Aethelflaed and the bones of Saint Oswald

Alfred needed other parts of Britain to be strong again, so he arranged for Aethelflaed to marry the leader of Mercia. The man Aethelflaed married was called Aethelred, and together they made Mercia strong again to resist the Vikings. Aethelred was much older than Aethelflaed; as he got old and sick and eventually died, Aethelflaed ruled Mercia herself. Aethelflaed stood up to the Vikings; ordering a group of soldiers to go on a special mission into Viking lands. The soldiers brought back the bones of an important Anglo-Saxon saint, Oswald, which won Aethelflaed a lot of respect.