Ethelflaed (869–918)

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Ethelflaed (869–918)

Ruler of Mercia who constructed a national system of fortifications in partnership with Edward the Elder and contributed to the defeat of the Vikings in England. Name variations: Lady of the Mercians. Originally the Teutonic (Germanic) Æ was used, Aethelflaed or Aethelfleda; this had the value of a short sound before the 11th century, but in some citations was later dropped from common usage, becoming Ethelflaed or Ethelfleda; also Elfleda or Elflida. Pronunciation: Eth-EL-fled. Born in Wessex in 869; died on June 12, 918 (some sources cite 919), in Tamworth, Mercia; buried in St. Peter's monastery, Gloucester, Mercia; eldest daughter of Elswitha (d. 902) and Alfred the Great (848–c. 900), king of the English (r. 871–899); sister of Elfthrith (d. 929); married Ethelred II, ealdorman of Mercia (r. 879–911), in 886 or 887; children: Elfwyn (c. 882–?).

Conference held between Alfred, Ethelflaed, and Ethelred II on the subject of the defense of London (898); death of Alfred the Great (899 or 900); Edward the Elder crowned king of Wessex (899); Ethelflaed inherited a portion of the Wiltshire estate of Damerham (899); town of Worcester leased land to Ethelflaed and her husband (901); Ethelflaed founded monastery of St. Peter and moved the bones of St. Oswald from Northumbria to Gloucester (909); Battle of Tettenhal (909); Ethelflaed began building fortresses for the defense of Mercia and built fortress at Bremesburh (910); death of Ethelred II (911); Edward the Elder reclaimed London (911); Ethelflaed built fortresses of Scargate and Bridgenorth (912) and fortified Tamworth and Stafford (913); first Battle of Corbridge (914); Ethelflaed fortified Eddisbury and Warwick (914), erected fortresses at Chirbury, Weardburh, and Runcorn (915), and launched expedition against Wales (916); conquest of Derby (917); northern alliance (918); second Battle of Corbridge (918); surrender of Leicester (918); Ethelflaed negotiated with Northumbrian Vikings (918).

Characteristic of so many women, the life and death of Ethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, was obscured by her contemporaries. This over-sight, as F.T. Wainwright explains, has as much to do with the political intrigues of 10th-century England as to the haphazard documentation of women throughout history:

There is no word of her victories, no word of her share in the national program of fortress-building, no word of her high reputation in the north, and no word of her loyal and successful co-operation with [her brother] Edward. It is clear that the blanket of official policy has kept her achievements out of the national record.

During the late-9th and early-10th centuries, England experienced a period of extreme political instability. Viking raids, begun as plundering expeditions, evolved into campaigns of conquest—wholesale immigration soon followed. By 865, conquest and settlement had displaced Anglo-Saxon authority on much of the island. In the north, only the isolated kingdom of Northumbria still stood, while in the south, the existence of Wessex and Mercia hung by a slim thread. Much of Mercia had been overrun in the previous four decades. Large sections of central and eastern Mercia, known as the Five Boroughs, had been lost during protracted hostilities with the Danes. Mercia lived a perilous existence, politically unstable and under constant threat of attack.

In an age of almost continual warfare, skilled military leadership was essential. Alfred the Great proved to be the focal point of a national military effort. In 886, after prolonged campaigning, Alfred recaptured London and Oxford. In that year, he also entered into a treaty with the Danish chieftain Guthrum, which freed large parts of Mercia from Viking control. Alfred was recognized as sovereign of all England. In the once powerful kingdom of Mercia, he installed an ealdorman or subking named Ethelred II and also entrusted him with the defense of London. The allegiance of Mercia, now a dependency of Wessex, was further safeguarded by the marriage of Alfred's daughter, Ethelflaed, to the Mercian ealdorman.

The De Rebus Gestis Aelfredis informs us that Ethelflaed, the first child of Alfred the Great and Elswitha , was born "as the time for matrimony approached." Little is known of Ethelflaed's early life. It is recorded that her father was a diligent reader who began the first court schools in England. His own children, girls as well as boys, attended, along with the children of the local nobility, and the cost was borne by Alfred. He intended that all "freeborn youth" should have the opportunity to learn to read and write English, and that those who had the talent to go further ought to be taught Latin as well. In her later years, Ethelflaed showed herself to be her father's daughter; she was a woman of formidable character, endowed with remarkable political, diplomatic, and military talents.

Ethelflaed's half-Mercian parentage guaranteed her acceptance among the Mercians. The kingdom of Mercia, to which she went as a bride in 877, was one that was beginning to prosper again, after the incompetent reigns of Burgred and Ceolwulf II. It seems likely that Ethelred was much older than his bride, but despite the difference in age Ethelflaed proved to be more than a mere pawn on the diplomatic chess board.

