Editing Asser (section)

==''The Life of King Alfred''==
In 893, Asser wrote a biography of Alfred entitled ''The Life of King Alfred''; in the original Latin, the title is ''Vita Ælfredi regis Angul Saxonum''. The date is known from Asser's mention of the king's age in the text. The work, which is less than twenty thousand words long, is one of the most important sources of information on Alfred the Great.<ref name=KL /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gallagher|first=Robert|date=2021|title=Asser and the Writing of West Saxon Charters*|journal=The English Historical Review|volume=136 |issue=581 |pages=773–808 |doi=10.1093/ehr/ceab276|issn=0013-8266|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Asser drew on a variety of texts to write his ''Life''. The style is similar to that of two biographies of [[Louis the Pious]]: ''[[Vita Hludovici Imperatoris]]'', written c. 840 by an unknown author usually called "the Astronomer", and ''Vita Hludowici Imperatoris'' by [[Thegan of Trier]]. It is possible that Asser may have known these works. He also knew [[Bede]]'s ''[[Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum]]''; the ''[[Historia Brittonum]]'', a Welsh source; the ''Life of [[Alcuin]]''; and the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]''. It is also clear from the text that Asser was familiar with [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'', [[Caelius Sedulius]]'s ''Carmen Paschale'', [[Aldhelm]]'s ''De Virginitate'', and [[Einhard]]'s ''[[Vita Karoli Magni]]'' ("Life of Charlemagne"). He quotes from [[Gregory the Great]]'s ''[[Regula Pastoralis]]'', a work he and Alfred subsequently collaborated in translating, and from [[Augustine of Hippo]]'s ''[[Enchiridion of Augustine|Enchiridion]]''. About half of the ''Life'' is little more than a translation of part of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' for the years 851–887, though Asser adds personal opinions and interpolates information about Alfred's life. Asser also adds material relating to the years after 887 and general opinions about Alfred's character and reign.<ref name=KL /><ref name=Abels13>Abels, ''Alfred the Great'', pp. 13–14.</ref>

Asser's prose style has been criticised for weak syntax, stylistic pretensions, and garbled exposition. His frequent use of archaic and unusual words gives his prose a baroque flavour that is common in Insular Latin authors of the period. He uses several words that are peculiar to Frankish Latin sources. This has led to speculation that he was educated at least partly in Francia, but it is also possible that he acquired this vocabulary from Frankish scholars he associated with at court, such as Grimbald.<ref name=KL />

The ''Life'' ends abruptly with no concluding remarks and it is considered likely that the manuscript is an incomplete draft. Asser lived a further fifteen or sixteen years and Alfred a further six, but no events after 893 are recorded.<ref name=KL />

It is possible that the work was written principally for the benefit of a Welsh audience. Asser takes pains to explain local geography, so he was clearly considering an audience not familiar with the areas he described. More specifically, at several points he gives an English name and follows it with the British / Welsh equivalent name, such as in the case of [[Nottingham]]. As a result, and given that Alfred's overlordship of south Wales was recent, it may be that Asser intended the work to acquaint a Welsh readership with Alfred's personal qualities and reconcile them to his rule.<ref name=KL /> However, it is also possible that Asser's inclusion of Welsh placenames simply reflects an interest in etymology or the existence of a Welsh audience in his own household rather than in Wales. There are also sections such as the support for Alfred's programme of fortification that give the impression of the book's being aimed at an English audience.<ref name=CampbellTASS142>Campbell, ''The Anglo-Saxon State'', p. 142.</ref>

Asser's ''Life'' omits any mention of internal strife or dissent in Alfred's own reign, though when he mentions that Alfred had to harshly punish those who were slow to obey Alfred's commands to fortify the realm, he makes it clear that Alfred did have to enforce obedience. Asser's life is a one-sided treatment of Alfred, though since Alfred was alive when it was composed, it is unlikely to contain gross errors of fact.<ref name=Fletcher_139>{{Cite book|last= Fletcher|first= Richard|title= Who's Who in Roman Britain and Anglo-Saxon England|page=139|year= 1989|publisher= Shepheard-Walwyn|isbn=978-0-85683-089-1}}</ref><ref name=CampbellTASS145>Asser's biases and how to interpret them are discussed in detail in Campbell, ''The Anglo-Saxon State'', pp. 145–150.</ref>

In addition to being the primary source for Alfred's life, Asser's work is also a source for other historical periods, where he adds material to his translation of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. For example, he tells a story about [[Eadburh]], the daughter of [[Offa]]. Eadburh married [[Beorhtric]], king of the West Saxons. Asser describes her as behaving "like a tyrant" and ultimately accidentally poisoning Beorhtric in an attempt to murder someone else. He finishes by describing her death as a beggar in [[Pavia]].<ref name=Campbell111>{{Cite book|last1= Campbell|first1= John|last2=John |first2=Eric |last3=Wormald |first3=Patrick|title= The Anglo-Saxons|page=111|year= 1991|publisher= Penguin Books|isbn=978-0-14-014395-9}}</ref><ref name=KL5>Keynes and Lapidge, ''Alfred the Great'', pp. 71–72.</ref> {{citation needed span|This Eadburh is not the same as Alfred's mother-in-law, also named Eadburh, whom Asser mentions elsewhere.|date=December 2022}}