Learnings: The Gift of East Anglia
By legitimizing Guthrum's right to rule, Alfred encouraged him to respect his oath. In addition, which Guthrum as a Christian ally in East Anglia, Alfred created a territorial buffer to prevent future Scandinavian raiding parties from heading back up the River Thames into Wessex.
However, there was a problem: East Anglia was not Alfred's to give. He had never ruled over nor conquered that independent kingdom, and neither had his ancestors. In other words, Alfred lost no territory by gifting Guthrum a land that was not his. Moreover, he secured his own possessions and allowed his new (and indebted) ally to stabilize a region that had been in turmoil since the death of its last king, St. Edmund, who was killed by Vikings in 869.
This map shows the territorial separation of Early Medieval Britain before the treaty between Alfred and Guthrum.
In GREEN: the lands that were under the control of Alfred, which corresponded to the kingdoms of Mercia (1) and Wessex (2).
In RED: the area that was not under the control of Alfred, including the kingdom of East Anglia (3).