Anglo-Saxon History / Medieval History / Women's History

Aethelflaed, Lady of Mercia

Susan Abernethy37 Comments

O potent Elfleda! Maid, men’s terror!
You did conquer nature’s self; worthy
The name of man! More beauteous nature’s form of
A woman; but your valour shall secure
Man’s higher name. For name you only need
Not sex to change; unconquerable queen,
King rather, who such trophies have obtained!
O virgin and virago farewell!
No Ceasar yet such triumph hath deserved
As you, than any, all, the Ceasars more renown’d!Francis Peck

Of all the medieval women I have researched and written about, Aethelflaed is by far my favorite. She was the daughter of Alfred the Great and was instrumental in carrying out his vision for a united Britain.

Aethelflaed was born in 868, the eldest child of King Alfred of England and his wife Ealhswith. Ealhswith was related to the house of Mercia through her mother, Eadburh so Aethelflaed had a Mercian pedigree in addition to her West Anglo-Saxon heritage. Mercia was one of the kingdoms of England that’s roughly in the middle of the island between Wales and East Anglia. Aethelflaed grew up in the care of her mother with her younger brother Edward at the royal palace of Chippenham while her father was away governing and fighting the Vikings. Alfred had many battles fighting the Vikings. In 876 he had special troubles with a Danish fighter named Guthrum. He lost a battle and had to make peace with Guthrum and probably pay off the Danes to get them to withdraw from Wessex.

British Kingdoms, c. 800

At Christmas in 878, Guthrum attacked the royal palace at Chippenham and Alfred and his family had to flee to safety in the woods. Some historians have conjectured there may have been someone who was disgruntled with Alfred for negotiating with the Vikings and collaborated with Guthrum in this attack. Alfred fled with the family and a few men to the marshes of Somerset and they lived on the island of Athelney for four months. He spent his time here in contemplation and meditation on what his plan of action would be against the Vikings and how to secure his kingdom. He came up with a plan to integrate all the Anglo-Saxon and Danish kingdoms, unite them under Christianity, codify all the laws and re-enforce the entire kingdom by building fortifications and manning them year round, having half the men on duty and the other half taking care of the harvest at home. He probably told Aethelflaed all about his plans because her policies later matched her fathers. The plan started with building a fort on Athelney and Aethelflaed probably helped.

In May of 878, Alfred left Athelney to fight Guthrum and his Vikings at the Battle of Eddington. He defeated Guthrum and negotiated peace. Guthrum agreed to be baptized a Christian, become the adopted son of Alfred and agreed to leave Wessex. For the next six years, Aethelflaed observed her father as he united the kingdom. He pursued educating his people, codified the laws, assembled a navy, built, rebuilt and fortified towns. He began administering the collection of taxes and allocation of expenditures, promoting trade and protecting and cultivating the church. Alfred decided to establish the Wessex capital at Winchester and his family resided there.

Alfred the Great. Image in the public domain

Mercia had suffered under the Vikings for many years. The eastern part was dominated by the Vikings with fortified towns and armies. To the west were the Welsh who were constantly at odds with the Mercians. Somehow, by 878, Ealdorman Aethelred of Mercia managed to free western Mercia from the Vikings. He may have collaborated with Alfred to do this but history is so murky we will never really know for sure. Aethelred heard about Alfred’s program of fortify, build and rebuild towns in defense of the Vikings and went to Alfred’s court. There he met Aethelflaed and talked with her about her father’s plans. Aethelred knew immediately Aethelflaed had invaluable knowledge and wanted to offer her a position as his co-ruler so he could use her expertise to fight the Vikings. That’s how impressed he was with her poise and intelligence at eleven years old.

