WEBVTT - Lady of the Mercians

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm

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<v Speaker 1>and Mild from Aaron Manky listener Discretion advised. The latter

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<v Speaker 1>half of the ninth century was a chaotic time in England,

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<v Speaker 1>which was at that time divided into a number of

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<v Speaker 1>smaller kingdoms. In eight hundred and sixty seven, Vikings from

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<v Speaker 1>Denmark landed in Mercia, a kingdom that comprised much of

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<v Speaker 1>the English Midlands. The Vikings conquered the eastern parts of

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<v Speaker 1>Mercia and soon invaded the rest of the territory, dividing

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<v Speaker 1>the area into two parts, displacing the current ruler and

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<v Speaker 1>installing a puppet king. But the puppet king didn't last

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<v Speaker 1>long on the throne. Just a few years later, in

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<v Speaker 1>eight hundred and seventy nine, he disappeared. In the face

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<v Speaker 1>of that power vacuum, a high ranking English military official

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<v Speaker 1>named Fulred took over. Very little is known about Ethelred

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<v Speaker 1>before he reached the throne, and it's sort of unclear

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<v Speaker 1>how exactly he got the job. It doesn't seem like

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<v Speaker 1>he had any noble lineage. He appeared in the written

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<v Speaker 1>record at around eight hundred and eighty three, after he

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<v Speaker 1>was said to have taken power. But it wasn't just

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<v Speaker 1>Mercia that was under attack by the Vikings. Wessex, another

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<v Speaker 1>kingdom that included much of England's south coast at that time,

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<v Speaker 1>was also dealing with Viking invasions. Wessex was led by

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<v Speaker 1>a man named Alfred, and throughout eight hundred and seventy

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<v Speaker 1>and eight seventy one, Alfred had been fighting off the

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<v Speaker 1>Vikings with mixed results, winning some battles but having trouble

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<v Speaker 1>keeping the invading forces at bay in the long term.

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<v Speaker 1>So soon after Ethelred took over in Mercia, he and

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<v Speaker 1>Alfred decided to team up, and in eight hundred eighty nine,

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<v Speaker 1>the pair sealed their alliance by having Athelred Mary Alfred's

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<v Speaker 1>oldest daughter, athel Flood. Athel Flood was born around eight

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and seventy, right when the Viking invasions were picking

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<v Speaker 1>up steam, making her much younger than her husband. While

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<v Speaker 1>there's almost no historical record of athel Flood's early life,

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<v Speaker 1>one can imagine that her youth had been defined by

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<v Speaker 1>instability and violence, following her father to various skirmishes with invaders.

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<v Speaker 1>She likely knew Athelred from childhood, encountering him in her

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<v Speaker 1>father's entourage or visiting his palaces in Mercia. No one

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<v Speaker 1>would have expected Athel Flood to become an even more

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<v Speaker 1>important political figure than her head husband. Athel Flood would

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<v Speaker 1>become the most powerful person in the Kingdom, ruling over

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<v Speaker 1>Mercia independently starting in nine hundred and eleven, one of

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<v Speaker 1>only two women recorded as doing so before the Norman

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<v Speaker 1>conquest of England. I'm Danish sports and this is noble blood.

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<v Speaker 1>After the wedding, Ethel Flood had to move from her

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<v Speaker 1>home in Wessex to her husband's palace in Mercia. This

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't a huge deal for Ethel Flood. Her mother was Mercian,

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<v Speaker 1>so she had family in the area, and her husband

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<v Speaker 1>preferred to stay in the southwest area of Mercia, around

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<v Speaker 1>the cities now named London and Gloucester, which wasn't too

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<v Speaker 1>far away from where she grew up. Still, she had

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<v Speaker 1>to adjust to married life. Athelred had seeded control over

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<v Speaker 1>Mercia to Alfred, his father and lie law, who called

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<v Speaker 1>himself the King of the Anglo Saxons. This is one

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<v Speaker 1>of the first times anyone had used the term Anglo Saxon,

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<v Speaker 1>and in doing so, Alfred sometimes also known as Alfred

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<v Speaker 1>the Great, asserted that he ruled over all of the

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<v Speaker 1>English Saxons by which he meant the Saxons who had

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<v Speaker 1>immigrated from what is now Germany to England around the

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<v Speaker 1>fourth century, except for the ones living in areas under

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<v Speaker 1>Viking control. So even though her husband wasn't technically a

