Aethelflaed — daughter of Alfred the Great, ruler of Mercia in her own right — stormed Derby, one of the Five Boroughs of the Danelaw. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that "four of her thegns who were dear to her were killed within the gates." Derby was the first of the Five Boroughs to be recovered from the Danes. Her campaign, coordinated with her brother Edward the Elder, systematically dismantled the Danelaw and is one of the most brilliant strategic achievements of the age.
Four Mercian thegns killed; heavy Danish losses
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in Britain — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
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