| A brief history of the Staffordshire lass who became Queen of Mercia |
| Eldest daughter of King Alfred the Great of Wessex, Æthelfleda (869 – 918) has been called ‘light of the dark ages’ and her tale is one to rival that of the great Iceni Queen Boudicca. A formidable military leader and tactician Æthelfleda was a prolific builder of castles, led armies and routed the Vikings on numerous occasions. Her most famous castle is Tamworth. Overlooking the River Tame the present Tamworth Castle dates from the 11th century and is one of the best preserved examples of Norman motte and Bailey castles in Britain. |
| Æthelfleda was truly a child of both Wessex and Mercia, her mother Æahlswith being a Mercian royal, and as a girl she was encouraged to keep the culture and heritage of both lands throughout her education. Her childhood was largely spent in the countryside on the Welsh borders and Æthelfleda established good relations with people from different backgrounds, many of whom stayed loyal throughout her lifetime. Æthelfleda excelled in academic studies and it is thought that she was educated in a convent school at either Wilton or Winchester. A noted scholar himself, King Alfred entertained many prominent and influential academics at court and it is in this atmosphere that Æthelfleda was raised; surrounded by some of the most brilliant minds of her time. |
| The lineage of the Mercian kings was both Briton and Anglo-Saxon, and there were many struggles for power throughout this period between the vast kindred of royalty. The Mercians both liaised with and fought Britons and Anglo-Saxons as well as the Norse men. |
| In approximately 886 Æthelfleda married Æthelred, Earl of Mercia. The marriage, arranged by her father, was intended to seal the alliance between Wessex and Mercia. On the journey to her wedding Æthelfleda’s party was attacked by a band of Danes who attempted to kill Æthelred and so break the alliance. Half of her company perished in the attack but Æthelfleda took refuge in an old trench which she fortified and, from that position defeated the Danes. |
| Throughout her long military career Æthelfleda built and endowed a number of churches. With her husband she fortified the Episcopal city of Worcester and eventually made their chief residence in Gloucester which became a main administrative centre on the borders of Mercia and Wessex. In 896 the Mercian Council, or Witan, was held in Gloucester instead of at the palace in Kingsholme. |
In 910 Æthelfleda began a concerted effort to conquer the Danish settlements; the Danes of York and Dublin had pushed their boundaries with brute force for too long. The Danish army was routed at Tettenhall near Wolverhampton where, in a pincer movement, the Mercian army flanked the town, crushing the Danes in between. Amongst her army Æthelfleda had Welsh troops whose martial skills proved invaluable in the hilly country of the borders.
It is said that on one occasion Æthelfleda chased the Danes all the way to Gwent where the king gave them aid. The Lady of Mercia took the king’s wife and a number of nobles hostage until the Danes were handed over. Hastening back to Leicester, then a Danish stronghold, Æthelfleda discovered that four of her thanes had been killed within its walls. Her army surrounded the town and at last the Danish leaders accepted her as their ruler. |
| Æthelfleda ruled for 5 years from the newly fortified capital in Stafford and, under her reign it is likely that the county of Staffordshire came into being. |
| Fortifying her existing borders Æthelfleda retook Derby. She died in 918 at Tamworth after forcing the Vikings to surrender their stronghold at York, and was entombed at St. Oswald’s Priory in Gloucester – recent archaeology has uncovered the richness of this church. Her tombstone can be seen in Gloucester city museum. |
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