How The Lady Of The Mercians Toppled The Danelaw | Aethelflaed
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- Опубліковано 2 лют 2023
- In Anglo-Saxon England, women had rights, but were not equal to men - in Wessex, the wife of the king wasn't even allowed to be called 'Queen'. But Alfred the Great's eldest daughter, Aethelflaed, would make her mark not only as a queen of Mercia, but as a successful military strategist, a peace-maker, and a legend amongst her people...
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Sources and related books:
Aethelflaed: Lady of the Mercians by Tim Clarkson - amzn.to/40uDsLh
The Warrior Queen: The Life and Legend of Aethelflaed, Daughter of Alfred the Great by Joanna Arman - amzn.to/3HyaH7T
Women in Anglo-Saxon England by Christine Hall - amzn.to/3JLfNQY
The Fortress Kingdom: The Wars of Aethelflaed and Edward the Elder, 899-927 by Paul Hill - amzn.to/3x3qjes
Anglo-Saxon Chronicles by Alfred the Great(!) - amzn.to/3Y4rsOU
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Aethelflaed) - www.oxforddnb.com/display/10....
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Thanks for watching! How much do you think Aethelflaed contributed to the formation of England as a whole country? Tell us in the comments below! 😊
❤I am so 😮
It’s a shame that Æthelflæd isn’t as recognized as the men like so many other women from the past. She’s a fascinating figure & had to be even more unique than we know given the effects of historical misogyny. Definitely the Lady of Mercia deserves her own action movie. She is probably the most successful of Alfred’s children but least known.
Agreed - and the phasing out of her achievements began even with the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The West Saxon version didn't mention her for many events that the Mercian one does, probably for the main purposes of downplaying Mercian achievement and independence in order to emphasise Edward's role as ruler 'of all Anglo-Saxons'.
One of the few later chroniclers that seems to have made more mention of her later on was William of Malmesbury, and interestingly, he was also very complimentary about Empress Matilda in his Historia Novella later on (although her half-brother Richard of Gloucester was his patron).
@@HistorysForgottenPeople which is utterly infuriating when you think about how much history we’ve lost because people at the top of power structures find it inconvenient to admit history is about more than powerful men. Malmesbury’s writing is gloriously free of Augustine misogyny for the time period.
@@gingerkid1048 The theory is that Edward deliberately suppressed stories of her heroism for fear of stoking Mercian separatism. Irish and Welsh chroniclers speak of her glowingly, despite being adversaries. This later trickled down to later Medieval chroniclers like William of Malmesbury. This poem by Henry of Huntingdon is remarkable:
Heroic Elflede! great in martial fame,
A man in valour, woman though in name:
Thee warlike hosts, thee, nature too obey'd,
Conqu'ror o'er both, though born by sex a maid.
Chang'd be thy name, such honour triumphs bring.
A queen by title, but in deeds a king.
Heroes before the Mercian heroine quail'd:
Caesar himself to win such glory fail'd.
For men to speak of a female ruler this way, especially in those days, is pretty incredible.
@@ericbrown1101 ahh the old Thutmose III maneuver.
Well we all know about her 1000+ years later, so nothing to really bitch about
I would argue Aethelflaed was the most important woman in English history, and I'm well aware of how big a statement that is. She played an indispensable role in the birth of the country as we know it today. The actions of her and her family, from Alfred through Athelstan, changed the course of western history forever. Everyone who sits here speaking English today owes these people more than we realize. I am very grateful to The Last Kingdom, even with all its inaccuracies, for allowing so many people to fall in love with her and remember her name.
She and her family certainly changed the course of history, Aethelflaed through her politics and leadership, and Alfred through his kingship and the writings and chronicles he left for us. And you're right, even when TV shows get some things wrong, exposure to these historical figures still ensures people look for them! (And I'm still a fan of The Last Kingdom, even with inaccuracies. 🤣)
Seconded
@@HistorysForgottenPeople Her negotiating the peaceful submission of the Danes in York was an incredible achievement. If consummated, it would've effectively unified England at least 9 years before it ultimately occurred. The fact that this agreement fell apart upon her death I think speaks to the weight of her influence. They didn't submit to Edward, they submitted to her.
