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Note: �lfgar, who died in 1062. His daughter Ealdgyth was wed briefly first to a Welsh king and following his death, to Harold Godwineson, killed by William of Normandy's men on the field at Hastings. Thus for nine months Godgyfu was grandmother to the queen of England. BIOGRAPHY: Leofric was a man of considerable talent and statesmanship; no man could survive forty years as Earl without these qualities. Elevated to Earl (a title and position new to the English, replacing and expanding the Anglo-Saxon ealdorman) in 1017 by the Dane Cnut, he survived and thrived through Cnut's reign. Then followed that of Harold Harefoot (1035-1040), in whose selection as successor to Cnut Leofric was instrumental. Hardacnut, Cnut's other son, reigned next (1040-1042), and then began Edward the Confessor's rule (1042-1066). Unsurprisingly for his age, Leofric could alternate between great rapacity and great piety, his depredations and subsequent generous benefactions upon Worcester being a case in point. Near the end of his life he experienced four religious visions which were carefully recorded by the monks at Worcester and published after his death in 1057. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for 1057 noted "...In this same year, on 30 October, Earl Leofric passed away. He was very wise in all matters, both religious and secular, that benefited all this nation. He was buried at Coventry, and his son �lfgar succeeded to his authority..." (G.N. Garmonsway translation). Following his death, Godgyfu made additional gifts to the religious foundation at Worcester to aid in the repose of Leofric's soul, and for the benefit of her own. These gifts included altar frontals, wall hangings, bench covers, candlesticks, and a Bible, and joined a long list of items and estates the two had granted to Worcester in the years prior to Leofric's death. BIOGRAPHY: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Another Leofric (died 1057) was the Earl of Mercia, who, in 1043, founded a monastery at Coventry. Leofric is best remembered as the husband of Godiva, who is said to have ridden through the streets of Coventry naked, in order to persuade her husband to reduce the burden of taxes placed on their subjects by order of King Hardicanute. In the novel by Charles Kingsley, they were the parents of Hereward the Wake, but this is merely a literary device. BIOGRAPHY: Countess Godiva http://www.btinternet.com/~parsonal/godiva.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------- Leofric was the son of Leofwine who had been ealdorman of the Hwicce under �thelred, and according to Sir F. Stenton they were the only Englishmen to remain in power during the reign of Danish king Cnut, it was Cnut who made Leofric Earl of Mercia. Mercia consisted of the counties of Southern Buckinghamshire, Cheshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. Dorothy Wenlock (1952) points out that by the tenth century the office of Ealdorman was more or less hereditary, both Godwine and Leofric had accumulated extensive lands through inheritance, gift and by purchase. The Anglo Saxon chronicles record that when Harold succeeded to his earldom on the death of his father Godwin, that the earldom he had previously held was given to Leofric�s son �lfgar. It further records that in 1055 �lfgar was outlawed "without having done anything to deserve his fate". �lfgar went to Ireland with a force of 18 ships and then to Wales. He was joined by King Gruffydd and they marched on Hereford where they did a great deal of damage, which resulted in a deal in which the outlawry was revoked and all his lands were returned to him. By the end of Cnut�s reign Godwine Earl of Wessex and Leofric of Mercia were his chief advisors. Such was their power that Sir F. Stenton comments that "The rivalry of the families which they bought to eminence fatally weakened the possibility of a united English resistance to the Norman invasion of 1066." Commenting on Leofric Stenton goes on to say that, "Leofric himself was regarded by contemporaries as an upright man�. he seems to have maintained himself in power for more than twenty years without violence and aggression." Leofric and Godwine remained in their powerful positions of influence after the death of Cnut, throughout the violent difficulties of the Anglo Danish successions and on into the reign of Edward I also known as �the Confessor�. In 1056 Leofric though an old man remained in a position of power and influence, he was one of a powerful group of nobles who negotiated a settlement between Gruffydd ap Llywelyn king of Gwynedd and Powys, and Edward, in which Gruffydd accepted Edward as his lord in return for extensive territories. When Leofric died in the autumn of 1057 he was succeeded by his sole surviving son �lfgar. