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
Alfred Aetheling Prince Alfred, of whom nine out of ten were killed. Alfred Aetheling Ælfred Æþeling (English: "Alfred the Noble") ( 1005–1036) was one of the eight sons of the English king Æthelred the Unready. He and his brother Edward the Confessor were sons of Æthelred's second wife Emma of Normandy. King Canute became their stepfather when he married Æthelred's widow. Alfred and his brother were caught up in the power struggles at the start and end of Canute's reign. In 1013, during the siege of London by the Danes, Æthelred and his family took refuge in Normandy. Æthelred regained the throne