The first 3 facts out of 10 about Alfred the Great and Vladimir The Saint. Learn more at walking tour

The first 3 facts out of 10 about Alfred the Great and Vladimir The Saint.  An insight into Comparative Biographies at City Tour of London in  Kyiv on 16th of July within the series of  Discovering English Values in Ukraine Tours 

KING Alfred the Great, that is seen by many as the first king of all England, who died on October 26, AD 899

1. was born at Wantage, Berkshire, in AD 849, the fifth son of the West Saxon King Ethelwulf. 

2. three of his brothers, Ethelbald, Ethelbert and Ethelred became King of Wessex before him but all died young leaving Alfred to become king in AD 871. 

3. at that time Wessex was the only Anglo-Saxon kingdom that had not fallen to the Vikings. 

Vladimir Sviatoslavich the Great, a prince of Novgorod, grand prince of Kiev, and ruler of Kievan Rus' from 980 to 1015

1.      was born in about 960  with prince Sviatoslav I of Kiev of the Rurik dynasty, was his  natural and youngest son and his housekeeper Malusha. Malusha is described in the Norse sagas as a prophetess who lived to the age of 100 and was brought from her cave to the palace to predict the future. Malusha's brother Dobrynya was Vladimir's tutor and most trusted advisor.

2.      after the death of his father in 972, Vladimir, who was then prince of Novgorod, was forced to flee to Scandinavia in 976 after his brother Yaropolk had murdered his other brother Oleg and conquered Rus'. In Sweden, with the help from his relative Ladejarl Håkon Sigurdsson, ruler of Norway, he assembled a Varangian army and reconquered Novgorod from Yaropolk.

3.      Originally a follower of Slavic paganism, Vladimir converted to Christianity in 988 and Christianized the Kievan Rus

Learn and share more about these two historical figures at an interactive City Tour of London in Kyiv on 16th July.

16 July 3pm Insight into personalities of Alfred The Great and Saint Vladimir. Comparative biographies. Walking Tour in the downtown of Kyiv. 2 hours. 150 UAH. 50% discounts for students, young pairs and groups

Place to start - University metro station. Sign up - write to activetours@i.ua, text to 066 5004149

Together in Ukraine - City Tours of London in Kyiv. Discovering English values in Ukraine