Aethelflaed and Aethelred of Mercia were married in 884 when she was sixteen and traveled to Mercia with her husband forming a strong alliance between Wessex and Mercia. The Vikings had withdrawn to the continent in 880 and stayed away until 885. They came and attacked at Rochester in Kent and Guthrum came to their aid, breaking his treaty with Alfred. Alfred called upon Aethelred and Aethelflaed to help defeat Guthrum and his friends. Together they took London from the Vikings. Alfred gave London and all territory to the west of London to the Mercians, greatly increasing the size of the kingdom. They negotiated a treaty with Guthrum establishing an English kingdom and a Danish kingdom and opened the way for trade and peace.

During this time of peace, Aethelflaed and her husband began the same program Alfred had started, beginning to build cities. There is a memorandum for a meeting that occurred in London in 888 stating that Alfred, Aethelflaed, Aethelred and two bishops met to discuss rebuilding London and advance trade, security, and prosperity. She then moved on to Oxford to rebuild, then Hereford and then Worcester. She and her husband decided to fortify Gloucester and they made this the capital of Mercia. A Mercian council was held there in 896 and a mint was built and began turning out coins by 899. They built a palace outside the city walls and lived there. In 901, they began fortifying Shrewsbury. Aethelflaed had a daughter c. 888 named Aelfwyn. Aethelflaed’s brother Edward had sent his son Aethelstan to her to get a first class education and Aelfwyn probably received the same schooling.

Viking warriors landing and attacking

By 902, Aethelred was very ill with a debilitating disease that kept him bedridden for the rest of his life. Aethelflaed became the ruler of Mercia in all but name. The Irish had driven the Vikings out of Ireland and they came to Chester to ask for land. Aethelflaed granted them land in the area with the promise they would be peaceful. Of course, they couldn’t keep that promise and Aethelflaed had to take an army and fight them. She won and the Vikings began to settle in the area and integrate with the Mercians. She then began building Chester according to the usual plans.

Her brother Edward had united Wessex and Mercia with East Anglia. The Welsh had made peace with the Mercians too and now all these kingdoms were united. Then in 909 Edward started harassing the Northumbrians, angering them so much they began to attack Mercia. Aethelflaed worked to fortify more cities to help protect the kingdom. Her plans started with Bremesburh, Scergeat, Bridgnorth, Tamworth, Stafford, Eddisbury, Warwick, Chirbury, Weardburh (Whitchurch) and Runcorn. In the midst of all this work, Aethelred died in 911. The Mercian Witan (council) named Aethelflaed ruler immediately showing their complete trust in her.

From 911 until her death in 918, she commanded an army in the field three times. The first battle was in Chester where she subdued the Vikings there. Her second campaign was in 915 when a Viking force landed in Bristol Channel and attacked her allies in Wales. She successfully fought them and forced them to leave. Her third campaign was against a Welsh king who killed a Mercian abbot. She won again.

In 917, Aethelflaed saw an opportunity to defeat the Vikings and negotiate for a lasting peace. She attacked the city of Derby with an alliance of Welsh kings, the Kings of Strathclyde and Bernicia and the Scottish King Constantine. They had a tremendous victory. Their victory was so complete the Vikings of Leicester and then the great Viking stronghold of York acknowledged the inevitable and surrendered to her. This was a great and marvelous moment in history.

Then the worst thing happened. Aethelflaed died at Tamworth on June 12, 918. All the work she had put into settling the kingdom in a peaceful and thoughtful way came to an end. With her brother stirring up trouble in Northumbria, things began to deteriorate. Although we don’t know for sure, the Mercian Witan trusted Aethelflaed and her daughter and they may have named Aelfwyn as her successor. Three weeks before Christmas 919, Aelfwyn’s uncle, King Edward came and deprived Aelfwyn of all her authority and took her back to Wessex. The Mercians recognized Edward as their King and Aelfwyn joined a nunnery and lived out her life there.

Aethelflaed’s body was taken to Gloucester and she was buried next to Aethelred, her husband. She was named the “Lady of the Mercians” by the Anglo-Saxon chronicle. The Annals of Ulster noted her death without mentioning her brother’s or her father’s. They called her “a most famous queen of the Saxons”.

