Editing Æthelflæd (section)

==Sources==
The most important source for history in this period is the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' but Æthelflæd is almost ignored in the standard West Saxon version, in what F. T. Wainwright calls "a conspiracy of silence". He argues that King Edward was anxious not to encourage Mercian separatism and did not wish to publicise his sister's accomplishments, in case she became a symbol of Mercian claims.{{sfn|Wainwright|1975|p=324}} Brief details of her actions were preserved in a pro-Mercian version of the ''Chronicle'' known as the ''Mercian Register'' or the ''Annals of Æthelflæd''; although it is now lost, elements were incorporated into several surviving versions of the ''Chronicle''. The ''Register'' covers the years 902 to 924, and focuses on Æthelflæd's actions; Edward is hardly mentioned and her husband only twice, on his death and as father of their daughter.{{efn|A translation of the Mercian Register is an appendix in Tim Clarkson's biography of Æthelflæd.{{sfn|Clarkson|2018|pp=179–80}} }} Information about Æthelflæd's career is also preserved in the Irish chronicle known as the ''[[Three Fragments]]''. According to Wainwright, it "contains much that is legendary rather than historical. But it also contains, especially for our period, much genuine historical information which seems to have its roots in a contemporary narrative."{{sfnm|1a1=Wainwright|1y=1975|1pp=174, 306–309|2a1=Stafford|2y=2007|2pp=101–103}} She was praised by Anglo-Norman chroniclers such as William of Malmesbury and [[John of Worcester]]{{sfn|Higham|2001a|pp=3–4}} and she has received more attention from historians than any other secular woman in Anglo-Saxon England.{{sfn|Dockray-Miller|2000|p=55}}