In approximately 882, Ethelflaed gave birth to a daughter, Elfwyn . However, as the medieval English chronicler, William of Malmesbury, noted, "from the difficulty of her first labour, ever after [Ethelflaed] refused the embraces of her husband; protesting that it was unbecoming of the daughter of a king to give way to a delight which, after a time, produced such painful consequences."

In 898, a conference was held in Chelsea, at which Alfred, Ethelflaed, and Ethelred discussed provisions for the defense of London. Shortly thereafter, the venerable Alfred died. It is not known for certain how he died, only that death came on October 26, probably in the year 900, when Alfred was 52 years old. In his will, he bequeathed part of his Wiltshire estate in Damerham to his daughter. His son, Edward, known as the Elder, mounted the throne of Wessex, then sent his son Ethelstan to be educated at the Mercian court. This arrangement continued Alfred's policy of forging political links between the two nations.

War was an expensive undertaking, and a 901 charter from Worcester illustrates how revenues were raised to finance its prosecution. In the charter, the town of Worcester agreed to lease part of its lands to Ethelflaed and her husband in order to compensate them for the expenses incurred in defending the borough. Similar arrangements must have been common, and the later establishment of fortresses, which served as the nucleus for emerging towns, provided a comfortable marriage between commerce and defense.

Mighty Ethelflaed! Maiden, thou should'st bear the name of man—though nature cast thy frame in woman's softer mould—yet fear thy matchless might!
—Henry of Huntingdon

Ethelflaed's interests were not merely confined to matters military. In 909, she founded the monastery of St. Peter in Gloucester, and insured that the bones of St. Oswald were safely transported from Northumbria to this peaceful resting place. In the same year, Ethelflaed also laid out a new street plan for Gloucester, as well as repairing the Roman walls, and at least one of the Roman gateways. In later years, the ill-health of Ethelred forced Ethelflaed increasingly into the forefront of public affairs. In the last years of her husband's life, she acted as regent and commander the Mercian army. During the Battle of Tettenhal in 909, fought between the Danes, the Mercians, and their Wessex allies, it is probable that Ethelflaed commanded the Mercian contingent.

Elfwyn (c. 882–?)

Queen of Mercia. Name variations: Aelfwyn; Ælfwyn; Elfwynn. Born around 882; daughter of Ethelflaed (869–918), Lady of the Mercians, and Ethelred II, ealdorman of Mercia; married a West Saxon noble.

On the death of her mother, Elfwyn briefly ruled Mercia from June 918 to December of that year. Her reign was cut short by her uncle Edward the Elder, who removed her to Wessex.

Upon the death of her husband in 911, Ethelflaed became the ruler of Mercia. She took the title of "Lady of the Mercians," just as her husband had been styled "Lord of the Mercians." In the same year, her brother Edward the Elder demanded the return of London, demonstrating a desire to maintain a firmer grip on the internal politics of Mercia. Nevertheless, Ethelflaed continued to cooperate with Edward, and together they developed a joint military policy, the cornerstone of which was the construction of a chain of bulwarks. Ethelflaed's fortifications formed part of a national system. Her policy owed much to her father's emphasis on their construction. These forts served both as a defensive bulwark against Danish attacks and a jumping off point for offensive military operations against the enemy. Each fortress was built within 30 miles of the nearest Viking base.

Ethelflaed clearly understood the importance of well-sited fortresses. The locations of her strongholds illustrate a keen strategic eye and an acute ability to forecast the movements of her enemies. In 910, she built the first of these fortresses at Bremesburh. Bremesburh dominated a ford on the Severn river, which the Danes had twice in living memory used to invade Mercia. Two years later, the fortresses of Scargate and Bridgenorth were erected. These bulwarks established Ethelflaed on the flank of the Danelaw and controlled access to Mercia via Walting Street, Roman Britain's most important line of communications.

Ethelflaed was often in the field. The Mercian Register records that in 913 "by the grace of God, Ethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, went with all the Mercians to Tamworth, and built the fortress there in early summer." Tamworth was the site of an old Mercian palace and commanded a ford on the Trent river. On this site Ethelflaed built up a mound of earth and crowned it with a brickwork palisade. At Stafford in the same year, she erected another fortress which controlled access to the upper Trent valley. The fortress of Stafford proved to be the single most important strategic point in the English Midlands.

Each of Ethelflaed's fortresses controlled the surrounding countryside and provided permanent protection against sudden Viking raids. The lightly armed Vikings were incapable of mounting prolonged sieges of fortified bases. Nor were they capable of keeping large forces in the field for long periods of time. In 914, Ethelflaed repaired the pre-Roman camp on Eddisbury Hill. From there, her troops intercepted Viking raiders descending from Northumbria. Warwick was also fortified.

Traditional antagonism was strong between the Welsh and the Mercians. Although the fortresses at Scargate and Bridgenorth were designed to intercept Viking raiders traveling through Wales, they nevertheless presented a hostile façade to the Welsh. The murder of the Mercian abbot Ecgbeorht in 916 provoked a Mercian expedition against the king of the Brycheiniog. During the attack, Ethelflaed's troops captured the king's wife and 33 others.

