On her death, her brother Eadweard the Elder took control of Mercia after a brief period in which Æthelflæd's daughter Ælfwynn ruled. Æthelflæd died at Tamworth, Staffordshire on 12 June 918, and was buried at St Peter's Minster, Gloucester. Shortly before her death, she obtained the allegiance of leading figures in the Viking territory of York, who were under threat from Vikings from Ireland and wanted her support. Some sources state that some of her campaigns against Vikings in the North of England were in alliance with the Picts and Scots. She captured Derby in 917 and incorporated it into Mercia. She strengthened Mercia's defences against the Danes by having a series of fortifications constructed, and co-operated with her brother Eadweard the Elder in fighting the Danes, leading the Mercian forces in person. Æthelflæd's husband died in 911, and she then succeeded him as ruler of Mercia, being described as "Lady of the Mercians" in Mercian records and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. During this period she founded a Minster at Gloucester and started strengthening Mercia's defences. Æthelflæd's husband Æthelred became ill at some point between 899 and 909, and Æthelflæd then played a major part in ruling Mercia.
For instance, in 904 there is a lease of land to her and her husband. Æthelflæd's name appears alongside her husband's on charters, indicating that she exercised considerable influence. Ĭharles Cawley raises the possibility that they may have had a son called Æthelstan, citing a charter of 903-4 which is subscribed by Æthelflæd, then immediately after her, by "Æthelstan dux filius Etheredi". Their union reinforced the bond between Wessex and Mercia at a time when both territories were under Danish attack. Charters - which may not be genuine - suggest that they may have married by 887 or 889. Asser says they married when she reached marriageable age ("adveniente matrimonii tempore"), which will have been at least a few years before 893 when he was writing. Æthelflæd married Æthelred, Ealdorman of Mercia. Asser, writing in 893, says she was her parent's oldest child. Her birth date is uncertain but may have been about 870 or soon after. Æthelflæd was the daughter of King Alfred the Great and Ealhswith.
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