Ælfflæd or Æthelflæd ( fl. 840) is not recorded before the twelfth century.

William of Malmesbury William of Malmesbury ( la, Willelmus Malmesbiriensis; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as " ...

describes Æthelflæd as the daughter of King Ceolwulf I of Mercia, wife of King Wiglaf's son Wigmund, and mother of

Wigstan Wigstan (died c.840 AD), also known as Saint Wystan, was the son of Wigmund of Mercia and Ælfflæd, daughter of King Ceolwulf I of Mercia. History Like many Mercians of the period very little is known about Wigstan. He was the son of Wigm ...

. According to

Thomas of Marlborough Thomas of Marlborough (died 1236) (sometimes Thomas de Marleberge)Knowles ''Monastic Order'' p. 333 was a medieval English monk and writer. He became abbot of Evesham Abbey in 1230. Biography Thomas studied civil and canon law at Paris where he st ...

hagiographical A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies mig ...

life of Wigstan, when his father King Wigmund died in 840, Wigstan refused to become king, preferring a life of religion. His relative

Beorhtwulf Beorhtwulf (, meaning "bright wolf"; also spelled ''Berhtwulf''; died 852) was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 839 or 840 to 852. His ancestry is unknown, though he may have been connected to Beornwulf, who ruled Mercia ...

then asked for permission to marry the widowed queen, Æfflæd, and when Wigstan refused, he had him murdered.

John of Worcester John of Worcester (died c. 1140) was an English monk and chronicler who worked at Worcester Priory. He is usually held to be the author of the ''Chronicon ex chronicis''. ''Chronicon ex chronicis'' The ''Chronicon ex chronicis'' is a world wi ...

has a different version of Wigstan's parentage and death, which he dates to 849. Wigstan was regarded as a saint, like many other Anglo-Saxon royals murdered for political reasons. She was the heir of her father and his brother Coenwulf, and, by the middle of the century, she was probably abbess of

Winchcombe Winchcombe () is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Tewkesbury in the county of Gloucestershire, England, it is 6 miles north-east of Cheltenham. The population was recorded as 4,538 in the 2011 census and estimated at 5,347 in ...

, as she was disposing of its property. She died after 850, and may have been the mother of King Ceolwulf II and Eadburh, wife of

Æthelred Mucel Æthelred Mucel was an Anglo-Saxon noble from Mercia who was the father of Ealhswith, the wife of Alfred the Great. Æthelred witnessed several charters between 867 and 895; he may be the same man as an ealdorman called 'Mucel' who witnesse ...

.Keynes & Lapidge, ''Asser'', pp. 77; 240–41; Abels, ''Alfred the Great'', p. 121

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aelfflaed Of Mercia (02) 9th-century English people 9th-century English women