Further reading: “The Lady Who Fought the Vikings” by Don Stansbury

37 thoughts on “Aethelflaed, Lady of Mercia”

  2. I live in Shrewsbury and St Alkmund’s Church in the heart of the town records that it was founded by Aethelflaed. That, and the tv programme The Last Kingdom is what caused me to look her up! Very grateful for such an in depth and interesting account.

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  5. I wonder if anyone can help me with some information about Ethelfleada. I know that there are some stories and legends about her, some of which come from later Medieval Chronicles.
    There was one that I saw on a webpage a while back, which recounted how a young child, Ethelfleada is supposed to have been out playing in the woods, or gotten lost, or some such, and spotted a group of Danes heading for the Saxon base or camp, and ran off or warn her father who pre-empted the attack.

    I cannot find the source or origin of the story, which has made me suspect it might be a modern invention, but does anyone else know of it, or have they heard of it?

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      • Oh, I was beginning to think so. At least the story about the attack on her wedding party is genuinely Medieval.

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    • There never was an attack on her wedding party. That is not mentioned in any chronicles. The Annals of Ulster have athe most information on her. I would suggest starting there.

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      • Oh, I did not think it necessarily happened, but I do recall reading it was mentioned in some Medieval Chronicle or Annal or another, rather then in a modern work of fiction.

        To the best of my recollection anyway.

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      • I could only find her death mentioned in the Annals of Ulster. Is this information you refer to in a particular manuscript or version of them, or is another variant of her name used?

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  7. Thank you for your post. I read everything I can about Aethelflaed as she is possibly my 33rd great-aunt. Actually I read about her because she was awesome. First, where did you find the info on Aethelred being interested in her at 11 years old? I haven’t seen that before. Next, in the text you write ” Alfred gave London and all territory to the west of London to the Mercians, greatly increasing the size of the kingdom”. Hadn’t London and the lands to the west, before the Vikings, been Mercian territory? And finally, you say “Aethelflaed’s brother Edward had sent his son Aethelstan to her to get a first class education…” While the education was important, wouldn’t raising Aethelstan in Mercia have been important for the making of one England? Thanks for your help.

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  13. I agree with everyone’s comments and add my wholeheartedly appreciation for your work on bringing these marvellous women alive once more. I am reading Paul Collins’ Birth of the West: Rome, Germany, France, and the Creation Of Europe In the Tenth Century, and it seems that the daughter of Ethelfleda – the famous Eadgyth – was sent with her sister to Germany as a young woman to marry the young lad who would become Otto 1 and use the same tactics of building and consolidating to forge a German state that Alfred and daughter Ethelfleda had almost pioneered, one might say, in the emergence of a unified or semi-unified England. Eadgyth seems a true daughter of both mother Ethelfleda and grandfather Alfred in that she became known and loved by almost everyone of the times, and was the mainstay of support for husband Otto (they fell in love at first sight, so though the idea was for him to pick one of the two sisters, there was no question, apparently, as to whom it would be! Sister was then married off to another king nearby, though no one is quite sure who?)

    Given what your great post tells us (but has been mostly hidden in our history) about her mother Aethelfleda’s military and peacetime strategic genius, it seems likely to me that her daughter Eadgyth took all this knowledge with her into her marriage to the far-away Otto in Germany. We hear only about (the now-famous) Eadgyth’s role as “devoted wife of Otto, sainted mother of the German people, and doer of good works”, but in fact, she and Otto 1 were inseparable for 19 years, and it seems likely Otto consulted with her above all on his own military and building projects, so similar to those of Eadgyth’s mother Aethelfleda. Talk about Suppressed History!