@Eric Brown Agreed, York was absolutely the pivotel point, and a great example of how she was not only important in Anglo-Saxon politics, but at times, integral. People often assume that means one is saying Edward's own achievements in gaining lands was somehow less important - it definitely wasn't, but his strengths lay elsewhere. The reason the siblings worked well as a team and both were important to their relative domains is because they complimented one another; Edward's energetic warfare to Aethelflaed's tireless defence and ability to talk politics.
I wrote about her for my history dissertation when everyone else wrote about WW1/WW2 or the tudors! And I got an A 😁😁😁
My brain read this as "Warrior Queen of 'Merica" at first and I was so confused. 🤣 Awesome video, I love hearing about warrior queens!
Haha, that would have a very different video! 😂 Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it. 😊
Me too. Hehe
Same! 🤣
I’m going to look for a book about her now that I’ve watched this. Thank you this was a pleasure to watch
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it! 😊
The last kingdom tv series not the movie has aethlfled in it as the queen of Mercia and love interest of uhtred of Bebbenburg it is great
The tradition of wise, powerful, strong and highly significant Queens in English history is so long, from the this story, though Elizabeth I and Victoria, to beloved late Queen Elizabeth II... ❤
I love that even if there were less of them than male monarchs, they always made sure they absolutely stamped their memory into history (for the most part).
Fascinating story about this remarkable figure. Æthelflæd was a wonderful woman armed with intelligence, strength, politically savvy and an army strategist who knew how to be a leader in a world dominated by men. I'm enjoying your content on Anglo-Saxons and medieval periods in English history. Excellent work throughly well documented and narrated. Thank you 🙏
Thank you! I keep meaning to return and do some more videos from this period. 😊 Aethelflaed really was a remarkable figure, and despite a few people who like to play her role down, I think it's telling that the Mercian people chose to showcase her the way they did in their Anglo Saxon Chronicle. If it had simply been about Mercian independence against her brother's rule, they could have shown her husband like that instead, but they didn't.
@@HistorysForgottenPeople exactly! Love your channel. Thank you 🙏
Loved her story in The last Kingdom
I loved that her character was made to be a strong, intelligent woman, but I hated that poor Aethelred was made out to be so awful! I have a love/hate relationship with historical dramas, especially when they throw a fictional character in. 😂
@@HistorysForgottenPeople That was disappointing, although I love the show. Aethelred and Aethelflaed were partners. He effectively made her a co-ruler with him. She never would've had the opportunity to be so involved in politics in Wessex. This is largely thanks to Aethelred realizing what an asset she was. She quickly became extremely popular with her people. Her gift with people is demonstrated by her multiple times having gained the submission of her enemies peacefully without bloodshed. I've found it interesting that Aethelflaed was so revered by medieval chroniclers that Aethelred and Edward's reputations have suffered by comparison, contributing to some of the inaccuracies like in The Last Kingdom. How amusing that the reputation of men suffered at the popularity of a woman.
@Eric Brown I suppose that's true! I always wish historical dramas would be more accurate, because it would have been amazing to see (as you say) the teamwork of Aethelred and Aethelflaed, and how they made that work. Of course, then Uhtred of Bamburgh doesn't get to be the hero! 🤣
@@ericbrown1101 it’s cause it’s fashionable to hate on men in the modern day. Belittle the accomplishments of men - who built the modern world, btw - in order to make women look good instead of acknowledging both. Just look at this videos comment section. It’s inundated with people screeching about “MuH mEn hAtEd MuH WoMeN BaCk ThEn” and “MuH MiSoGyNy”. Never mind the men that DIED for aethelflaed in her honor. It’s honestly sickening. Instead of respecting both genders, you got feminists constantly shutting men down. And if you make note of it, you’re met with “well men are getting their just desserts for my made up images of female oppression”.
@@kugelschreiber5678 Yes, it's Men who "built the modern world". How do you like it now?
👩⚖️ She broke the Glass Ceiling before it was known as "the Glass Ceiling" ...!
That's a good way of putting it! 😊
A true English heroine, undervalued and under studied, praised even by the Normans who came after her.
Couldn't agree more! She's one of my heroines of the early middle ages.
