Category: Podcast Episodes

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O potent elfleda! Maid, men’s terror!
You did conquer nature’s self; worthy
The name of man! More beauteous nature’s form of
A woman; but your valour shall secure
Man’s higher name. For name you only need
Not sex to change: unconquerable queen,
King rather, who such trophies have obtained!
O virgin and virago both farewell!
No caesar yet such triumphs hath deserved
As you, than any, all, the Caesar’s more renowned!

That’s a translation of a Latin praise poem for AEthelflaed. It was included in the writings of the 12th century scribe, Henry of Huntingdon.

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The Battle of Tettenhall, as we discussed last episode, remains a mystery to us. We aren’t certain of the circumstances that started the battle, exactly where the battle took place, nor which Anglo Saxon leaders actually fought in it. But one thing scholars agree upon is that Mercia and Wessex won a resounding victory – and that this victory meant that the Danes were in for more war.

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There is so much that the Chronicle hides from us after the death of Alfred. Edward’s apple seems to have fallen fairly far from the tree, because the record his court produces during his reign is spare even by Anglo Saxon standards. But even with all of its contradictory statements and black holes, the Chronicle couldn’t hide the fact that a storm was coming.

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When we left off last episode, war had come to Mercia. Ingimund and his Scandinavian allies abandoned their peace treaty and were seeking to expand their borders, but according to the Irish Annals and the Welsh annals, it wasn’t AEthelred Lord of Mercia who was organizing the defenses. It was AEthelflaed, Queen of the Saxons.

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A year after Edward took the throne – in year 901, while he was still fighting AEthelwold’s rebellion – something strange appeared in the Charters.

This event doesn’t get discussed in the Chronicle. But these Charters reveal that in 901, there was an enormous gathering of the important political figures of Wessex. This gathering took place in Southampton, and the charters reveal that (with the exception of the Bishop of Worcester), all of the Bishops of Kent, Sussex, and Wessex were present. This council was also attended by AEthelweard, Edward’s younger brother, as well as Edward’s two sons… AEthelstan (his eldest son, and the son of Ecgwynn), and the infant Aelfweard (the newborn son of Edward’s new wife, AElfflaed). Accompanying Edward to this meeting was his household, his thegns, and important figures from Winchester.

There is a lot of interesting things going on at this meeting, as revealed in the witness lists of these charters. One of them is that, the infant AElfweard (the child of Edward’s new marriage) was listed above AEthelstan, Edward’s first born.

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Sometimes life comes at you fast. So much happens in such a short space of time that you barely have a chance to take note of where you’re at and, only after it’s all passed, only /then/ do you have a chance to say “oh my god, what /was/ all of that?”

I wonder if that’s what Edward’s life was like in late 902.

The death of his father, the push for the Crown, his elevation, the subsequent rebellion, the fight with the Danes of East Anglia and Northumbria (with the aid of his cousin), the construction of his mother’s abbey and the completion of his father’s abbey… and finally the death of his mother. It was a lot.

But here’s the thing. That’s not all of it. That’s just the stuff I’ve told you about so far.

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It was an audacious move. To take possession of two towns, to fortify himself inside the Royal Estate of Wimborne (the resting place of his father), and to do all of this after taking an unnamed nun as his wife. But that was what AEthelwold son of AEthelred did.

As we discussed last week, we aren’t told who the nun was, but based on the events and the geography of AEthelwold’s rebellion, there’s a good argument to be made that… as AEthelred sat in the estate of Wimborne… as he organized his defenses and maintained the morale of his supporters who resided within the Estate… he was accompanied by AEthelgifu, daughter of Alfred the Great and sister of King Edward.

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