Æthelflæd

For other Anglo-Saxon women of the same name, see Æthelflæd (disambiguation)

Æthelflæd (Old English: Æðelflæd (869 / 870–918), was the eldest daughter of King Alfred the Great of Wessex and Ealhswith, wife of Æthelred, ealdorman of Mercia, and after his death, ruler of Mercia (911–918). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle styles her "Lady of the Mercians" (Myrcna hlæfdige).

Early career

Æthelflæd is mentioned by King Alfred's biographer Asser, who calls her the first-born child of Alfred and Ealhswith and a sister to Edward, Æthelgifu, Ælfthryth and Æthelweard. By the time he wrote, roughly about the year 890, she was already married to Æthelred, then ealdorman of Mercia.

They had one daughter, Ælfwynn.

Mercia and the Vikings

During a sustained campaign of repeated attack between 865 and 878 the Danish Vikings overran most of the English Kingdoms such as Northumbria, Eastern Mercia, East Anglia and even threatened the very existence of Wessex. Alfred and his descendants reconquered these lands from the Danes by 937. The aid given him in this by Mercia had to be acknowledged. Instead of making the dominion of Wessex over Mercia seem like a conquest, Alfred married Æthelflæd to Æthelred of Mercia and gave his son-in-law the title Ealdorman or Earl of Mercia, thus allowing some ongoing autonomy. Since much of Western Mercia was never under the control of the Danes, and remained strong, this was a prudent move. Further prudence prevailed when the kingdoms were finally absorbed; they were not absorbed into Wessex or greater Wessex but into England. The term Anglo-Saxon thus reflects King Alfred's diplomatic integration of the Mercians Angles and the Saxons.

Lady of the Mercians (911–918)

While her husband was alive, she signed agreements, leading some to think that she was the real leader. On her husband's death in 911 after the Battle of Tettenhall, she was elevated to the status of "Lady of the Mercians". This title was not a nominal position; she was a formidable military leader and tactician. Æthelflæd ruled for approximately eight years (according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle).

The events of her reign are best recorded in the Abingdon version of the Chronicle. The earliest ones mainly consist of building burhs: 910: Bremesbyrig (unidentified). 912: Scergeat (unidentified) and Bridgnorth. 913: Tamworth, Stafford. 914: Eddisbury, Warwick. 915: Chirbury, Weardbyrig (unidentified), Runcorn.

Subsequently, she engaged in hostile expeditions: 916: into Wales, breaking down Brecenan Mere, perhaps at Llangorse Lake. 917: capture of the Danish stronghold of Derby. 918: capture of Leicester.

She allied herself to her brother Edward the Elder, whose son Æthelstan she fostered. Together, they steadily pushed the Danes back to the river Humber. In 918, the York-folk pledged their loyalty to her and she died less than two weeks before the city did its promised homage. Edward the Elder issued coinage with novel reverses of extraordinary designs, and it is speculated that this series of coinage was for circulation in that part of Mercia under the rule of Edward and his sister, with the design of the coinage perhaps showing the influence of Aethelflaed.

She died at Tamworth in 918, and was buried at St Peter's Church (now St Oswald's priory) in Gloucester, a city she had reconstructed from Roman ruins, and laid out the core street plan, which is still in existence today. She was succeeded as lady of the Mercians by her young daughter Ælfwynn.

Ælfwynn

The dominion of Mercia descended to Ælfwynn, Æthelflæd's heiress. Chroniclers have noticed the right of Ælfwynn so precisely as to leave no doubt concerning her claim; and this fact is of considerable value in showing that, contrary to the practice of other Germanic peoples, the sovereign authority amongst the Anglo-Saxons might descend to a female; or, according to the Anglo-Saxon expression, which the French have adopted, "fall to the spindle side".

However, Ælfwynn was compelled to submit to her mother's brother, King Edward the Elder of Wessex. The succession of Edward the Elder finalised the union of the two formerly separate kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia and gives some insight into the emergence of a unified England.