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle says of Leofric that "He was very wise in all matters, both religious and secular, that benefited all this nation." Godiva and Leofric were generous benefactors to a number of religious establishments including Evesham, Worcester and Chester. Their connection with Coventry began in 1043 when Countess Godiva and Earl Leofric founded a Benedictine monastery there. This priory was built on the site of nunnery reputed to be possibly a century or two old which had stood near the River Sherbourne in a clearing in the Forest of Arden. One interpretation of the origin of the name Coventry is to link convent, a religious house, and tre which is a Celtic word for settlement. The nunnery was destroyed by the Danes in 1016. Leofric and Godiva endowed the monastery with great wealth and valuable goods including a decorated copper shrine to St. Osburg the Benedictine nun who had founded the original nunnery. A town began to grow out of the settlement around the priory which attracted craftsmen and merchants and employed labourers. Popular myth places the date of the ride c1045, but it must be noted that by the middle of the eleventh century Coventry was probably little more than a small agricultural community of wooden buildings around the abbey. Evidence from Doomsday states that by c1086 there were 69 families living in Coventry There is no evidence that Leofric and Godiva had ever spent time in Coventry, though it may be expected that they would have visited the religious house they had benefited. There was no castle or establishment in the area that would have been suitable for their occupation. The priory and priory cathedral under construction, would have been the major landmark and the only stone building in the settlement. The priory buildings eventually occupied land from what is marked on a modern map as Priory Row to Pool Meadow. It was a huge important building, comparable in size to Lichfield Cathedral and contained many holy relics which made it an important centre for pilgrims. Controversy enveloped the Cathedral of St. Mary�s at the turn of the 12th century when Robert de Limsey ambitious Bishop of Chester persuaded Pope Paschal to authorise him as the first Bishop of Coventry. Once in post he began to strip the cathedral of much of it's wealth and allowed the buildings to fall into disrepair, he was also guilty of forging charters to legitimise his actions. This desecration continued until 1119 when Pope Innocent 111 was persuaded to hand the Priory back to the monks. Building work began again with the construction of the church of Holy Trinity for the priory. It was around this time that the construction of St. Michael�s church and Coventry�s first Castle were also started. The priory founded by Leofric and Godiva lasted for 400 years, becoming the site of Coventry�s first cathedral, until its destruction during the dissolution in the reign of Henry VIII. Coventry was not large or important enough to warrant a castle until the reign of King Stephen in the twelfth century. A castle was then erected by Earl Ranulf Gernons (1129 �1153). It is unknown whether the castle was built of wood or stone but it was most likely to have been positioned on an artificial motte. In 1143 the castle was besieged by Sir Robert Marmion, in 1145 Stephen imprisoned Ranulf and deprived him of his castles and eventually had the castle in Coventry destroyed. It was later rebuilt and is referred to in a charter by Earl Hugh of Chester (c1160 �1176); this castle is likely to have been of a more ambitious construction. The Earls of Chester built many stone castles, therefore it is probable that this castle had a stone keep or tower and perhaps a stone wall. Castles of this time had a keep on a mound surrounded by a deep ditch. Very little is known of Coventry castle or subsequent series of castle constructions and positions, they were likely to have been in existence for a very short period of time, roughly one hundred years, and since then the possible location has been greatly altered and built over. Streets often take their names from local castles, so Broadgate, Bailey Lane and Hay Lane may offer clues to the location of the castle. The castle was referred to once again in a charter by Earl Ranulf Blundeville (c1200 � 1210). From these dates it would seem most likely that Coventry Castle was finally destroyed by order