ensive. He also attacked the Danish-held City of London in an attempt to diminish the lands ruled under Dane law (Bruce 4). No Anglo-Saxon king was ever strong enough to coerce a recalcitrant peasantry. Except Alfred who decided to allow half the men liable for service to remain at home while the other half was out against the Danes (Stenton 261).In order for Alfred to keep peace and defeat the Danes, he had to win many major battles. On Easter Sunday 878, when King Alfred withdrew into the Isle of Athelney, there was every likelihood that before the end of the year Wessex would have been divided out among the members of the Danish army. King Alfred made sure that Wessex would escape that fate. Although Alfred did lose a major battle against the Danes only four years ago, he overcame them in 878 when he won the Battle of Edington. Alfred showed strong resistance by constantly engaging Danish raiding parties from his base in Athelney. After nearly seven weeks of strong battles, Alfred was able to begin defeating the Danes (Stenton 253). Along with Alfred's idea of coercing a recalcitrant peasantry, he had other ways of defeating the Danes as well. Alfred began building warships in order to develop a navy. The ships in which Alfred built were twice as long as those which they were intended to meet (Stenton 253). These warships enabled Alfred to match the power of the sea, in which the Danes had, and in the end, gained peace for his people and the country. After bringing peace to his land, he then began implementing his reforms. Alfred started by signing a peace treaty with King Guthrum. Alfred drew up this treaty by himself. Although fighting continued between the Vikings and the Anglo-Saxons, this treaty marks the end to a major war (Seyfried 2). Along with signing this peace treaty, Alfred also devised a law for his land. This new law was referred to as the "home sitting" law. In his violent world, safety and quiet we...
