This Warrior was a Lady - Aethelflaed Lady of the Mercians By Leigh Michaels | June 4th, 2007
“But very soon after they had agreed to this she died, twelve nights before midsummer, in Tamworth, in the eighth year she was with rightful lordship holding Mercian rule. Her body lies in Colchester, in the east chapel of St. Peter’s Church.”
So the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle bids good by to one of the most amazing women in history. Yet, who has ever heard of Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians? (sometimes modernized as “Ethelfled”) Which is really too bad. She was probably born around 865-870, not only the oldest daughter of that great English folk hero Alfred the Great, but according to his biographer, his oldest child. Why was Alfred so great? He is credited with creating a unified kingdom called “Angle-lond” – England. Today of course we are more inclined to say he began the process of creating England, but in the end, isn’t it basically the same thing?
She was married to Aethelred, the Lord of the Mercians sometime after the recapture of London by her father in 886. Aethelred became ill sometime in 909 or 910 and died in 911. It would appear that Aethelflaed took command of the province in his illness. Some fragments from the Irish Annals has her giving lands “near Chester” to a Norseman named “Hingamund” – who should probably be identified as a known historical character called Ingimund – in what most likely was 910. Apparently he saw that Chester was a really nice fortified town – known as a “borough” in this period and one of the ways that her father, Alfred, had tried to control the Scandinavian threat. Who wouldn’t want a nice town, fortified against outside threat at someone else’s expense? So Ingimund tried to take over Chester. One thing the Annalist is clear on – it was Aethelflaed who manned and defended Chester. Her husband is mentioned as being “diseased” at that time, but certainly he wasn’t mentioned as being part of the battle for Chester. Aethelflaed, and Aethelflaed alone, is mentioned as defending the town. Moreover, Aethelflaed was successful. It must be admitted that the Annalist claims that she had help from the Irish, some boiling hot ale and eventually routed the enemy by “letting loose on the attacking force all the beehives in the town so that they could not move legs or hands from the great number of bees stinging them.” Perhaps not an orthodox victory, but a victory none-the-less.
As a widow, Aethelflaed came into her own. She built some of those fortified towns, about two per year. The boroughs of Tamworth, Stafford, Eddisbury, and Warwick owe their birth to her. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle claims that Aethelflaed also raided into Wales in 916, capturing “a king’s wife and thirty-four others” in a single night’s work. Interestingly, the Chronicle also tells us that she “obtained the borough that is called Derby with all that belonged to it. There also were killed four of her thanes, who were dear to her, inside the gates.” So she didn’t build Derby – she took it by force of arms. The following year she took Leicester, and in the final year of her life, she took York who “gave pledges to be under her rule.” This is the event eluded to in the opening quote.
Why haven’t we heard of a tenth century woman who could command armies, build fortified towns, hold and capture these same fortified towns, lead daring raids, and negotiate treaties? I can’t say for certain. Part of it maybe that the tenth century is considered the “Dark Ages”, and part may be that the facts I have given you are about everything that is known about Aethelflaed. Still, Aethelflaed should be better known than she is – who better could claim to be the “Mother of England” than the woman warrior whose father was the Father of the Nation?
Leigh Michaels
Aethelflaed was unique in that her achievements (especially those on the battlefield) were recognised and acknowledged by her male peers.
A truly remarkable woman.