12 - Boroughs and Socio-Political Reconstruction in Late Anglo-Saxon England

Summary

Introduction

King Alfred's responses to the Viking raids of the ninth century are well known and well documented. Having fought back against imminent defeat at the hands of Viking armies, Alfred eventually embarked upon an impressive set of ‘reforms’. The scope of these reforms was dramatic and included the infusion of his court with scholars who began to translate key secular and religious writings into Anglo-Saxon. But Alfred also undertook a series of military reforms at about the same time. These reforms included a plan to divide the fyrd, a national army usually called up only during times of invasion, into two units so that one could remain mustered at all times, and the building of an Anglo-Saxon ‘navy’. However, Alfred's most famous reform was arguably the construction of a series of fortified towns across the kingdom of Wessex that were, ultimately, extended into those lands conquered by Alfred's son, daughter and grandson.

The history of these boroughs and their eventual distribution across the first kingdom of England is well known, so this chapter will not address it in detail but, instead, will examine the socio-political and geographical transformation that occurred in Anglo-Saxon society as a result of the borough reforms. It will be suggested that the borough reforms had much more impressive social effects than a mere transformation in the way that the kingdom was defended. While it is certain that militarily significant changes did occur as a result of the reformed borough system, Alfred's reforms arguably had a much more profound effect on the way that Anglo-Saxon society was organised.