Æthelflæd
Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians ruled Mercia in the English Midlands from 911 until her death. She was the eldest daughter of Alfred the Great, king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex, and his wife Ealhswith. The accession of a female ruler in Mercia is described by the historian Ian Walker as ‘one of the most unique events in early medieval history’
About Æthelflæd in brief
Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians ruled Mercia in the English Midlands from 911 until her death. She was the eldest daughter of Alfred the Great, king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex, and his wife Ealhswith. The accession of a female ruler in Mercia is described by the historian Ian Walker as ‘one of the most unique events in early medieval history’ In 917 she sent an army to capture Derby, the first of the Five Boroughs of the Danelaw to fall to the English. In 918 Leicester surrendered without a fight. Shortly afterwards the Viking leaders of York offered her their loyalty, but she died on 12 June 918 before she could take advantage of the offer, and a few months later Edward completed the conquest of Mercia. Historians disagree whether Mercia was an independent kingdom under Æthelred and Æ thelflød but they agree that Æthellfæd was a great ruler who played an important part in the invasion of theDanelaw. In Nick Higham’s view, medieval and modern writers have been so captivated by her that Edward’s reputation has suffered unfairly in comparison. According to Pauline Stafford, like … Elizabeth I she became a wonder to later ages. Thereafter the two kingdoms became allies, which was an important factor to the Viking invasions of England. In 865 the Great Heathen Army landed in East Anglia and used this as a starting point for an invasion.
The East Anglians were forced to buy peace with the Vikings, who conquered Northumbria in 867. The following year they spent the winter of 867–868 King Burgred of Mercian was joined by King Alfred, who bought an engagement with them with the end of the war. In the end the Vikings bought peace with them, and they conquered the East Angles and bought peace again with the West Saxons, who joined them with them in the war against the Vikings. The West Saxon and Mercian force raided the Northumbrian saint, Oswald, which were translated to the new Gloucester minster. The remains of Oswald were returned to Gloucester in 909. The next year King Alfred and his brother, the future King Edward the Elder, attacked the Vikings and won an engagement for a combined attack on the Vikings who refused to make an engagement. The battle of Elland was fought at Elland, where the Vikings were defeated. The Anglo-Norman chroniclers such as William of Malmesbury described her as ‘a powerful accession to party, the delight of his subjects, the dread of his enemies, a woman of enlarged soul’ and ‘a woman of expanded soul’ She was succeeded by her daughter Ælfwynn, but in December Edward took personal control ofMercia and carried Æ Alfwynn off to Wessex.
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This page is based on the article Æthelflæd published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 23, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
