Page 40 - Alfred the Great And His Legacy

Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians

• Following in the footsteps of her father Alfred the Great, she
fortified major centres throughout the Midlands e.g. Worcester,
Bridgnorth, Runcorn, Wednesbury, Warwick, Hereford,
Tamworth, Warwick & Stafford.

• Eventually, she extended her authority as far as York.

• She also continued Alfred’s work in giving generous donations
to Mercian churches & built a new minister in Gloucester.

• Historians agree she was a great ruler who played an
important part in the conquest of the Danelaw. She was

decribed as a ”woman of enlarged soul” & the “dread of the
enemies” of the Anglo Saxons. Quotes from William of Malmesbury
(Anglo Norman chronicler).

• Aethelfaed played an important role in unifying England &
repelling the Vikings, paving the way for the creation of the
kingdom of England under King Aethelstan (924-939).