Our warrior queen

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How does a ruler defeat bloodthirsty invaders, secure a kingdom and lay the foundations for England – and then almost get written out of history? Be a woman, that’s how. Exactly 1,100 years after her death Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, is emerging from the shadows.

Born into a tooth-and-nail war for survival against Viking invaders, Aethelflaed, daughter of Alfred the Great, grew up in a realm teetering on the brink of disaster.

In 878 the royal family was forced to flee to the swamps of Somerset – just months before Alfred turned the tables and won a stunning victory over the Vikings at the Battle of Edington.

Married at 16 to Aethelred, Lord of Mercia, Aethelflaed’s new lands were the front line as an uneasy and fitful peace came to a fiery end with Alfred’s death in 899.

Dr Clare Downham, from the University of Liverpool, said: “She must have had quite a force of personality to overcome the assumptions of her time.

“It is a mark of her success in male-dominated times she was accepted as a ruler and achieved incredible – even unique – things.”