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    • Hi Carol, Thank you for your kinds words about the blog. I did want to point out that Aethelflaed had only one daughter whose name was Aelfwynn. After Aethelflaed’s death, there may have been talk of her following her mother as Queen of Mercia but her uncle Edward the Elder, Aethelflaed’s brother, removed Aelfwynn from Mercia and we know little of where she went. Most likely she retired to a nunnery. The woman Eadgyth you mention was the daughter of Edward the Elder and his second wife Aelflaed and therefore a niece of the Aethelflaed in this post. I have a whole section on Anglo-Saxon History on my blog The Freelance History Writer. There is an article on Aelfwynn and also on all the daughters of King Edward the Elder. Thanks so much for reading! https://thefreelancehistorywriter.com/anglo-saxon-history/

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      • Hi Susan, thanks for the correction! Yes, I had confused the two “flaeds”…I have a bit of dyslexia and have to really read those names from that period very carefully…

        Still, my main point may not be much changed. Even as her aunt, Aethelflaed must have deeply influenced Eadgyth as a dramatic female role model, having ruled jointly with her husband and then independently after he died. And of course, as you point out, Aethelflaed was widely regarded as the real mastermind in political and military matters, not only in terms of her own marriage, but in her alliance with Eadgyth’s father, Edward.

        Well, perhaps this is one of those women’s stories which will never fully be told; but then again, they say “Truth is the Daughter of Time”… 🙂

        Thanks for the link – what a fascinating site you have there, as well as here!

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  14. We should pressure the powers that be to make a National Day for her. There needs to be some films made about her to give us a rest from the Tudor women. And to let others know that there were more powerful English queens. Good post, thanks.

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      • Bernard Cornwell has made Ethelfleda a heroine in his Anglo-Saxon series of historical fiction books. Perhaps. this will widen people’s knowledge of her. This could also lead to a film which would give her a wider audience.

        My niece studied this historical period as part of her historical degree after she heard about Ethelfleda.

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    • I agree. We hear so much about the Tudors women when there are so many strong and powerful women who came before them and lead us up to the Tudors. I am reading about Elizabeth Woodville right now-amazing woman who is not talked about too much except as the White Queen and lead us to the Tudor reign of women.

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  16. I live in Runcorn which is one of the towns founded by Aethelflead. As a member of the local historical society, I prepared a talk on her life using available information. I was suprised that such an influential person has had very little recognition. Alfred the Great laid the foundations of the country we know as England, but Aetheflead was the lynchpin who ensured that his vision was realised. She married the Mercian leader Aethelred, helped her brother King Edward to re-take the English midlands and brought up King Aethelstan, who completed the conquest of England. The English language and culture survived the Norman occupation and has spread throughout the globe.

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    • She hasn’t had the recognition she deserves Mike. I’ve recently learned that the Irish Annals speak very highly of her as a Queen and a warrior. She certainly did carry out her father’s vision. Thanks so much for reading.

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  17. I couldn’t agree more Madame! I found her by reading about Anglo-Saxon history quite by accident and felt compelled to write about her. She really is magnificent and my favorite woman whose story I’ve told so far. Glad you enjoyed reading about her.

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  18. i think it a bit outrageous that a woman of her caliber should not be as known as well as men from her age who did nothing special in comparison. aethelflaed was certainly a monument of bravery in defending the kingdom of mercia from the viking invasions, a quality few rulers can actually be proud of. indeed, a fascinating and equally gripping story she had!

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  19. Venir de temps à autre sur Aethelflaed, Lady of Mercia | Saints, Sisters, and Sluts est réellement intéressant lorsque on est en glanage d’infos.

    Translated: Come from time to time on Aethelflaed, Lady of Mercia | Saints Sisters, and Sluts is really interesting when we are gleaning info.

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  21. My AS feminist hero and the one human story in my thesis!
    I believe, after the pain of the birth of Ælfwyn, she also said something like “I am the daughter of a King, no man is coming near me again!”.

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  22. She was definitely and active and ambitious woman. It’s such a shame that these women are not as well-known as the men. Of course, we’re doing our little part to help change that! Great post!

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    • I love that Aethelred recognized her abilities at 11 years old. We are doing out best to get the word out on these women Susan.

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