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<v Speaker 1>king at this point, Athel Flood still needed to fulfill

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<v Speaker 1>the typical duties of a royal wife. A royal wife

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<v Speaker 1>was expected to be a peace weaver or frothweb in

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<v Speaker 1>Old English. The term was meant to encapsulate the feminine

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<v Speaker 1>art of political maneuvering, just like weaving fabric. A royal

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<v Speaker 1>wife was expected to weave bonds between her and her

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<v Speaker 1>husband's allies by hosting dinners in the feasting hall and

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<v Speaker 1>conducting herself well when visiting palaces throughout the kingdom. Usually,

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<v Speaker 1>a royal wife's duties would have ended there. English Saxon

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<v Speaker 1>wives were considered subordinate to their husbands and were largely

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<v Speaker 1>excluded from military and political life. That was certainly the

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<v Speaker 1>case in Wessex, where ethel Flood's mother was almost completely

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<v Speaker 1>shut out of governance. She wasn't even referred to as queen.

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<v Speaker 1>Historian Tim Clarkson described royal wives in Wessex as quote

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<v Speaker 1>low profile, nearly invisible, but unlike other parts of medieval England,

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<v Speaker 1>Murcia allowed more leeway and independence for its queens. Ethel

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<v Speaker 1>Flood was deeply involved in governing Mercia from the beginning

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<v Speaker 1>of her marriage. Arriving in Gloucester at around eight eighty,

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<v Speaker 1>the city was in shambles after battling with the Vikings,

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<v Speaker 1>with collapsed columns from the Roman era all over the city.

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<v Speaker 1>So together the newlyweds got to work on building a burr,

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<v Speaker 1>or a multi purpose fortification that served as a defensive fortress,

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<v Speaker 1>an administrative center and a hub for trade, Using a

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<v Speaker 1>decrepit Roman fort as the structure's foundation, They kept on

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<v Speaker 1>building burrs throughout Mercia over the next decade. Meanwhile, Ethel

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<v Speaker 1>Flood worked with her husband to reallocate land, offer privileges

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<v Speaker 1>to churches, and confer grants across the region you know,

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<v Speaker 1>general governance. Their campaign fit in neatly with Alfred's attempt

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<v Speaker 1>to shore up the defenses of Wessex. He also built

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<v Speaker 1>a number of brahs and forts across the kingdom, ensuring

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<v Speaker 1>that no one in Wessex was more than a day's

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<v Speaker 1>ride from a place of safety. Meanwhile, Afflflood gave birth

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<v Speaker 1>to a daughter and named her Alfwyn or elf Friend.

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<v Speaker 1>This ended up being her only child, which is a

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<v Speaker 1>bit strange given that there was probably pressure to produce

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<v Speaker 1>a male heir and secure the line of succession. We

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<v Speaker 1>can speculate that it's possible she suffered miscarriages or couldn't

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<v Speaker 1>get pregnant again. William of Malmsbury, an early Anglo Norman historian,

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<v Speaker 1>proposed a different theory, that Alfwin's birth was such a

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<v Speaker 1>horrific experience that Affelflood pledged celibacy for the rest of

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<v Speaker 1>her life. In ten ninety nine, William of Malmsbury wrote,

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<v Speaker 1>quote from the difficulty experienced in her first or rather

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<v Speaker 1>only labor. Athel Flood, ever after, refused the embraces of

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<v Speaker 1>her husband, protesting that it was unbecoming for the daughter

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<v Speaker 1>of a king to give way to a delight which

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<v Speaker 1>in time produced such painful consequences. Now, William of Malmsbury

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<v Speaker 1>didn't give any sources for this from the period, so

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<v Speaker 1>athel Flood's celibacy is likely apocryphal. Contemporary historians imagine that

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<v Speaker 1>he might have made it up in order to emphasize

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<v Speaker 1>athel Flood's moral purity. That said William was a monk

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<v Speaker 1>at Malmsbury Abbey, a monastery in Wessex with historic ties

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<v Speaker 1>to the royal family, and it's possible that this story

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<v Speaker 1>was passed down to him and it was truthful fact

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<v Speaker 1>or fiction. This Anna represents a rare example of a

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<v Speaker 1>medieval queen putting her foot down and deciding for herself

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<v Speaker 1>what her reproductive future might look like. After a decade

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<v Speaker 1>of strengthening Mercia's defenses, athel Flood was ready for battle.

