Æthelflæd (Wessex) of Mercia (abt. 870 - 918)

Born about 0870 in Wessex, England

Ancestors

Wife of Æthelred (Mercia) of Mercia — married before 0890 in Mercia, England

Died 12 Jun 0918 at about age 48 in Tamworth, Staffordshire

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Æthelflæd (Wessex) of Mercia is a member of the House of Wessex.

Biography

Birth and Parents

Æthelflæd was the daughter of King Alfred the Great and Ealhswith.^[1][2] Her birth date is uncertain but may have been about 870 or soon after.^[1] Asser, writing in 893, says she was her parent's oldest child.^[3][4] She was born at the height of the Viking invasions of England.

Marriage and Children

Æthelflæd married Æthelred, Ealdorman of Mercia.^[1][2][4] Asser says they married when she reached marriageable age ("adveniente matrimonii tempore"),^[3][4] which will have been at least a few years before 893 when he was writing. Charters - which may not be genuine - suggest that they may have married by 887 or 889.^[4] Their union reinforced the bond between Wessex and Mercia at a time when both territories were under Danish attack.^[1]

They had a daughter called Ælfwynn.^[1][2][4]

Charles Cawley raises the possibility that they may have had a son called Æthelstan, citing a charter of 903-4 which is subscribed by Æthelflæd, then immediately after her, by "Æthelstan dux filius Etheredi".^[5]

Ruler of Mercia

Æthelflæd's name appears alongside her husband's on charters, indicating that she exercised considerable influence. For instance, in 904 there is a lease of land to her and her husband.^[6]

Æthelflæd's husband Æthelred became ill at some point between 899 and 909, and Æthelflæd then played a major part in ruling Mercia. During this period she founded a Minster at Gloucester^[1] and started strengthening Mercia's defences.^[7]

Æthelflæd's husband died in 911, and she then succeeded him as ruler of Mercia,^[2][4] being described as "Lady of the Mercians" in Mercian records^[1] and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles.^[7] She strengthened Mercia's defences against the Danes by having a series of fortifications constructed, and co-operated with her brother Eadweard the Elder in fighting the Danes,^[1][2][4][7] leading the Mercian forces in person.^[8] In 917 she captured Derby, the first of the five boroughs of the Danelaw to fall to the English,^[7] and incorporated it into Mercia. Some sources state that some of her campaigns against Vikings in the North of England were in alliance with the Picts and Scots.^[1] Shortly before her death, she obtained the allegiance of leading figures in the Viking territory of York, who were under threat from Vikings from Ireland and wanted her support.^[8][9]

Death and Burial

Æthelflæd died at Tamworth, Staffordshire on 12 June 918, and was buried at St Peter's Minster, Gloucester.^[1][7] On her death, her brother Eadweard the Elder took control of Mercia after a brief period in which Æthelflæd's daughter Ælfwynn ruled.^[1][2][4][7]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by Marios Costambeys for 'Æthelflæd [Ethelfleda]', print and online 2004, revised online 2018
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5} Charles. ÆTHELFLÆD (c.869-Tamworth 12 Jun 918, entry in "Medieval Lands" database (accessed 2 June 2021)
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Asser. Life of King Alfred, translated by Albert S Cook, Ginn and Company, 1906, pp. 37-38, Internet Archive
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7} The Henry Project, entry for Æthelflæd (under her father's entry)
5. ↑ Charles Cawley. "Medieval Lands", entry for Æthelred (-912), accessed 2 June 2021
6. ↑ A J Robertson. Anglo-Saxon Charters, 2nd edition, 1956, reissued by Cambridge University Press in 2009, pp. 34-39
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5} Michael Swanton (translator and editor). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, new edition, Phoenix Press, 2000, pp. 94-105
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Frank Stenton. Anglo-Saxon England, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press, 1971, pp. 324-9
9. ↑ James Campbell (ed.). The Anglo-Saxons, Penguin Books, 1991, p. 161

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by Marios Costambeys for 'Æthelflæd [Ethelfleda]', print and online 2004, revised online 2018
• Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Vol. 18, pp. 21-22, entry for 'ETHELFLEDA, ÆTHELFLÆD, or ÆLFLED'
• Cawley, Charles. ÆTHELFLÆD (c.869-Tamworth 12 Jun 918, entry in "Medieval Lands" database (accessed 2 June 2021)
• Wikipedia: Æthelflæd