@@HistorysForgottenPeople mine too! When I've mentioned her in the past, and I'm sure you've found the same, people usually respond with "Athel-who?" Or words to that effect.
Shame when you consider that without her there may never have been an England at all.
Can one already call Lady Aethelflaed an "English" heroine? England did not yet exist as a country. The kingdoms of the heptarchy had nor yet grown together. Did Lady Aethelflaed already identify herself as "English"? I think it is more likely that she still saw herself as a (West) Saxon..
@@c.norbertneumann4986 well in the literature she is referred to as 'Myrcnahlafdir' (Lady of the Mercians). So she almost certainly did not identify as a West Saxon.
Moreover Englishness certainly did exist in this period, we know from Bede's Ecclesiastica Historia gentis Anglorum that there was an English identity as far back as 731, and likely predating that (otherwise who would the book be for?)
Similarly, whilst modern times references 'Anglo-Saxons', most historical sources reference 'Anglii', 'Angle-kin' or 'Englisc'. So without a shadow of a doubt she can be referred to as an English heroine.
@@jackwhitehead5233 The Mercoans were indeed Anglian. But Lady Aethelflaed descended from a West Saxon royal family. As a daughter of King Alfred the Great, she had certainly not assumed a Mercian identity. Bede distinguishes in his book between "Angli" and "Saxones", hence the word formation "Anglo-Saxons". King Alfred the Great (died 899 AD) held the title "rex Anglorum et Saxonum" . The first king who accepted the title "King of the English" was Aethelsthan in 927 AD, when Lady Aethelflaed had already died in 918 AD. (Before 927 AD, he called himself "King of the Anglo-Saxons".) So one can say that a common English identity was in the making at the beginning of the tenth century. On the other hand, this does not necessarily mean that Lady Aethelflaed (* 870 AD) already identified herself as English. During her whole lifetime, a distinction was still made between Angles and Saxons.
What a great woman.
Her achievements were very impressive! She's one of my heroines of the early middle ages, along with Empress Matilda.
@@HistorysForgottenPeople Flora Sandes,another remarkable forgotten women.
@@mktf5582 Flora Sandes is a great choice! She's from my part of the world (she was born near York), and she's definitely on the list for a future video.
Ha!! My second guess was right hehe- I just woke up from my nap and this is the best I can wish for
Haha, I was itching to say it was the right one! Also, Ælfthryth of Devon is the next Anglo-Saxon one, so you got that one right, too. 😊
@@HistorysForgottenPeople Oh this isn’t real! She is so interesting to me!! The accusations of her killing her stepson and the whole mystery is something I’ve dedicated months to study- but sadly many of the primary and nearly primary sources are re-edited books of lives of saints and some aren’t available unless I wish to pay 200 euros, which I don’t😭 I’ve literally been hoping for a video on her by the history channels I trust and enjoy for years😭😭 Seriously this is gonna be sooo good!
Wow amazing woman and leader
She was definitely a very strong queen who sometimes gets overlooked in the achievements of her father, Alfred the Great (who was also an amazing ruler in his own right).
"Queen?" In her time and language that meant "wife of the King" or "King's wife."
During her time, styled as Lady of the Mercians [head of state], there was no king to be the wife of - no head of state to be a subordinate to - or in our language, the spouse of the head of state.
In her day, Queen was a title less than the higher title Lady Of.
Indeed, but if I put 'warrior lady' on a thumbnail, it's a lot less eye-catching than 'warrior queen', (cwen, in Anglo-Saxon) and then people would not watch it to find out she became Lady of the Mercians. When I state at the end that she deserved the title 'queen', I hope people understand that I mean that in our modern understanding of it.
That would not have been the case. Lady was the equivalent of Lord. Queen does traditionally mean the wife of the king yes, but it was considered to be of high status. In terms of practical roles, Ætheflæd was Lady (consort) to her husband from 886-911 and Lady (Regnant) from 911-918 of Mercia.
Neither her or her husband used the title of King or Queen.
Hlafweard AS. (Lord) meant keeper of the loaves. Hlafgifu, (Lady) giver of the loaves. ie The Lord responsible for His entire household. His wife, the management of his family, retainers, tenants, workers etc.