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<v Speaker 1>When the Vikings descended on eastern England in eight hundred

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<v Speaker 1>ninety two, it was clear that her preparation paid off.

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<v Speaker 1>After a few years of fighting, Alfred afa Flood and

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<v Speaker 1>Athelred successfully repelled the invaders with minimal losses. The Viking

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<v Speaker 1>army disbanded in eight hundred and ninety six, and Athlflood

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<v Speaker 1>was finally able to enjoy a period of peace in

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<v Speaker 1>Wessex and Mercia. But this period of peace didn't last long.

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<v Speaker 1>In October of eight hundred and ninety nine, King Alfred died.

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<v Speaker 1>Though this was a huge blow both to Athel Flood

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<v Speaker 1>his daughter, and Athelred, his son in law and closest

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<v Speaker 1>military Ally, they were perhaps relieved to find that, unlike

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<v Speaker 1>many medieval kings living through long periods of war, he

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<v Speaker 1>survived decades of battle and had lived long enough to

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<v Speaker 1>die of disease in his own bed. In his will,

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<v Speaker 1>he commemorated Athelred by leaving him a sword worth one

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<v Speaker 1>hundred Byzantine gold coins. Alfred's oldest son, athel Flood's brother Edward,

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<v Speaker 1>succeeded to the throne of Wessex, becoming King of the

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<v Speaker 1>Anglo Saxons, adopting the title his father invented. It was

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<v Speaker 1>unclear exactly what this meant for Athelred and ethel Flood, or,

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<v Speaker 1>as I'll call them by their made up couple name

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<v Speaker 1>with absolutely no historical accuracy, the Athols. Some historians believe

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<v Speaker 1>that Alfred preferred his son in law Athelred to his

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<v Speaker 1>actual son Edward, since the court produced records of the

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<v Speaker 1>Viking battles in the eight hundred and nineties don't mention

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<v Speaker 1>any of Edward's military successes. Out of loyalty to Alfred,

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<v Speaker 1>Athelred was willing to accept a subordinate title and treat

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<v Speaker 1>Mercia as a part of the English Saxon Kingdom rather

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<v Speaker 1>than as an independent state, but Athelred seemed to distance

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<v Speaker 1>himself from Wessex after Alfred's death. In documents from the

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<v Speaker 1>Wessex Court, Athelred and athel Flood officially recognized Edward's authority. However,

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<v Speaker 1>within Mercia, many charters never mentioned Edward at all, leading

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<v Speaker 1>some historians to suggest that Ethelred operated Mercia more or

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<v Speaker 1>less as an independent kingdom. It seems that the Athols

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<v Speaker 1>wanted to have it both ways, maintaining a close alliance

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<v Speaker 1>between Wessex and Mercia without seeding too much of their power. Meanwhile,

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<v Speaker 1>Athelred's health began to fail, leaving athel Flood to deal

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<v Speaker 1>with governing Mercia largely on her own. There's no record

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<v Speaker 1>of what his illness might have been or when it began,

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<v Speaker 1>but the first record of his declining health was in

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<v Speaker 1>nine hundred and two, when athel Flood had to administer

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<v Speaker 1>a land grant without her husband. The last record of

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<v Speaker 1>Athelred's involvement in politics comes two years later, in nine

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and four. In nine hundred and two, there were

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<v Speaker 1>more invasions into England. This time by Norwegians rather than

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<v Speaker 1>the Danish Vikings who were giving the English Saxon's trouble.

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<v Speaker 1>In the ninth century, the Norwegians sailed for from Scotland

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<v Speaker 1>and Ireland to the west coast of Mercia. They approached

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<v Speaker 1>Ethel Flood for a settlement in the world, near what

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<v Speaker 1>is now Liverpool. Athel Flood hesitantly agreed, but imagined that

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<v Speaker 1>long term peace would be impossible. She fortified a nearby burr,

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<v Speaker 1>Chester and stationed her army there, eventually kicking out the Norse.

