I FEEL that you should publish a correction to the item which appeared about King Alfred (The Press, February 6).

•Alfred really existed and was not legendary. You should explain why he is the only English King to be called The Great

• He really did defeat the Danes in 878 AD (not just “is said to have”) but not by himself

• You should explain is the relevance of “burnt cakes” historically and say what is the authority for it.

Philip Johnson, Greencliffe Drive, Clifton, York.

Editor’s note: This article was supplied by the national news agency, The Press Association. We can confirm that Alfred existed, and was called ‘The Great’ for defending his country against a stronger enemy, for securing peace with the Vikings and for farsighted reforms in the reconstruction of Wessex and beyond. He did defeat the Danes in 878. It was according to early 12th-century chroniclers that Alfred burnt some cakes because he was preoccupied with the defence of his kingdom. (Source: royal.gov.uk, official website of the British monarchy).