You just know that Aethelflaed was twice as intelligent, twice as wise and twice as strong as she's given credit for, to receive a tenth of the recognition she should, from male historians.😆
Haha, you're probably right! It is quite wonderful that the chroniclers within Mercia recognised her attributes enough to record them, although it's telling that the West Saxon version of the Chronicle didn’t include the same stories. The even more telling part of that is that (mostly male) historians of the long-ago past accepted the West Saxon version of events many times over the Mercian version. It's only more modern historians who now acknowledge that both versions have merit, and both siblings were important in different ways. Aethelflaed's daughter being in charge of Mercia is still disputed though!
The book about Judith is originally Hebrew. Although the poem changes the story the Bible contains many strong women who would lead the Jews to success against enemies
I was aethelthirsty so I drank some aethelwater then took an aethelnap. Aethelafterwards I aethelwent for an aethelwalk in the aethelwoods with my pal Aethelsam and his wife Aethelflegm.
There are a LOT of Aethels! Unless it's an Aelf.
Mmmmm, aethelwatwer
@@Shoshauney1980 I personally prefer an aethelgin with aetheltonic.
🤣🤣🤣
Now I’m hungry and thirsty. Would love some aethelbread and aethelale
Please do forgotten people such as, Siward Jarl/Earl of Northumbria (Canute the Great - era),and Guillermo Miller (Latin American Wars independence).
Oh don't worry, I've got a huge list of people to come that will probably last me years! 🤣
An excellent documentary both interesting & very informative about one of the most important figures in the history of Britain. Many thanks.
LOVE LOVE LOVE this channel! Excellent narration, with flair! Thanks so much! Happily subscribed and awaiting the next! 😀
Thank you so much, it's great to have you here! 😊 There's definitely plenty more coming, too!
All the different possibilities for why she didn’t conceive is speculated upon except that something might have gone wrong with HIM after the first child. Such as an injury to his testicles, for example? But no, a man such as this great warrior’s virility may not be questioned along with all the other speculations as to the ones about her.
He had other illegitimate children, which is how we know he was able to father a child. It's hardly talking about a 'great warrior's virility', he was an invalid for much of their marriage.
Take a shot every time she says Ethelfraed
Aethel-anybody, and you'll be drunk halfway through! 😂
Great story.
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it! 😊
❤❤❤❤
I am from York, it is likely my forefathers were amongst the townsfolk who willingly pledged their fealty to Aethelflaed, whilst I have pride in my Scandinavian roots, I also have pride in my Anglo-Saxon ones as well. In my mind, Aethelflaed would have been a good queen, it is sad she died when she did.
Make no mistake, should I meet her in the afterlife, I will consider it an honour to accept her as one of my rightful queens!
Great channel!
Thank you so much, I'm glad you're enjoying it! ☺
I love these pre-Norman topics! I love everything about the post-Roman through Tudor times and you cover so much of it. You’ve also got the perfect narrator voice lol please never start using AI voice narration! Absolutely love your channel
Suggestion: If you're going to show maps as reference, make sure the places immediately mentioned are visible. Even marking out the recently named locations. Occasionally this is done, but more I was hunting for where thing's were and it distracted from the narrative.
Duly noted, although it's not always possible to zoom in where I want the map to go - I'm using quite basic software for editing until I have a better computer to run something with better capabilities. I'll take it on board!
Keep maps on screen longer, add genealogy charts.
MERCIA!
"Literacy creates very much simpler kinds of people than those that develop in the complex web of ordinary tribal and oral societies."
[Understanding Media: The Extension of Man, Marshall McLuhan, 1964, Ch. 5: Hybrid Energy]
Excellent! I agree wholeheartedly. One makes you a sheep, one makes you a ram.
She was a brilliant Lady of Mercia.
She certainly was - even in her own time, the fact that there's a separate version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to tell events from her side of things says a lot about how her contemporaries in Mercia viewed her.
@@HistorysForgottenPeople when history whitewashes women's leadership roles and het strong willed ways that made effectively changes for their society due to being a woman, isn't right. Women are capable of doing what they want to do and if talented go for it
The spinning wheel at 8:00 is totally anachronistic. All thread in what was to become England would have been spun on a spindle at this time.
