Accessibility Links

The official website for BBC History Magazine and BBC World Histories Magazine

Subscribe to BBC History Magazine
  1. Home
  2. Period
  3. Viking
  4. Æthelflæd: iron lady of Mercia

Æthelflæd: iron lady of Mercia

Alex Burghart pays tribute to Æthelflæd, a remarkable woman who turned a cornered Anglo-Saxon kingdom into a powerhouse that defeated the Welsh and the Vikings

A statue of Æthelflæd which stands in the grounds of Tamworth Castle in Staffordshire. (Photo by Chris Gibson/Alamy Stock Photo)

This article was first published in the August 2011 issue of BBC History Magazine

Want to read more?

Become a BBC History Magazine subscriber today to unlock all premium articles in The Library

Unlock now

Tags

Britains Best Selling History Magazine

Subscribe to BBC History Magazine today

Subscribe Now
Subscribe to BBC World Histories Magazine

Subscribe to BBC World Histories Magazine today

Subscribe Now

More on: United Kingdom

British military behind a barricade, 1916. (Photo by ullstein picture via Getty Images)
Learn more about this subject

You may like

Edward the Confessor, the penultimate Anglo-Saxon king of England, depicted here in a scene from the Bayeux Tapestry. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)
Anglo-Saxon

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Anglo-Saxons

Detail of a Viking helmet from grave one at Vendel, Uppland, Sweden. In the 860s and 870s, the Vikings would bring war to England’s four kingdoms on a massive scale. (Photo by CM Dixon/Print Collector/Getty Images)
Viking

The great Viking terror: how Norse warriors conquered the Anglo-Saxons

Subscribe for unlimited access to The Library
Unlock now
c60 AD, Queen Boudica of the Iceni holding a spear. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) 
Anglo-Saxon

8 things you may not know about British history

King Ecgfrith of Northumbria
Anglo-Saxon

The Anglo-Saxon who (almost) united Britain

Subscribe for unlimited access to The Library
Unlock now