  ÃthelflÃ¦d, lady of the mercians, (d. 12 june 918) ruled mercia from 911 to her death in 918. she was the eldest daughter of alfred the great, king of the anglo-saxon kingdom of wessex, and his queen, ealhswith. ÃthelflÃ¦d was born at the height of the viking invasions of england. her father married her to Ãthelred, lord of the mercians. after his death in 911, she ruled; the anglo-saxon chronicle referred to her as the myrcna hlÃ¦fdige, "lady of the mercians". ==early life== ethelflaed was according to asser the first born child of alfred the great and his mercian queen ealhswithcook, asser's life of alfred, pp. 37â38. who was a descendant of king coenwulf of mercia through her own mother eadburh. ethelflaed's date of birth is not known but it was probably sometime between the marriage of her parents in 868 and birth of her brother edward the elder, whose own date of birth is not known but presumably took place before 878. alfred was the fifth son of king ethelwulf and was never expected to become king. however by 865 three of his brothers had died and ethelred, the only other one still alive, was king of wessex. soon afterwards in the same year a great viking army arrived and wreaked havoc in much of england. it would be the start of a long period of war between the vikings and the anglo-saxons which lasted many battles until after the battle of edington in 878 in which alfred was king and commander. ==lady of the mercians== thumb|right|300px|the five boroughs and the english midlands in the early 10th centuryfalkus & gillingham and hill Ãthelflaed was already married to Ãthelred, then ealdorman of mercia.cook, asser's life of alfred, p. 37. Ãthelred and ÃthelflÃ¦d are recorded as having had one daughter, Ãlfwynn. Ãthelstan, the son of edward the elder and the grandson of alfred, was brought up in their court.wood, in search of england, p. 158. near the end of the reign of alfred the great,
10th-century_English_people 10th-century_female_rulers 10th-century_rulers_in_Europe 870s_births 918_deaths 9th-century_English_people 9th-century_women Anglo-Saxon_women House_of_Wessex Mercian_monarchs People_from_Stafford Queens Women_in_medieval_European_warfare