BBC - King Alfred and the Anglo Saxons (2013) Part 2 The Lady of the Mercians

Series in which Michael Wood examines the careers of three Anglo-Saxon rulers. Michael Wood argues that the most important and influential British kings were a father, son and grandson who lived over a thousand years ago during the age of the Vikings.

Part 2: The Lady of the Mercians

Michael Wood recovers the story of Alfred's daughter Aethelflaed, the ruler of Mercia, from a copy of a lost chronicle written in Mercia in her lifetime. One of the great forgotten figures in British history, Aethelflaed led armies, built fortresses, campaigned against the Vikings and was a brilliant diplomat. Her fame spread across the British Isles, beloved by her warriors and her people, she was known simply as 'the Lady of the Mercians'. Without her, concludes Michael Wood, 'England might never have happened'.

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