Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, captured Derby in 917, the first of the Five Boroughs to fall. The attack was a direct assault on the fortified Danish borough. The Mercian Chronicle records that four of her thegns who were dear to her were slain within the gate. The capture broke the northern anchor of Danish power in the East Midlands and opened the way for the rapid fall of Leicester and the other boroughs.
Four Mercian thegns killed at the gate; Danish garrison losses not recorded
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