Mrs E Cooper (Oxford Mail, December 8) suggests that Ethelfled "has been neglected by historians because she was a woman".

Historians have not neglected Cleopatra, the Virgin Mary, Boadicea, Joan of Arc, Elizabeth I, Catherine the Great, Elizabeth Fry, Jane Austen, Mary Kingsley, the Brontës, Florence Nightingale, Josephine Butler and a lot of others whom Mrs Cooper can remember if she wants to.

RALPH LEAVIS Jourdain Road Blackbird Leys Oxford