The Lady of the Mercians

In this second episode, Alfred's children continue the family plan to create a kingdom of all the English. 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 which in the film we hear read in Old English. 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'.