By 916, Edward the Elder had already scored numerous victories against the Danes. Ethelflaed concentrated her energies on recapturing the Five Boroughs. In July 917, the first of these fell. She captured the town of Derby while Edward was occupied in heavy fighting around Towcester and Bedford. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that:

In this year…Ethelflaed, the Lady of the Mercians, won the borough called Derby with God's help, together with the region that it controlled. Four of her thanes, who were dear to her, were slain there within the gate.

The fall of Derby illustrates the level of military coordination that existed between Ethelflaed and her brother. She attacked the town while its defenders were fighting against Edward, and many have suggested that her attack was either designed to relieve pressure on Edward's forces or that his attack was designed to draw the defenders of Derby away from the town.

Ethelflaed and Edward did not always act in concert, however. In 918, she took independent action when confronted with an invasion by the Norwegian chieftain Ragnald. Four years earlier, Ragnald had conquered southern Northumbria in the first Battle of Corbridge. Ethelflaed reacted by erecting the fortresses of Eddisbury and Runcorn and launching punitive attacks against his forces.

The threat that Ragnald posed to the north was so great that the Picts, Scots, and the men of Strathclyde entered into an alliance with Mercia. Ethelflaed became leader of the northern coalition. In the second Battle of Corbridge, Ragnald and his army was soundly defeated by Ethelflaed and her allies. As a result The Ulster Annals record that Ethelflaed's "fame spread abroad in every direction."

By the end of the 917 campaigning season, Danish opposition had all but collapsed in East Anglia, Cambridge, Bedford, and Northampton. Four centers of resistance remained—Nottingham, Stamford, Leicester, and Lincoln. By June of 918, Edward the Elder captured Stamford. Leicester, the second of the Five Boroughs, submitted to Ethelflaed in the summer of 918 without a fight. The surrender of Leicester was probably influenced by the approach of Ragnald's army. Ethelflaed also entered into negotiations with a dissenting faction at York. She was on the verge of making peace with the Norwegians of Northumbria when she died on June 12, 918. Curiously, while the Ulster annals record her death, they make no mention of the death of her illustrious father Alfred the Great.

Ethelflaed missed the collapse of Danish opposition in the English Midlands by six months. Edward the Elder, however, did not continue negotiations with the Norwegians at York, suggesting that he was not held in as high esteem as his sister. The opportunity for the peaceful annexation of Northumbria never again materialized, and no army of Wessex intervened to prevent the consolidation of a Viking kingdom in the north.

Ethelflaed intended that her daughter Elfwyn should rule as her successor. But as soon as Edward the Elder learned of Ethelflaed's death, he hastened to occupy Tamworth. Though he allowed Ethelflaed's daughter to rule for six months, in December 918, as The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle notes, Elfwyn was "deprived of all authority in Mercia" and taken into Wessex "by her uncle Edward the Elder."

The peaceful annexation of Mercia was probably an eventuality that Ethelflaed had anticipated but was powerless to prevent. In various documents relating to her rule, Ethelflaed is styled as Rex Regina. Since she belonged to the Mercian royal family, she could have declared herself queen had she wished and become the focus of a Mercian national movement. But instead her loyalties remained with Wessex.

Indeed, Ethelflaed's marriage to Ethelred in 887 provided the pretext for the formal annexation of Mercia. Edward the Elder, citing King Alfred's will, claimed that any male kinsman had the right to claim the property of a female relative. This provision fits in well with Alfred's own territorial ambitions, and may have been inserted into the will in recognition of the fact that Ethelred's poor health could prove politically advantageous.

The fact that Edward the Elder feared nationalist dissent in Mercia accounts for much of the official silence in The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle surrounding Ethelflaed's achievements. As Christine Fell noted, "We all need to watch The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for its West-Saxon propaganda, and it is important to remember that the suppression of information about female achievement is not necessarily anti-feminist."

And yet, despite the best efforts of the Wessex chroniclers, the accomplishments of Ethelflaed have not been entirely obscured. She initiated a national program of fortress building. As well, the cooperation that had been so close between her father and her husband was continued with her brother. Their collaboration during the campaigns of 917–918 led to the liberation of most of the English Midlands after 40 years of Danish occupation. In addition, her independent actions in the north effectively held at bay a substantial portion of the Viking force in England, and exploited the disunity of the Viking military leadership.

Indeed, the legacy that Ethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, left over a period of seven short years is nothing short of breathtaking. While protecting the Mercian population at home, she waged war against an intractable invader that had controlled much of England for a generation. Her fortress-building program created new towns and commercial centers throughout the land, and her understanding of the dangers of an England divided and vulnerable to invasion have influenced the political geography of Britain to this day.