General Notes

1  BIRT
2  DATE ABT 869
2  PLAC Wessex, England
1  DEAT
2  DATE 12 JUN 918
2  PLAC St.Peters, Gloucestershire, England


Infopedia
Ethelfleda d. 918. Anglo-Saxon ruler. Daughter of Alfred the Great; m.(c.880) Aethelred, ealdorman of the Mercians. Aided her brother, Edwardthe Elder, in repelling Danish invaders; led Mercian army against Danes(910-911); after death of Aethelred (911), ruled Mercia alone; fortifiedMercia; subdued Welsh at Brecknock (916); in joint campaign with Edwardagainst Danes, took Derby (917), Leicester (918). On her death Merciapassed to Edward.

!Ruled the kingdom of Mercia after her husband Ethelred's death.  Kept the Danes at bay and constructed a system of defences by building burghs or fortified settlements later to be known as boroughs, at strategic points, including Bakewell in Derbyshire, Tamworth and Stafford, Hertford and Warwick. [The Story of England]

!Erected the great earthen mound of Warwick Castle in 913. [Timetables of History]

!Ruled Mercia following her husband 's death.  Attacked the "Five Boroughs", a rude confederacy which had taken the place of the older Mercian kingdom (Derby on the upper Trent, Lincoln representing the Lindiswaras, Leicester representing the Middle-English, Stamford representing the province of the Gyrwas, Nottingham representing the Southumbrians). In her attack on this powerful league, Ethelfleda abandoned the older strategy of battle and raid for that of siege and fortress-building.  Advancing along the line of Trent, she fortified Tamworth and Stafford on its headwaters; when a rising in Gwent called her back to the Welsh border, her army stormed Brecknock; and its king no sooner fled for shelter to the Northmen in whose aid he had risen that Ethelfleda at once closed on Derby.  Raids from Middle England failed to draw the Lady of Mercia from her prey; and Derby was hardly her own when, turning southward, she forced the surrender of Leicester. [WBH - England]

!Left a widow, this "Lady of Mercia" recovered the part of her husband's territory that had been given up to Guthrum. [Leaders & Landmarks, Vol. II, p. 23]

!Ethelfleda compelled the Danish garrisons of Derby and Leicester to surrender, and the Danes of York to submit to her authority.  The heroic Lady of Mercia died at Tamworth about the year 920, and her brother Edward died about four years later.  Their lives were a perpetual struggle -- first to maintain the integrity of their dominions; and secondly, to establish a more prefect security by their extension.  Upon the death of Ethelfleda, Edward annexed Mercia to Wessex, disregarding the claims of her daughter. [Knight's Popular
History of England, Vol. 1, p. 144]

!Staffordshire, 12 June 918.  Died at Tamworth in the hour of her greatest triumph when she was about to receive the submission of the Northumbrian Danish kingdom of York. [Chronicle of the Royal Family, p. 16]

!Ethelfleda was a formidable warrior.  Even the Danes were frightened when they saw her, armour-clad, sword in hand, leading her forces into battle. [Kings and Queens, Book, 1, p. 8]

Dau. of Alfred, King of England, and Ealhswith of Mercia; m. Ethelred, Duke of Mercia; mother of Elfwina of Mercia. [GRS 3.03, Automated Archives, CD#100]

In 915 two Danish jarls, Ottar and Hraold, were defeated by the men of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire in Archenfield with the loss of Hraold and driven from the country. Western Mecia was at this time under th rule of Ethelflaed, daughter of Alfred and widow of Ethelred the ealdorman of the Mercians, but on her death in 919 the administration was taken over by her brother Edward the Elder. [The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Herefordshire, p. 349]

A great female general, Aethelflaeda, "The Lady of the Mercians", led her troops to retake Derby for the Saxons in AD917, but the Danes retaliated in 943. [Derby - A City of History <http:/www.cpoint.co.uk/tw/locales/1295a.html]