Alfred capture of London in 886 was his most significant political act after Edington. He entrusted the city to Aethelred of Mercia and refortified it using the Roman walls plus new riverside embankments. The Strand waterfront was abandoned for a safer intramural market. Asser records that all the English people who were not under Danish subjection submitted to Alfred after this act, effectively making him king of all the English. London control was both symbolic and strategically vital.
West Saxon and Mercian forces under Alfred and Aethelred
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