#lady of mercia

[all-is-fair-in-love-and-war]

New Muse!

Aethelflaed

Lady of Mercia

Lady of the Mercians

[frary-us]

I feel like I missed a gifset. The preceding moments with "the daughter looks like a Dane" laughing from Aldhelm & Aethelflaed, and then annoyed Aethelred "having to vomit."😞😕 One of my all-time favorite TLK scenes.😂

Aethelflaed, Aldhelm | The Last Kingdom 3.07

[frary-us]

STUNNING profile shot of Aethelred/Toby. How can someone look so angelic yet be so idiotic & evil?😍😡🤷‍♀️😂

Aethelred | TLK

[w1ckedgal]

The last kingdom x Labour by Paris Paloma

Inspired by this post

[ancestorsalive]

Photo: Statue of Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, who passed away in 918. Her nephew Aethelstan, future king of all England, looks up at her.

"Aethelflaed was one of three daughters of Alfred the Great, and her name meant "noble beauty". She married Aethelraed of Mercia at some point during the 880s and while this union meant a strong alliance between Wessex and Mercia the pair embarked on a "Mercian revival" with the city of Worcester at its centre.

When Aethelraed died in 911 after years of ill-health Aethelflaed remained as Lady of Mercia and held this position until her death, making her the only female ruler of a kingdom during the entire Anglo-Saxon era. The only compromise she made was to agree to her brother Edward, now king of Wessex, taking some of Mercia's southern lands under his control.

Their father Alfred the Great had fortified dozens of Wessex towns as "burhs" and Edward continued this work, connecting his burhs with those in Mercia to represent a united front against viking incursions, and it wasn't long before this was put to the test.

A force of vikings, pushed out of Ireland, landed in the mouth of the Dee after unsuccessfully trying to take land in Wales, and asked Aethelflaed if they could settle for a time outside the old Roman walled town of Chester. Permission was granted but the Norsemen raided and robbed the area at will so Aethelflaed led a force to shut them down. She had Chester fortified and waited for the inevitable viking attack, it came and was repulsed, the Scandinavian chancers sent packing in complete disarray.

This same Norse army was brought to battle at Tettenhall near Wolverhampton where Aethelflaed's forces destroyed them. The writing was now on the wall - the vikings had to go. Together with Edward she raided deep into Danelaw territory on a mission to rescue the bones of St Oswald - who had been killed and ritually dismembered by the pagan king of Mercia Penda - from a church in Lincolnshire then brought the relics down to Gloucestershire where a new church was built to house them...more on that presently.

The burhs continued to be built, and the Dane strongholds fell as Aethelflaed campaigned hard against them. Her forces defeated three Norse armies before finally taking the city of Derby, then Leicester, before the Danes of York came to her to pledge their loyalty. The vikings in Anglia capitulated to Edward and so all of England south of Northumbria was now back under Anglo-Saxon rule.

Aethelflaed died at Tamworth in 918 and so will be forever associated with the town, but she was carried down to Gloucestershire to be buried in the church she had built for St Oswald. Unfortunately the monastery there fell into decline over the centuries, was dissolved in 1536, then almost completely destroyed during the English Civil War. Nobody knows where Aethelflaed's resting place is now, but the ruins of St Oswalds are as good a place as any as a pilgrimage destination for those wishing to follow in the footsteps of the Lady of Mercia." - Source: Hugh Williams via Medieval England on FB.

Photo: Statue of Aethelflaed and Aethelstan at Tamworth Castle, by EG Bramwell, unveiled in 1913.

[oscarwetnwilde]

James Wilby & Sporting, Part Two: 1. Victoria (2016): shooting 2. Maurice (1987): cricket 3. Poirot (2008): snooker 4. An Ideal Husband (1999): golf 5. Shadows In The Sun (2009): biking 6. Bertie And Elizabeth (2002): shooting 7. Bertie And Elizabeth (2002): tennis 8. You, Me, And It (1993): rugby 9. Lady Godiva (2008): sword fighting 10. A Summer Story (1988): biking

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SCULPTURE: “LADY GODIVA” by John Thomas (1813 - 1862), UK.

According to the legend dating back to at least the 13th century, Lady Godiva (b. around 1040 — d. between 1066 and 1086), a countess whose name (Godgifu or Godgyfu) translates from Latin as 'gift of God,' rode through the streets of Coventry, Warwickshire, England, in 11th century AD, with nothing but her long hair covering her.

This act was a condition set by her husband Leofric, Earl of Mercia, to lower taxes for the people.

She rode through the town while the inhabitants stayed indoors with windows and doors shut.

According to that legend, her husband, moved by her bravery, kept his promise and reduced the taxes.

This myth portrays Lady Godiva as possibly the first woman to use her body to defend a social cause.

Maidstone Museum, Kent

[aelswiths]

AELSWITH (looking hot as fuck) IN 2x03

[lord-aldhelm]

Æthelred and Æthelflæd of Mercia: Medieval England’s most important marriage?