As I use free stock footage and images, often I am not able to get the exact image I would like.
💀
A True Queen.
31st Great Grandmother
So cool. I recently learned that I’m a direct descendant of John FitzRobert who was a Magna Carta Surety, and Ranulf "the Moneyer" du Vains, who ran a mint in 11th century Normandy during the reign of Robert the Magnificent, and Ranulf’s grandson John FitzRichard “dit Monoculus” de Vains. The Moneyer and Monoculus. How cool are those names?!
No she's not.
@@11274reece Yes she is according to all published pedigrees available. Theres a strong chance she is an ancestress of yours as well if you can find direct links to her descendants, Most people who left lineal descendants in England at that period are the ancestors of us all whether you can find the link or not, purely on the fact that each generation increases the number of ancestors exponentially until it quickly goes beyond the number of people who have ever lived and so, statistically at least it is reckoned that almost every person with western european ancestry has a lineal connection to the emperor Charlemagne. I am fortunate to be able to trace ancestors into the anglo saxon and norman nobility, the landowning classes where records are better kept because of inheritance. Many people tracing family trees only focus on one side, usually the patrilineal side, but my patrilineal side fizzles out in the 1570s before which, records for people of the yeoman class and below are very hard to trace. My fathers matrilineal side goes back into the 14th c. But my mothers side comes from, gentry, nobility and royalty going back as far as it is possible to go and on many many intertwining lines
@@11274reece when you get back to that many generations it’s like 100,000,000 people. It’s entirely possible.
My 26th great grandmother was the mistress to Robert the Magnificent, fathered some fellah named William the Bastard! Then married my 26th great grandfather lol
Pity that Aethelflaed was not there when King Alfred - in hiding and disguised as a peasant (so it is said) took shelter in an aged widow’s shack. Had Aethelflaed been there, then she (as a woman and even if she was still a girl), in those days, would have at least known when the - legendary - cakes needed TURNING; and when to be taken OFF the griddle to cool down - then these would not have got burned, and the aged widow would not then have occasion to box the King (who, for all she knew was just a peasant)’s ears!! lol!
Grandma!!!! Lol, to the 1000th I am sure, and probably a huge chunk of ethnic Brits are also descended from her ...
Nevertheless, there's still some Aethelflaed in your DNA, and that's pretty cool. 😊
it was an interesting lecture but the visuals were distracting and so frequently irrelevant to the narration that they became invasive. Why a map of Europe when we were hearing that she had set up residence in Gloucester?
Because it would be lovely to have a scrolling map of England, (it is on there, so it's as close as I can get) but there aren't always free clips or images to use that are exactly what I would like, and there are a lot of other maps already in the video. Sometimes there has to be some artistic interpretation in order to not repeat too many visuals!
I don't see anything wrong with anything with the video. I'm sorry there's the bah humbugs in miserable people that also leave comments.. and the know it alls.@@HistorysForgottenPeople
"In fact as the restraining influence of the Papacy weighed, the continental system gave rise to the humanistic doctrine of divine right of kings.
The divine right of kings gave essentially unlimited earthly authority to kings throughout much of Europe on the faulty premise that they alone spoke for God. Without regard to scripture or the Natural law, many non believing monarch thus ruled, unchecked, in the name of God.
Not so in England. The common law bequeathed unchecked authority to no man. When kings, or Parliaments for that matter, stepped outside the bounds of propriety, the common law could be used to bring them back... Blackstone, commenting on these events, explains that "the liberties of Englishman are not parentheses as some arbitrary writers would represent them parentheses mere infringements of the king's prerogative, extorted from our princess by taking advantage of their weakness, but a restoration of their ancient constitution, of which are ancestors had been defrauded by the art and finesse of the Norman lawyers ..."
Under the common law, kings and judges become servants of the law, and thus servants of the people's liberty. "
[Sir William Blackstone & the Common Law, Robert Stacey, Ph. D., 2003, Ch. 4 The Legal Theory of Blackstone's Commentaries, p. 73]
Check you out, all based af and whatnot
She wasn't an actual warrior though, that's not accurate, she didn't do any fighting, but she was a good and respected leader of Mercia.
Yes, I make it clear in the video that she never actually fought personally, and that she led from behind the front lines. That doesn't make as eye-catching a title, however.