of King John during a purge of the castles of his opponents. There are no further references to a castle in Coventry. By 1249 Earl Roger de Montalt was occupying Cheylesmore manor and improving fortifications or building a new manor house. The Coventry eventually had a wall for its defence which was begun in 1355 and destroyed in 1662. According to the Anglo Saxon Chronicles Earl Leofric died in October 1057 at his villa at Bromleage (Bromley in Staffordshire). "�who was very wise before God, and also before the world; and who benefited all this nation. He lies at Coventry." His son �lfgar inherited his lands and titles. Although it is stated in the chronicles that Leofric was buried in Coventry, in the monastery that he founded, there is no evidence that Godiva was buried with him. Indeed Burbage interprets the chronicles of Evesham as showing that Godiva retired to live there after the death of her husband and was buried in the church of the Blessed Trinity (no longer standing). He quotes from the chronicle about Prior �fic of Evesham. "Then your worthy Prior �fic departed from this daylight �. and his grave worthily exists in the same church of the same pious Countess Godiva, and of whom, so long as he lived, he was a friend." Amongst other gifts to religious houses, Godiva left a necklace of precious gems to adorn the statue of the Virgin Mary in the abbey church in Coventry. In c1075 just before she died Godiva left by will to the statue of Our Lady in a certain monastery "the circlet of precious stones which she had threaded on a cord in order that by fingering them one after another she might count her prayers exactly." (Malmesbury, "Gesta Pont.", Rolls series 311). As it was not until mid twelfth century that the Ave Maria or Hail Mary came into general use this was probably to count Paternosters, repetitions of the Lord�s Prayer. BIOGRAPHY: To 1250 AD; Leofric - Warlord & Visionary � owned by or licensed to Trinity Mirror Plc 2004; icCoventryTM is a trade mark of Trinity Mirror Plc. http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk/0850cityhistory/0100to1250/page.cfm?objectid=11005520&method=full&siteid=50003 ---------------------------------------------------------------- IN the year 1000 Warwickshire was well settled and cultivated, the county had over 100 more villages than exist today. These small settlements lived under a strict social code called feudalism. The ruling class was the ealdorman and thanes. There were freeholders, holding their own land and other freemen such as tradesmen, craftsmen, merchants and clergy. Below that the population consisted of serfs bonded to the lord and his land. The king was Aethelred the Unready (Unraed, meaning ill-advised), an ineffective but long-reigning king who failed to solve the Danish problem and continued paying them to stop them attacking the south of England. Aethelred ordered the massacre of the Danes on St Brices Day in 1002. This was commemorated by the once well known Hox Tuesday Play performed anciently in Coventry. This event provoked the invasion of England by King Sweyn and Thorkell the Tall. Aethelred fled but later returned. Into this world Leofric and Godiva were born. Leofric (Leof-dear, ric=ruler) was the third son of Leofwine, ealdorman of the Hwicca. As both his elder brothers were killed in battle Leofric succeeded his father, around the year in 1024. He describes himself as �Dux� warlord in 1026. Being a nobleman of some note he soon became a close confidante of King Canute and acquired the title Earl of Mercia, making him one of the three most powerful men in Saxon England. Leofric, worked hard to keep the balance of power in the land, defending Edward the Confessor against the plots of the powerful Earl Godwin. Leofric was the power behind the succession of Harold I in 1035 and supported Hardicanute by putting down a revolt against him in Worcestershire, practically massacring the whole population of Worcester itself. Despite this harder side to Leofric he was noted as a pious, fair man, considered by many a saint for at the Chapel of Our Lady at Westminster, he with Edward the Confessor saw a vision of Christ reflected in a mirror held by the chaplain. In 1057 the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that, �In this same year, on October 30, Earl Leofric passed away. He was very wise in all matters, both religious and secular, that benefitted this nation.