1/17/2024 0 Comments King alfred vikings sickness![]() ![]() In order to ‘seal the deal’, Alfred also decided to marry off his eldest daughter Æthelflæd to Æthelred, even though she was only around 16 years old at the time. London had traditionally been a Mercian city, a fortress at the south eastern tip of their territory, so as a token of his victory he handed the city back to Æthelred.Īs a sign of his gratitude, Æthelred agreed to sign an alliance with Alfred, a pact that effectively forced Mercia to acknowledge Wessex as the dominant Anglo-Saxon power in central and southern England. Alfred agreed to help, and in 886 managed to secure London from the Vikings. ![]() However, when Æthelred (not to be confused with Lady Æthelflæd, whom this article is about!) became ruler of western Mercia in 882, he decided to try and retake control over his lands.Īlthough little is known about this period in time, it is thought that Æthelred turned to his Anglo-Saxon neighbour to the south (Alfred of Wessex) to ask for assistance in regaining his kingdom. The eastern part of its territory had long been in direct control of the Danish Vikings, with the remaining western part of the kingdom being effectively a puppet of the Vikings. Mercia itself had not been a proper, independent kingdom for many years. Portrait of Alfred the Great, Samuel Woodforde (1763-1817)Īs Æthelflæd reached her teens, her father had begun to push the Vikings out of south eastern England and began to reclaim territory for both his own kingdom of Wessex and his northern ally of Mercia. During her early years, Æthelflæd witnessed her father take back large swathes of England from the Vikings (Danes), starting with the famous battle of Edington in Wiltshire, a key turning point in the Anglo-Saxon campaign against the Vikings. ![]() The eldest child of the King Alfred of Wessex, Æthelflæd was thought to have been a strong, independent and well educated lady. ![]()
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