In this instance, however, the weaker heir was compelled to yield to a more powerful opponent, and one from whom no enmity could have been feared. Ælfwynn was conducted as a captive into Wessex three weeks before Christmas 919, by her uncle Edward, who was engaged in successful warfare against the Danes; and we do not hear anything more concerning her in history. She seems to have lived the rest of her life in a nunnery.

Legacy

Æthelflæd is a featured figure on Judy Chicago's installation piece The Dinner Party, being represented as one of the 999 names on the Heritage Floor. A statue dedicated to her stands outside Tamworth Castle.

See also

• Kings of Mercia family tree

Primary sources

• Asser, Vita Ælfredi, ed. W.H. Stevenson, Asser's Life of King Alfred. Oxford, 1904; tr. S.D. Keynes and M. Lapidge, Alfred the Great. Harmondsworth, 1983.
• Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (MSS A, B, C, D and E), ed. D. Dumville and S. Keynes, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. A Collaborative Edition. Vols. 3–7. Cambridge, 1983.
• Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, ed. and tr. Joan N. Radner, Fragmentary annals of Ireland. Dublin, 1978.
• Anglo-Saxon charters: S 221(AD 901), S 223 (AD 884 x 901), S 224 (AD 901), S 225 (AD 878 for 915), S 367 (AD 903), S 1280 (AD 904).

Secondary sources

• Sir Francis Palgrave. History of the Anglo-Saxons. 1876. Paperback edition on Senate. p. 164.
• Lacey, Robert (2007). Great Tales from English History. Abacus.

Further reading

• Costambeys, Marios. 2004. "Æthelflæd (d. 918)." In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.
• Wainwright, F.T. 1975. "Æthelflæd, lady of the Mercians." Scandinavian England. 305–24.
• Wainwright, F. T. (1959). "Æthelflæd Lady of the Mercians". In Peter Clemoes (ed.). The Anglo-Saxons: Studies presented to Bruce Dickens. London: Bowes and Bowes.
• Szarmach, P.R. 1998. "Æðelflæd of Mercia, mise en page." In Words and works: studies in medieval English language and literature in honour of Fred C. Robinson, ed. P.S. Baker and N. Howe. 105–26.
• Keynes, Simon. 1998. "King Alfred and the Mercians." In Kings, currency and alliances: history and coinage of southern England in the ninth century, ed. M.A.S. Blackburn and D.N. Dumville. 1–46.
• Ian W. Walker. 2001. Mercia and the Making of England.
• Sir Frank Stenton. Anglo-Saxon England (2001)
• Justin Pollard. Alfred the Great: the Man Who Made England (2005)
• Don Stansbury. The Lady Who Fought Vikings (1993)
• Jane Wolfe. Aethelflaed: Royal Lady, War Lady (2001)
• C. Heighway and R. Bryant. The Golden Minster (1999)

Popular culture

• Haley Elizabeth Garwood, Swords across the Thames, Bruceton Mills, 1999. ISBN 978-0-9659721-8-5
• Penny Ingham, 'The King's Daughter' published by Cava Books, 2010. ISBN 97809555997. A novel about Aethelflaed, previously published as "Lady of the Mercians.
• Rebecca Tingle, Far Traveler, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2005. ISBN 0-399-23890-5: A semi-fictional account of the life of Aelfwynn
• Bernard Cornwell's The Saxon Stories series of books features her, most prominently in Sword Song (2007 ISBN 978-0-00-721971-1) and The Burning Land (2009 ISBN 978-0-00-721975-9).
• Rebecca Tingle'sThe Edge on the Sword is a story about the teenage Æthelflæd.
• Chris Kirwan, Chris Kirwan's novel Shadowers Crossing (2008 ISBN 978-0-9558709-0-3) features Ethelfleda's final, successful fortification at Castle Rock, Runcorn, in AD 915.

External links

Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Æthelflaed" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.