Think of our late Queen,think of Victoria,Queen and Empress of the largest Empire the World has ever seen,think of Elizabeth 1st,who did apparently have some armour made for her big speech"I may have the body of a weak and feeble woman,but I have tbe heart of a King,aye,and a King of England too!"...Women may not go into battle personally,but they can and do inspire men.
@@HistorysForgottenPeopleSo you feel the need to make her out to be something she wasn't in order to get clicks? Not good practice at all.
I'd argue you're almost spreading misinformation to justify a good title.
Aethelflaed was never a warrior queen. This is very much a modern anachronistic view of her. Firstly, she was never a queen. She was the consort of Aethelraed, ealdorman of Mercia not king. She acted as regent for him when he fell ill and then was accepted by the Mercian Witan and elites as the 'Lady of the Mercians'. This was due in part to different Mercian attitudes towards consorts and the very unusual circumstances of her times. Her involvement in organizing military efforts against the Danes occupying parts of Mercia was part of that role. However, she never wore armour, fought in battle or commanded armies all of which was vital for war leadership in the C9th. That the men who actually commanded the armies and fought in the field would have been drawn from among the Mercian military elite, eorls and gesiths, is ignored by modern writers.
That Aethelflaed was a skilled and charismatic ruler is not in doubt. However, to claim she was either a queen or a warrior is a serious distortion of the surviving evidence. Her failure to produce a male heir had serious ramifications for Mercian autonomy as the C10th developed.
Within the video, I do make it clear that she was a 'warrior' only as a leader behind the front lines, and 'queen' is used on the thumbnail to allow people to click and find out more. 'Aethelflaed the quiet consort' doesn't have quite the same ring to it, and I find some artistic licence is allowed for titles. Many historians use the word 'queen' in its modern sense of leadership to include a modern audience who may not understand the meaning of 'cwen' simply as a wife.
@@HistorysForgottenPeople And this guy is part of the reason history rarely recognises women being more than housewives and birthing machines. It's still a man's world while men control the recording of history.
Since it is the sperm that determines the gender, perhaps it was less of her "failure to produce a male heir", than her husband's
@@jayehum5019what don’t you like about what he’s saying?
@@jayehum5019No he's calling out misinformation... People like you and the uploader are embellishing history to fit your own narrative.
It actually takes from figures like Aethelflead tbh, cause we don't know what to believe. Google the definition of warrior then tell me she was a warrior.
She was no warrior. Good grief. Mercia was a puppet (at best) and all this warrior queen garbage is Mercian propaganda. She was already advanced into middle age when Edward's offensive against the Danelaw began, in which Mercian forces were subject to him. She was subordinate to him just as Mercia was to Wessex (Mercia didn't even mint their own coins). Alfred and Edward were the true heroes of the day. The rest is pro-Mercian myth making plain and simple. You would think Aelfwynn, her "heir", would have been raised to be just as "fierce" as her aged "warrior" mother, but Edward shunted her off to Wessex as soon as Aethflaed died and from then on the kings of Wessex placed their own puppets on Mercia's throne until it was finally fully absorbed. Much ado about nothing.
I'm curious if you actually watched the video? In which I state that her 'warrior status' was from behind the front lines; that she was a partner to her brother's fight against the Danes; that she was part of a team with her husband and acted on his interest; or that she was basically just one cog in the machinery of her family? Also interesting that you dismiss what you call 'pro-Mercian myth' (I assume you mean the Mercian version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle), when it's very existence suggests the high regard they held for Aethelflaed. And as for Aelfwynn, anything at all is conjecture, as we have no records either way, so everything from being hidden in a nunnery to being murdered has been suggested.
Unfamiliar with Athelstan's rise to power I see 😬
Some people just want us all to feel as sad as they do
Bah humbug
Or perhaps the fact Aelfwynn was shunted off to a nunnery but Aethelflaed wasn't is entirely the point here? Or that she brought stability and very real successful engagements in a turmultous period?
This is a comment to feed the pesky algorithm. 🪰
Seems it enjoys dining on comments, replies and likes to both. 👍
Why not leave it something to enjoy and you get to watch the channel grow?💖🪲