What would England be today if Mercian queens had not wielded such power as decision makers? Cynethryth had more influence than almost all other women from the sixth to ninth centuries, and this mantle was carried over by the Lady of the Mercians, Æthelflæd. In the knowledge that women had achieved so much in their own right before her, Æthelflæd was able to rule with ‘strength of character’ for two decades at the turn of the tenth century, a pivotal point in English history. The