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<v Speaker 1>The Norse tried to fight back and retake the city

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<v Speaker 1>by teaming up with the Danes. Ethel Floed defended Chester,

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<v Speaker 1>leading her army from the ramparts of her bur In

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<v Speaker 1>nine hundred and seven, she successfully turned away the Norse

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<v Speaker 1>and the Danes, representing a huge military victory. And again

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<v Speaker 1>this is ethel Flood on her own while her husband

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<v Speaker 1>is ill and incapacitated. But athel Flood's triumph was tempered

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<v Speaker 1>by her ailing husband, convalescing still in Mercia, whose health

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<v Speaker 1>was only worsening by the day. Finally, in nine hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and eleven, Athelred died. He was buried at Saint Oswald's

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<v Speaker 1>Church in Gloucester, which he and his wife had founded

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<v Speaker 1>right after their wedding. This left Athel Flood at a crossroads. Traditionally,

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<v Speaker 1>noble widows retired from their rules in government, however limited,

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<v Speaker 1>those rules were to become abbesses or to live out

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<v Speaker 1>the rest of their lives at a peaceful estate. But

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<v Speaker 1>on the heels of her military victory in Chester, ethel

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<v Speaker 1>Flood had larger ambitions. She had put so much effort

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<v Speaker 1>into ruling over Mercia and was essentially functioning as its

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<v Speaker 1>de facto ruler in the years before her husband's death,

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<v Speaker 1>and so she would decide to succeed her husband as

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<v Speaker 1>the Lady of Mercia and lead the kingdom independently. While

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<v Speaker 1>ethel Flood's decision to rule over Mercia was merely unprecedented,

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<v Speaker 1>there hadn't been an independent female ruler over an English

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<v Speaker 1>kingdom since the seventh century, it didn't seem that controversial.

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<v Speaker 1>Her subjects supported her rule, and some of them even

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<v Speaker 1>called her their queen. Even though she was considered the

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<v Speaker 1>quote Lady of Mercia, It's unclear whether or not she

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<v Speaker 1>chose that title for herself, but being the Lady of

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<v Speaker 1>Mercia instead of the queen was strategic, It placed her

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<v Speaker 1>on a lower rung than her brother Edward, who was

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<v Speaker 1>the king of the Anglo Saxons, and it mirrored her

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<v Speaker 1>late husband, who was considered the Lord of Mercia, all

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<v Speaker 1>of which suggested that ethel Flood intelligently wouldn't upset the

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<v Speaker 1>status quo. The Mercian nobility also accepted athel Flood's succession

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<v Speaker 1>without a single recorded objection. There weren't any obvious alternatives.

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<v Speaker 1>None of the Mercian royal family's eligible heirs seemed interested

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<v Speaker 1>in the role, and Edward's son, ethel Flood's nephew, who

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<v Speaker 1>was raised in Mercia with athel Flood, was too young

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<v Speaker 1>to take over the throne. An assembly of noblemen and

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<v Speaker 1>other members of the elite convened to ratify ethel Flood's rule,

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<v Speaker 1>so she seemed to have their support. Edward tacitly gave

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<v Speaker 1>his blessing for his sister's succession, perhaps assuming that ethel

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<v Speaker 1>Flood would be a loyal ally. Edward and his sister

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<v Speaker 1>athel Flood would have to work together to take on

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<v Speaker 1>their most intense military engagement. Yet, while the Danes and

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<v Speaker 1>the Norse had agreed to peace with Mercia and Wessex.

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<v Speaker 1>Edward and ethel Flood wanted to shore up their defenses

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<v Speaker 1>to guard against future attacks. Edward built a series of

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<v Speaker 1>forts throughout Wessex, while ethel Flood did the same in Mercia.

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<v Speaker 1>Athel Flood put special attention on establishing her rule on

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<v Speaker 1>western Mercia, much of which had been seized by the

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<v Speaker 1>Vikings in the eight seventies or settled by the Norse

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<v Speaker 1>coming from Ireland. After building a few birds in the

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<v Speaker 1>west in nine hundred twelve and thirteen, she focused on

0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:38.399
<v Speaker 1>protecting Mercia from the Danish, who had settled in the east.

0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:43.640
<v Speaker 1>Edward had already repurposed his rule on a few areas

0:17:43.680 --> 0:17:47.960
<v Speaker 1>in the southeast, taking over some Viking strongholds in Essex,

0:17:48.320 --> 0:17:54.160
<v Speaker 1>which raised the Danes alarm bells. Finally, that long simmering

0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:59.040
<v Speaker 1>tension between the Danes and the Saxons over boiled in

0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:02.760
<v Speaker 1>nine hundred and n seventeen in the face of Edward

0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:07.760
<v Speaker 1>and ethel Flood's military expansion. The Danes tried to fight back,

0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:12.600
<v Speaker 1>attacking a few of Edward's forts in southeast Wessex, but

0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:17.480
<v Speaker 1>they failed. Athel Fled took the opportunity to invade Derby,

0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:20.720
<v Speaker 1>which had been ruled by the Danes since she was born.

