Ethelwolf was a younger son, and, consequently, did not expect to reign.  He went to the monastery at Winchester, and took the vows.  His father had no objection to this plan, satisfied with having his oldest son expect and prepare for the throne.  As, however, he advanced toward manhood, the thought of the probability that he might be called to the throne in the event of his brother’s death led all parties to desire that he might be released from his monastic vows.  They applied, accordingly, to the pope for a dispensation.  The dispensation was granted, and Ethelwolf became a general in the army.  In the end his brother died, and he became king.

He continued, however, during his reign, to manifest the peaceful, quiet, and serious character which had led him to enter the monastery, and which had probably been strengthened and confirmed by the influences and habits to which he had been accustomed there.  He had, however, a very able, energetic, and warlike minister, who managed his affairs with great ability and success for a long course of years.  Ethelwolf, in the mean time, leaving public affairs to his minister, continued to devote himself to the pursuits to which his predilections inclined him.  He visited monasteries; he cultivated learning; he endowed the Church; he made journeys to Rome.  All this time, his kingdom, which had before almost swallowed up the other kingdoms of the Heptarchy, became more and more firmly established, until, at length, the Danes came in, as is described in the last chapter, and brought the whole land into the most extreme and imminent danger.  The case did not, however, become absolutely desperate until after Ethelwolf’s death, as will be hereafter explained.

Ethelwolf married a lady whose gentle, quiet, and serious character corresponded with his own.  Alfred was the youngest, and, as is often the case with the youngest, the favorite child.  He was kept near to his father and mother, and closely under their influence, until his mother died, which event, however, took place when he was quite young.  After this, Ethelwolf sent Alfred to Rome.  Rome was still more the great center then than it is now of religion and learning.  There were schools there, maintained by the various nations of Europe respectively, for the education of the sons of the nobility.  Alfred, however, did not go for this purpose.  It was only to make the journey, to see the city, to be introduced to the pope, and to be presented, by means of the fame of the expedition, to the notice of Europe, as the future sovereign of England; for it was Ethelwolf’s intention, at this time, to pass over his older sons, and make this Benjamin his successor on the throne.

The journey was made with great pomp and parade.  A large train of nobles and ecclesiastics accompanied the young prince, and a splendid reception was given to him in the various towns in France which he passed through on his way.  He was but five years old; but his position and his prospects made him, though so young, a personage of great distinction.  After spending a short time at Rome, he returned again to England.