Novruzov P.N.,Volkonskaya M.A. He was þe wiseste man: Alfredian Renaissance and its Influence on the Image of the King in the Middle English Didactic Poem The Proverbs of Alfred. [Digital Resource] // Vox medii aevi. 2025. Vol. 2 (13). P. 41–65. URL: https://voxmediiaevi.com/2025-2-novruzov/
DOI: 10.24412/2587-6619-2025-13-41-65
Pavel Novruzov
Post-Graduate Student at the School of Philological Studies, Higher School of Economics (Moscow)
Novruzov.P.N@hse.ru
Maria Volkonskaya
Candidate of Sciences (Philology), Associate Professor at the School of Philological Studies, Higher School of Economics (Moscow)
ORCID: 0000-0002-1812-1287
mary.volkonskaya@gmail.com
He was þe wiseste man: Alfredian Renaissance and its Influence on the Image of the King in the Middle English Didactic Poem The Proverbs of Alfred
This article situates the phenomenon of the Alfredian Renaissance, which took place at the end of the 9th century, within the broader Carolingian intellectual tradition and explores how the key ideas of the Carolingian revival, especially the notion of the ideal ruler and the concept of correctio, were adopted and reinterpreted during King Alfred’s reign. Using Asser’s Life of King Alfred and the king’s preface to Gregory the Great’s Pastoral Care, it examines the shaping of Alfred’s image, in which a characteristically Anglo-Saxon shift can be observed: from the biblical model of the warrior-king (David) to that of the wise king and judge (Solomon). The article then traces the subsequent reception of this image in the post-Conquest tradition, focusing on the 12th-century didactic poem The Proverbs of Alfred, which represents the king as a sage, teacher, and preacher, turning the historical Alfred into a literary archetype of the wise ruler.
Keywords: Carolingian Renaissance; Alfred the Great; Alfredian Renaissance; Proverbs of Alfred; sage; wisdom.