Came across This Article yesterday and thought I would share it.

It goes into great detail about Lord Aethelred and Lady Aethelflaed. Aethelred in real life was nothing like he was portrayed in the show or books. He respected King Alfred as his overking, treated Aethelflaed as an equal, and was a competent leader and fought side by side with Edward the Elder. In fact Edward trusted Aethelred and Aethelflaed to foster his firstborn son Aethelstan. Interesting read.

[247reader]

Day 10: Æthelflæd of Mercia!

Æthelflæd was the daughter of Alfred the Great, king of Wessex and eventually of all Anglo-Saxon Britain. She was born into turbulent times: the Viking invasion of what is now England was in full swing, and her father led an alliance of surviving leaders in a grueling defensive war. To shore up this alliance, Æthelflæd was married in her teens to the king of Mercia, Æthelred. The two had one daughter, Ælfwynn, but the much-older Æthelred’s health began to fail. Æthelflæd took an increasing role in the government of Mercia, managing the court, donating to religious houses, and fortifying towns. She was left a widow by 911, when she was in her forties. By now, her brother Edward, who had sent his son to be raised at Æthelflæd‘s court, ruled Wessex, and while the Norse still held Northumbria, the southern kingdoms were relatively stable - though still fending off regular raids. Æthelflæd, with no son and already the ruling power at court, became Lady of the Mercians - bolstered by her brother, but also bolstering him in turn.

Æthelflæd organized a defensive network of forts and fortified towns, and on multiple occasions led her army in person. As she held the line, fending off raids, attacks, and eventually multiple full-scale invasions, her brother began pushing North into the Danelaw, reclaiming territory from the Vikings.

Æthelflæd was unprecedented as a female ruler in Anglo-Saxon Britain - but she was both respected and beloved. When she died in 918, her kingdom mourned, honoring her with a 75 mile funeral procession and immediately declaring her daughter Ælfwynn the new ruler. Sadly, Edward was not as loyal to his sister’s memory. He deposed his niece, seizing Mercia, and seems to have made some attempts to obscure her in the chronicles - attempts that would mostly succeed in dimming his own legacy among scholars from the Middle Ages on.

[theladyofmercia]

Raised in the palace of Wessex, afforded an education most women are denied, and trained in sword craft, I learned much while seated beside my father, King Alfred. My intelligence and free thought, however, is not appreciated by my husband, Lord Aethelred of Mercia, who styles himself a king. I reside now at my estate in Saltwic, with my most trusted advisor, Aldhelm, and my maid, Sable.

Divider made by @zaldritzosrose

Age: mid-20s-30s

Nationality: West Saxon

Religion: Christian

Sexuality: HetFlex

Status: Married to Aethelred of Mercia (but not living together - he tried to have me killed, the turd)

Weapon: sword, my alliances

Associated with @thelastkingdomrp group

RP open via asks or reblogs

[all-that-is-gold-is-now-gone]

i still have the taste of you on my tongue.

(dealers choice. Bring it.)

Aethelflaed smiled gently with a soft giggle and leaned down kissing Aldhelm on the lips gently where he lay in the bed, "Do you? Well, I am afraid that will have to last for a bit. I have to go to work." She kissed him again before straightening up and wandering into the bathroom to get ready for work.

"I have a work thing tonight, a kinda drinks and dinner type thing." Aethelflaed said as she began to get ready for the day, "do you wanna come with me?"

[thenobleone]

Sabía que los cotilleos y chismes se habían extendido desde la posesión de Aethelflaed sobre Mercia. El rey se había mantenido unánime, sin juicios ni altercados; aunque por su cuenta debía notarse su posición. Dejándose llevar por la supuesta presión, se dispuso a visitar la tierra de su hija, o mejor dicho, de la lady de Mercia. Vería por su cuenta cómo lo hacía.

⚔️ @sweetquccn

[all-that-is-gold-is-now-gone]

“ i’m so proud of you. i know it’s hard to get past these rough days, but... i still want you to know that i’m proud of you. “ (alfred to aethelflaed)

Aethelflaed looked over at her father, was he truly proud of her? She had worked so hard to be worthy of the royal blood that ran through her blood, to be worthy of the legacy her father would leave behind, even if it would not be directly to her.

"You are?" She asked, looking up at her father, still with tear-stained eyes taking in a soft breath, "truly?"

[i-am-become-a-name]

starting to notice a theme of tegan jovanka being left behind in big finish audios, and yeah, I recognise it's following on from Time-Flight, but jfc, stop abandoning her to live for weeks/months/even a year in a different environment and then never mention it again! it should be a big thing! it changes a person!

[coloursofunison]

Lady Estrid is this week's kindle deal but who were her family ? #KindleDeal #HistFic

Lady Estrid is this week's kindle deal but who were her family ? #KindleDeal #HistFic