0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:24.760
<v Speaker 1>This wouldn't be easy because it had been ruled by

0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:28.760
<v Speaker 1>the Danes so long. Many of Derby's residents had been

0:18:28.960 --> 0:18:32.359
<v Speaker 1>born and raised under Danish rule and would want to

0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:37.600
<v Speaker 1>fight for their hometown the way they knew it. That said,

0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:43.040
<v Speaker 1>athel Flood succeeded in recapturing the city. The Viking armies

0:18:43.080 --> 0:18:48.600
<v Speaker 1>were reported to be scattered and uncoordinated, vastly outnumbered by

0:18:48.600 --> 0:18:54.280
<v Speaker 1>athol Flood's army. Conquering Derby was a massive feat given

0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:58.320
<v Speaker 1>that it was such a central Danish stronghold. Not only

0:18:58.440 --> 0:19:03.080
<v Speaker 1>did athel Flood conquered Derby itself, but the regions around it,

0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:08.040
<v Speaker 1>adding a large swath of land to her territory. Danish

0:19:08.200 --> 0:19:12.920
<v Speaker 1>Mercia had five main towns called the Five Boroughs, and

0:19:12.960 --> 0:19:16.640
<v Speaker 1>she had captured one of them. Soon she would take

0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:22.080
<v Speaker 1>over another. In nine hundred eighteen, she invaded Leicester, which

0:19:22.200 --> 0:19:26.520
<v Speaker 1>yielded to athel Flood's authority without a fight, suggesting she

0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:31.200
<v Speaker 1>had a pretty fearsome reputation by this point. Edward, fighting

0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:35.439
<v Speaker 1>the Danes in the southeast, managed to capture another of

0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:39.720
<v Speaker 1>the Five Boroughs, Stamford, but he struggled a little more

0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:44.520
<v Speaker 1>than his sister. Unlike athel Flood, whose reputation had allowed

0:19:44.520 --> 0:19:48.720
<v Speaker 1>her to take control of Leicester without any bloodshed, Edward

0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:53.480
<v Speaker 1>had to blockade the Danish fortresses at Stamford for six

0:19:53.680 --> 0:19:59.119
<v Speaker 1>weeks before they folded. Similarly, the Danish colony of York

0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:04.080
<v Speaker 1>offered to pledge their loyalty to athel Flood, but completely

0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:09.520
<v Speaker 1>ignored Edward. An Irish source alleged that Ethel Flood had

0:20:09.560 --> 0:20:13.199
<v Speaker 1>even managed to ally with Elba, a kingdom in what

0:20:13.440 --> 0:20:18.360
<v Speaker 1>is now Scotland, and Strathclyde, a kingdom in northern England,

0:20:18.640 --> 0:20:23.760
<v Speaker 1>against the Norse, even further expanding her military might and

0:20:23.880 --> 0:20:27.920
<v Speaker 1>indicating that she was both an incredible warrior and also

0:20:28.040 --> 0:20:33.199
<v Speaker 1>a diplomat. But her power would be short lived. On

0:20:33.400 --> 0:20:38.080
<v Speaker 1>June twelfth, nine hundred eighteen, Athel Flood died in her

0:20:38.119 --> 0:20:43.159
<v Speaker 1>palace at Tamworth. She was around fifty years old and

0:20:43.280 --> 0:20:48.800
<v Speaker 1>appeared to have died unexpectedly of natural causes. Her body

0:20:48.920 --> 0:20:51.960
<v Speaker 1>was taken to Gloucester to be buried next to her husband.

