegemony of Wessex and promoted the Old English language and literature.