Alfred and Ceolwulf

Sent in by Gary – www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7086499/ … police investigating an illegal trade in historical artefacts have seized a hoard of Viking coins that might rewrite a small piece of English history. Alfred the Great was popularised in the Victorian era as the man that repelled the Vikings and united the Anglo Saxon kingdoms. This is still true but one element of the story might be wrong – and that is that the king of Mercia, Ceolwulf, was a lap dog of the Vikings (who had made deep inroads into his kingdom). The coins show that Ceolwulf was instead an ally of Alfred in the fight against the Viking invaders. An equal. It would seem that Alfred recruited not just some of the Welsh to his fight but also, the incumbent in Mercia, and may explain how the Vikings were comprehensively defeated. Ceolwulf himself will have to be updated in history books – just from these coins.