When Alfred died in 899, Aethelwold staged a revolt in an attempt to seize the crown, similar to that which we see at the end of The Last Kingdom season three. Remarkably, this is inspired by events in real history.

Aelswith in real lifeĪethelwold is a character people love to hate in The Last Kingdom, known for his scheming and treachery against King Alfred as he eyes the throne for himself. Sadly, his bones and many others were lost in the late 1700s, when a prison was built on the land. He passed away at the age of either 50 or 51 and was buried at Hyde Abbey in Winchester, the city where he had lived for most of his life. The exact nature of King Alfred’s death is not known, but he did suffer from ill health for much of his life and his recorded symptoms have led some historians to theorise that he had Crohn’s disease. Some of the military victories shown in the Netflix series did indeed occur in real life, most notably the conversion of viking warrior Earl Guthrum to Christianity at the end of season one. Under his reign, there were advancements made towards a fairer legal system as well as higher quality of life for ordinary people.

As The Last Kingdom depicts, he was a well-liked ruler with a reputation among his people for being level-headed and merciful. Alfred the Great was indeed King of Wessex from 871 to 899.

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