Æthelflaed and other rulers in English histories, c.900–1150
This article explains why Æthelflaed, ruler of Mercia, mattered to writers of history in twelfth-century England. It argues that these writers evaluated and compared rulers based not on sex or bloodline, but on the quality of a ruler’s achievements relative to the set and scale of challenges the rul...
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| Format: | Journal article |
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Oxford University Press
2022
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| _version_ | 1826309134031519744 |
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| author | Winkler, EA |
| author_facet | Winkler, EA |
| author_sort | Winkler, EA |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | This article explains why Æthelflaed, ruler of Mercia, mattered to writers of history in twelfth-century England. It argues that these writers evaluated and compared rulers based not on sex or bloodline, but on the quality of a ruler’s achievements relative to the set and scale of challenges the ruler faced. They thought Æthelflaed remarkable because her triumphs for Mercia distinguished her from other rulers. The article shows that a new understanding of attitudes in twelfth-century England towards rulers, past and present, is required. It accounts for the absence of gendered comments about rulers, as well as the presence of non-binary concepts of gender, in medieval writing. It also challenges the enduring idea that Latin writers imposed a shared, Wessex-dominated national vision on the English past. They asserted Mercia’s independence under Æthelflaed’s sole rule, which shows that English regional interests persisted in the historical imagination long after the Norman Conquest. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:29:40Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:f154014c-133d-4995-9bba-4f0d417b9ae2 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:29:40Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | Oxford University Press |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:f154014c-133d-4995-9bba-4f0d417b9ae22022-12-15T08:04:34ZÆthelflaed and other rulers in English histories, c.900–1150Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:f154014c-133d-4995-9bba-4f0d417b9ae2Symplectic ElementsOxford University Press2022Winkler, EAThis article explains why Æthelflaed, ruler of Mercia, mattered to writers of history in twelfth-century England. It argues that these writers evaluated and compared rulers based not on sex or bloodline, but on the quality of a ruler’s achievements relative to the set and scale of challenges the ruler faced. They thought Æthelflaed remarkable because her triumphs for Mercia distinguished her from other rulers. The article shows that a new understanding of attitudes in twelfth-century England towards rulers, past and present, is required. It accounts for the absence of gendered comments about rulers, as well as the presence of non-binary concepts of gender, in medieval writing. It also challenges the enduring idea that Latin writers imposed a shared, Wessex-dominated national vision on the English past. They asserted Mercia’s independence under Æthelflaed’s sole rule, which shows that English regional interests persisted in the historical imagination long after the Norman Conquest. |
| spellingShingle | Winkler, EA Æthelflaed and other rulers in English histories, c.900–1150 |
| title | Æthelflaed and other rulers in English histories, c.900–1150 |
| title_full | Æthelflaed and other rulers in English histories, c.900–1150 |
| title_fullStr | Æthelflaed and other rulers in English histories, c.900–1150 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Æthelflaed and other rulers in English histories, c.900–1150 |
| title_short | Æthelflaed and other rulers in English histories, c.900–1150 |
| title_sort | aethelflaed and other rulers in english histories c 900 1150 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT winklerea æthelflaedandotherrulersinenglishhistoriesc9001150 |