Aethelflaed
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- English Monarchs - Biography of Æthelflæd
- Historic UK - Biography of Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians
- BBC News - Aethelflaed: The warrior queen who broke the glass ceiling
- Academia - Aethelflaed: History and Legend
- Tamworth Castle - Aethelflaed
- Brigham Young University - ScholarsArchive - Aethelflaed: History and Legend
- World History Encyclopedia - Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians
- The University of Alabama - UA Women in the Law School - Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians
- Ancient Origins - Æthelflæd, The Medieval Queen Who Took on the Vikings to Save Her Kingdom
Aethelflaed (died June 12, 918, Tamworth, England) was an Anglo-Saxon ruler of Mercia in England and the founder of Gloucester Abbey.
The eldest child of King Alfred the Great, she helped her brother Edward the Elder, king of the West Saxons (reigned 899–924), in conquering the Danish armies occupying eastern England. Aethelflaed became the effective ruler of Mercia some years before the death (911) of her husband, Aethelred, ealdorman of the Mercians. While Edward fortified (910–916) the southeast Midlands, Aethelflaed was building fortresses around Mercia. By 917 she and Edward were ready to launch a massive joint assault on the Danish positions. Aethelflaed quickly captured Derby, and in 918 she occupied Leicester, but she died before the campaign was successfully completed. Edward then claimed his sister’s kingdom and completed the subjugation of the Danes. Because Aethelflaed had extended her influence into Wales and Northumbria, Edward was able to assert his authority over these regions as well. Thus, almost all of England came under his control.