Leofric of Mercia

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Above: King Edward the Confessor and Count Leofric of Mercia see the face of Christ in the Eucharist . Below: the return of a ring to a beggar disguised as John the Baptist . 13th century, from the Domesday Book

Leofric († August 31 or September 30, 1057 in Kings Bromley , Staffordshire ) was an Earl of Mercia . He is best known today as the husband of Lady Godiva .

Life

Leofric was the son of Leofwine , Ealdorman the Hwicce ; In 997 he witnessed a document for King Æthelred . He had three brothers: Northman , Edwin and Godwin. It is likely that Northman is identical to Northman Miles (Northman the Knight), who gave the village of Twywell in Northamptonshire to King Æthelred in 1013 . The Historia Croylandensis whose reliability is often questioned by historians, says that Northman, a retainer (Knight) of Eadric Streona , Earl of Mercia was. She adds that Northman was killed on the orders of Canute the Great along with Eadric and others for this reason. Knut "made Leofric Ealdorman in place of his brother Northman, and afterwards held him in great affection."

Sometime before 1032, Leofric became Earl of Mercia and thereby one of the most powerful men in the country, second to Godwin , Earl of Wessex . Leofric may have had a connection through his marriage to Ælfgifu of Northampton , the first wife of Canute, who could help explain why he was the main supporter of her son Harold Harefoot against Hardiknut , Canute's son with Emma of Normandy , as Canute 1035 died. However, Harold died in 1040 and was succeeded by his brother Hardiknut, who made himself unpopular during his short reign by introducing heavy taxes. Two of his tax collectors were killed by disgruntled locals in Worcester . The king was so furious that in 1041 he ordered Leofric and his other counts to pillage and burn the city and ravage the surrounding area. This order must have put Leofric to a severe test, for Worcester was the cathedral city of the Hwicce , his people.

When Hardiknut died suddenly in 1042, he was replaced by his half-brother Eduard the Confessor . Leofric loyally supported Eduard when he was threatened by Earl Godwin in Gloucester in 1051 . Leofric and Siward, Earl of Northumbria, gathered great armies to meet Godwin's army. His advisers advised Edward that fighting was folly, as there would be important members of the nobility on both sides; the expected loss of these men in battle would open England to her enemies. Ultimately, the problem was solved with less bloody means: According to Leofric's advice, the settlement of the dispute was referred to the Witenagemot and Earl Godwin and his family were ostracized for a period of time. Leofric's power was at its peak. But in 1055 Leofric's own son Ælfgar , Earl of Mercia, was ostracized "through no fault of his own ", according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . Ælfgar raised an army in Ireland and Wales and led them to Hereford , where he met the army of Ralph the Timid , Earl of Herefordshire , and the town was badly damaged in the process. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle comments ironically: "And when they had done the greatest damage, it was decided to reinstate Earl Ælfgar."

Leofric died on his estate in Kings Bromley , Staffordshire in 1057 . According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he died on September 30th, but the chronicler John of Worcester gives the date August 31st. Both agree that he was buried in Coventry in St. Mary's Priory and Cathedral . Leofric's successor as Earl was his son Ælfgar.

Religious works

Earl Leofric and Godiva were known for their generosity towards the Church. In 1043 he founded a Benedictine monastery in Coventry and furnished it. John of Worcester reports that “he and his wife, the noble Countess Godgifu, a devotee of God and devout lover of the Virgin Mary, built the monastery from the foundations of their own inheritance, furnished it appropriately with land, and richly in various ornaments made that in no monastery in England could one find the abundance of gold, silver, precious stones and precious stones as was in their possession at that time. "

In the 1050s, Leofric and Godiva appear jointly as benefactors in a charter granting furnishings to the Convent of St. Mary in Worcester Country and Stow Minster , Lincolnshire . They are also known as benefactors of other monasteries, e.g. B. Leominster , Chester , Much Wenlock , and Evesham .

family

Aside from Northman, who was killed in 1017, Leofric had at least two other brothers: Edwin was killed in battle by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn in 1039 , and Godwin died some time before 1057.

Leofric may have married more than once. His famous wife Godiva survived but could have been a second or later wife. Since there are some questions about the wedding date of Leofric and Godgifu (Godiva), it is not clear whether she was the mother of Ælfgar, Leofric's only known child - if the marriage was later than 1010, Ælfgar could not be her son.

literature

  • Stephen Baxter: The Earls of Mercia. Lordship and Power in Late Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2007, ISBN 978-0-19-923098-3 .
  • Reginald R. Darlington, Patrick McGurk, Jennifer Bray (Eds. And transl.) The Chronicle of John of Worcester. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1995.

Remarks

  1. Baxter, Earls of Mercia , p. 31; Sawyer 931
  2. ^ A b Baxter, Earls of Mercia , pp. 29-30, and no. 45 for reference
  3. ^ Darlington ea, pp. 504, 505
  4. ^ A b Hugh Chisholm (Ed., 1911), Leofric , Encyclopædia Britannica , 11th Edition, Volume 16, p. 442
  5. Michael Lapidge, The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England (1999), p. 282; The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 1036 E.
  6. ^ Darlington ea, p. 533.
  7. a b c Darlington ea, pp. 582-583.
  8. Anglo-Saxons.net: S 1226
  9. Anglo-Saxons.net: S 1232
  10. Anglo-Saxons.net: S 1478