Alfred the Great his craving for what he desired the most, namely the liberal arts; for, as he used to say, there were no good scholars in the entire kingdom of the West Saxons at that time". In 868, Alfred married Ealhswith, daughter of a Mercian nobleman, Æthelred Mucel, Ealdorman of the Gaini. The Gaini were probably one of the tribal groups of the Mercians. Ealhswith's mother, Eadburh, was a member of the Mercian royal family. They had five or six children together including: Edward the Elder who succeeded his father as king; Æthelflæd who became Lady (ruler) of the Mercians in her
Prince Alfred of Great Britain Six months after Alfred's death, his elder brother Octavius succumbed to the smallpox virus, further devastating the king. During one of his bouts of madness in 1812, George would have imaginary conversations with his two youngest sons. His youngest sister Princess Amelia was conceived in the months after Alfred's death, born almost exactly a year after he died. The first of George III and Queen Charlotte's children to die, Alfred died nearly seventy five years before his older sister Mary, who was the last survivor of George III and Queen Charlotte's fifteen children. Alfred is also unique among their first