To celebrate the release of The Warrior Queen: The Life and Legend of Aethelflaed, Daughter of Alfred the Great, author Joanna Arman tells us ten facts about her.
The Warrior Queen
The Greatest Woman You’ve Never Heard of.
She was the daughter of Alfred, England’s greatest King. She ruled a Kingdom, built cities, and led her army to victory against the Vikings. Yet today, few have even heard of the remarkable 10th century ruler Æthelflæd.
Ruling the Kingdom:
When asked ‘who was the first woman to rule England’ most would probably answer Mary Tudor, or Lady Jane Grey. Technically that’s correct, but over 600 years before, Æthelflæd was the first Englishwoman to rule a Kingdom in her own right. That Kingdom was Mercia, which comprised much of England north of the river Thames and south of the river Humber.
She was a prolific builder.
Alongside leading her armies into the Danelaw, the area of England then ruled by the Vikings, and recapturing a lot of territory, she oversaw the building of several towns and cities, many of which still exist today. Stafford, Tamworth, Warwick, Chesterfield and Runcorn all owe their existence to Lady Æthelflæd’s commitment to defending and developing her Kingdom.
She was a Trailblazer
She was also the first English ruler ever to be succeeded by her daughter. Her only child, Ælfwyn, was recognised by her people and ruled Mercia for several months after her mother’s death. No other female ruler would be succeeded by another woman until Elizabeth I, and to date, no other female monarch in British history has passed on her throne to her daughter.
She might have the most obscure name of any English Monarch
Even today, scholars and linguists can’t always agree on the correct pronunciation of her name. Medieval Chroniclers had even more problems, and several different versions are found in the records, including Elflede.
She was never actually Queen
Although she had as much power as one, Æthelflæd was Queen in all but name. She was never accorded this title by her people during her lifetime, and probably never had any kind of coronation. Instead, she is known to history as the ‘Lady of the Mercians’ the female equivalent of ‘Lord’.
She didn’t have a cowardly husband
Contrary to how he is depicted in Fiction, there is no evidence Æthelflæd’s husband, Lord Æthelred of Mercia was a coward. In fact, the sources suggest he was an experienced and seasoned warrior, trusted by his people. His only weakness was ill health, and when incapacitated, he was happy to delegate the responsibility of leadership to his capable wife.
She rescued a Saint.
Sometime in 909, the bones of the Anglo-Saxon warrior King Saint Oswald were stolen away from Viking occupied Bardney, in an operation almost certainly masterminded by Æthelflæd. She had her husband had them taken to Gloucester, where they built a new church dedicated to him.
She was a Great Politician
Æthelflæd was a diplomat as well as a war leader. She persuaded the Irish to help her defeat the Vikings during a siege, and with the Scots to co-operate against Vikings attacking from the North. She negotiated the peaceful handover of the city of Leicester by its Viking rulers after she had taken Derby, and the Viking rulers of York were preparing to hand the city over to her when she died.
She became a Legend
In the years after her death, writers and Chroniclers from across Britain and Ireland admired her exploits, courage and leadership. One even said she was greater than Julius Caesar. It’s even thought that J.R.R. Tolkien, author of Lord of the Rings, based his warrior princess character Éowyn on her.