Editing Alfred the Great (section)

== Childhood ==
[[File:Æthelwulf - MS Royal 14 B VI.jpg|thumb|Alfred's father [[Æthelwulf of Wessex]] in the early 14th-century ''Genealogical Roll of the Kings of England'']]

According to Asser, in his childhood Alfred won a beautifully decorated book of English poetry, offered as a prize by his mother to the first of her sons able to memorise it. He must have had it read to him because his mother died when he was about six and he did not learn to read until he was 12.{{Sfn|Pollard|2006|pp=54–55}}{{Sfn|Abels|1998|pp=55–56}} In 853, Alfred is reported by the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' to have been sent to Rome where he was [[confirmed]] by [[Pope Leo IV]], who "anointed him as king".{{Sfn|Giles|Ingram|1996|loc=Year 853}} [[Victorian era|Victorian]] writers later interpreted this as an anticipatory coronation in preparation for his eventual succession to the throne of Wessex. This is unlikely; his succession could not have been foreseen at the time because Alfred had three living elder brothers. A letter of Leo IV shows that Alfred was made a "consul" and a misinterpretation of this investiture, deliberate or accidental, could explain later confusion.{{Sfn|Pollard|2006|pp=63}}{{Sfn|Wormald|2006}} It may be based upon the fact that Alfred later accompanied his father on a pilgrimage to Rome where he spent some time at the court of Charles the Bald, [[king of the Franks]], around 854–855.{{Sfn|Abels|1998|p=55}} On their return from Rome in 856, Æthelwulf was deposed by his son [[Æthelbald of Wessex|Æthelbald]]. With civil war looming, the magnates of the realm met in council to form a compromise. Æthelbald retained the western shires (i.e. historical Wessex), and Æthelwulf ruled in the east. After King Æthelwulf died in 858, Wessex was ruled by three of Alfred's brothers in succession: Æthelbald, [[Æthelberht of Wessex|Æthelberht]] and [[Æthelred of Wessex|Æthelred]].{{Sfn|Crofton|2006|p=8}}