0:20:52.720 --> 0:20:56.280
<v Speaker 1>After Athel Flood had put decades of her life into

0:20:56.359 --> 0:21:01.600
<v Speaker 1>expanding and protecting Mercian territory. With no obvious heir to

0:21:01.640 --> 0:21:08.639
<v Speaker 1>the throne, Mercia was under threat yet again. News of

0:21:08.720 --> 0:21:13.119
<v Speaker 1>ethel Flood's death spread throughout Mercia and Wessex, and also

0:21:13.200 --> 0:21:16.840
<v Speaker 1>made its way to Ireland and Wales. The Annals of

0:21:16.920 --> 0:21:21.320
<v Speaker 1>Ulster in Ireland described her in an obituary as quote

0:21:21.640 --> 0:21:25.160
<v Speaker 1>the most famous queen of the Saxons, and did not

0:21:25.320 --> 0:21:29.679
<v Speaker 1>report her brother or her father's death. Welsh chronicles also

0:21:29.800 --> 0:21:34.520
<v Speaker 1>noted her death but ignored edwards, suggesting that she had

0:21:34.560 --> 0:21:38.400
<v Speaker 1>made an impression far beyond her kingdom, more so than

0:21:38.640 --> 0:21:42.640
<v Speaker 1>some of the men in her family. Curiously, ethel Flood's

0:21:42.720 --> 0:21:48.400
<v Speaker 1>death was almost entirely ignored by chroniclers in Wessex, aside

0:21:48.440 --> 0:21:51.479
<v Speaker 1>from a brief mention, even though it was where she

0:21:51.640 --> 0:21:56.120
<v Speaker 1>was born. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle, the court produced record

0:21:56.200 --> 0:22:00.000
<v Speaker 1>of events in Wessex, never referred to her military victory

0:22:00.320 --> 0:22:03.600
<v Speaker 1>in Derby or Lester, even though they were crucial in

0:22:03.720 --> 0:22:08.520
<v Speaker 1>consolidating the English Saxon kingdoms fifty years after her death.

0:22:09.200 --> 0:22:13.040
<v Speaker 1>It seemed that ethel Flood's death brought to light some

0:22:13.320 --> 0:22:18.520
<v Speaker 1>underlying tensions between Wessex and Mercia. While the two kingdoms

0:22:18.600 --> 0:22:23.760
<v Speaker 1>were united in fighting against the Danes. Mercia's rising power

0:22:23.840 --> 0:22:28.960
<v Speaker 1>and independence could have made the kingdom less subordinate to Wessex.

0:22:29.720 --> 0:22:33.520
<v Speaker 1>This could be why ethel Flood was omitted from the

0:22:33.560 --> 0:22:38.399
<v Speaker 1>Anglo Saxon Chronicle, allowing Edward to take credit for fighting

0:22:38.400 --> 0:22:43.320
<v Speaker 1>off the Danes instead of his sister. After ethel Flood's

0:22:43.359 --> 0:22:46.879
<v Speaker 1>death in June of nine hundred and nineteen, her daughter

0:22:46.960 --> 0:22:50.800
<v Speaker 1>alfwyn took over as the Lady of Mercia, the only

0:22:50.920 --> 0:22:55.000
<v Speaker 1>example in early medieval England of a woman inheriting the

0:22:55.040 --> 0:22:58.800
<v Speaker 1>throne from her mother, But only a few months later

0:23:00.200 --> 0:23:05.320
<v Speaker 1>deposed Alfwynn and took her to Wessex, gaining control of Mercia.

0:23:06.200 --> 0:23:10.600
<v Speaker 1>It's unclear what happened to alf Winn after her deposition,

0:23:11.320 --> 0:23:15.160
<v Speaker 1>and she too was ignored in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle.

0:23:15.600 --> 0:23:20.160
<v Speaker 1>Her brief rule wasn't even mentioned. Given that the Anglo

0:23:20.240 --> 0:23:24.760
<v Speaker 1>Saxon Chronicle is among the most important accounts of tenth

0:23:24.800 --> 0:23:31.000
<v Speaker 1>century English history, athel Flood and alfwin remained quote shadowy

0:23:31.080 --> 0:23:35.760
<v Speaker 1>figures according to historian Tim Clarkson, and were placed under

0:23:35.800 --> 0:23:42.359
<v Speaker 1>a conspiracy of silence. According to historian FT Wainwright, that

0:23:42.640 --> 0:23:47.720
<v Speaker 1>said Atha Flood shows up in Other early medieval sources

0:23:48.280 --> 0:23:52.560
<v Speaker 1>like the Mercian Register, chronicles of the Life of Alfred,

0:23:53.000 --> 0:23:56.439
<v Speaker 1>Annals of Ireland and Wales, and the charters that she

0:23:56.680 --> 0:24:01.680
<v Speaker 1>issued accounts of her ambitious rule were also probably passed

0:24:01.720 --> 0:24:05.800
<v Speaker 1>down orally before being put into writing in the eleventh

0:24:05.800 --> 0:24:10.720
<v Speaker 1>century by historians like William of Malmsbury mentioned earlier in

0:24:10.760 --> 0:24:16.800
<v Speaker 1>the episode. Another of these writers, Henry of Huntingdon, memorialized

0:24:16.920 --> 0:24:21.159
<v Speaker 1>Athol Flood in a poem that went heroic Athol Flood

0:24:21.320 --> 0:24:25.480
<v Speaker 1>great in marital fame, a man in valor woman, though

0:24:25.560 --> 0:24:31.159
<v Speaker 1>in name heroes before the Mercian heroine quailed Caesar himself

0:24:31.320 --> 0:24:38.639
<v Speaker 1>to win such glory failed quite a legacy. That's the

0:24:38.680 --> 0:24:42.560
<v Speaker 1>story of Athol Flood. But keep listening after a brief

0:24:42.680 --> 0:24:46.040
<v Speaker 1>sponsor break, to hear the story of how King Alfred

0:24:46.440 --> 0:24:50.919
<v Speaker 1>Athelflood's father made a small mistake that would be remembered

0:24:51.000 --> 0:24:59.639
<v Speaker 1>for centuries. After a skirmish with the Vikings in eight

0:24:59.720 --> 0:25:03.159
<v Speaker 1>hundred seventy eight, King Alfred fled a battle to the

0:25:03.200 --> 0:25:07.640
<v Speaker 1>Somerset Levels, a marshy area in southwest England. In order

0:25:07.680 --> 0:25:11.400
<v Speaker 1>to hide and recover, He turned up at a cottage

0:25:11.440 --> 0:25:15.040
<v Speaker 1>where a peasant woman took him in without recognizing that

0:25:15.160 --> 0:25:18.680
<v Speaker 1>he was the king. She was baking some wheatcakes by

0:25:18.720 --> 0:25:21.639
<v Speaker 1>the fire and asked Alfred to keep an eye on

0:25:21.680 --> 0:25:25.200
<v Speaker 1>them as she attended to some other chores. But Alfred,

0:25:25.280 --> 0:25:27.600
<v Speaker 1>with so much on his mind, given that he was

0:25:27.640 --> 0:25:31.679
<v Speaker 1>trying to protect Wessex from the Vikings, forgot about the

0:25:31.720 --> 0:25:35.959
<v Speaker 1>cakes and accidentally let them burn. When the woman returned

0:25:36.000 --> 0:25:40.280
<v Speaker 1>and discovered the burnt cakes, she scolded Alfred, who was

0:25:40.720 --> 0:25:46.080
<v Speaker 1>duly humiliated. The story is likely a legend, appearing in

0:25:46.119 --> 0:25:50.040
<v Speaker 1>the written record over a century after Alfred's death. It

0:25:50.119 --> 0:25:53.840
<v Speaker 1>seems to be a medieval English version of stars They're

0:25:53.920 --> 0:25:58.200
<v Speaker 1>just like us, reassuring the listener that even kings can

0:25:58.280 --> 0:26:03.800
<v Speaker 1>sometimes get distracted. The story became a staple of English folklore.

0:26:04.200 --> 0:26:08.960
<v Speaker 1>There's even a mushroom named King Alfred's Cakes because they're

0:26:09.040 --> 0:26:22.320
<v Speaker 1>chalky and black like burnt cakes. Noble Blood is a

0:26:22.359 --> 0:26:26.560
<v Speaker 1>production of iHeart Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey.

0:26:27.160 --> 0:26:31.040
<v Speaker 1>Noble Blood is hosted by me Dana Schwartz, with additional

0:26:31.080 --> 0:26:35.760
<v Speaker 1>writing and research by Hannah Johnston, Hannahswick, Courtney Sender, Amy

0:26:35.840 --> 0:26:39.960
<v Speaker 1>Hit and Julia Melaney. The show is edited and produced

0:26:40.040 --> 0:26:45.199
<v Speaker 1>by Jesse Funk with supervising producer rima il KLi and

0:26:45.320 --> 0:26:49.800
<v Speaker 1>executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For

0:26:49.920 --> 0:26:55.320
<v Speaker 1>more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

0:26:55.560 --> 0:27:01.399
<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.