� Leofric was brought from his hall in King�s Bromley to Coventry to the monastery of St Mary, St Osburg and All Saints which he and Godiva had founded and here his body was laid to rest with great pomp and ceremony. Leofric�s wife, Godiva (Godgifu � God�s Gift) is one of the most famous women in the world, a name that has lasted the millennium. She was the sister of Thorold, Sheriff of Lincolnshire, and her parentage is unknown. Godiva was widowed around the year 1028 and it is believed she suffered an illness which she considered would be fatal, because at the time she was in communication with the Abbott of Ely and bequested property to the church, to ensure her place in heaven.She survived her illness and married Leofric, now Earl of Mercia possibly around 1035, when she was already a wealthy landowner. In looks Godiva is generally noted as being beautiful � the chronicler Ingulphus of Croyland describes her as the most beauteous of all women of her time. Praise indeed. Her close call with death enforced Godiva�s religious beliefs and devotion to the Virgin Mary, much to the benefit of various religious establishments around the country. She and Leofric owned Coventry and much of the county and visited Coventry on a regular basis. The monastery they founded in Coventry in 1045 benefitted from endowments made by both. Godiva had her jewellery melted down and recast into religious images for the church founded in the name of her favourite deity. When Leofric died Godiva appears to have moved to Evesham, and endowed the church of the Holy Trinity and the monastery, now gone. Godiva stayed at the monastery and witnessed the destruction of her world after William the Conqueror destroyed the last Saxon king, Harold, on Senlac Hill in Hastings. Here in Evesham on September 10, 1067 Godiva died and as she is estimated to have been born on the turn of the millennium, she would have been around 67 years of age. Godiva was buried in Evesham Abbey and although there is no historical evidence tradition has always stated that she was later re-interred in Coventry in the choir, opposite Leofric. On her death she ordered that her gold-jewelled chain be placed around the neck of the image of the Virgin in St Mary�s, Coventry. those who came to pray she stated, should say a prayer for every stone in the chain. Leofric and Godiva had one son � it was claimed in the past that Hereward the Wake was also their son but this has long since been dismissed. Their only son was Aelfgar (Elf-spear), he became Earl of Mercia on Leofric�s death in 1057 until his death in 1062. He was considered a womaniser and warrior, and was always being out-lawed, being considered a threat to the peace of the realm. Not averse to killing monks, he was apparently loved by those he governed. On his death he was interred in Coventry. BIOGRAPHY: Edward The Confessor http://www.stephen.j.murray.btinternet.co.uk/conframe.htm --------------------------------------------------------------------- Edward was about forty when he succeeded to the throne in 1042. He had spent most of his life an exile in Normandy. His piety earned him the soubriquet 'The Confessor' (he was canonised in 1161). In 1043, the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' says: ". . . was Edward consecrated king at Winchester, early on Easter-day, with much pomp." The powerful earls, Godwine of Wessex, Leofric of Mercia and Siward of Northumbria, soon exerted their influence. On their advice, and in their company, Edward made a surprise visit on his mother, Emma, in Winchester: ". . . and they deprived her of all the treasures that she had; which were immense; because she was formerly very hard upon the king her son, and did less for him than he wished before he was king, and also since: but they suffered her to remain there afterwards." Translations: 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' by Rev. James Ingram/Dr. J.A. Giles Simeon of Durham 'Historia regum Anglorum et Danorum' by J. Stevenson BIOGRAPHY: A Brief History of Anglo-Saxon England.� Regia Anglorum Publications 2002. --------------------------------------------------------------- Emma, Cnut's English wife was made regent of Norway for their eldest son Swein. Her reign was unpopular and even before Cnut's death she was driven out in favour of Magnus, Olaf's son. On the English side of the North Sea few of Cnut's Danish eorls outlasted the 1020's. At the end of his reign the kingdom was dominated by three eorls - an Englishman of the old aristocracy, Leofric of Mercia; an English newcomer, Godwin of Wessex, married to a Dane; and a Dane, Siward of Northumbria, married to an Englishwoman. Godwin died in 1053 and was succeeded by his son Harold who became Eorl of Wessex, yielding his East Anglian eorldom to �lfgar, son of Leofric of Mercia. TITLE: Earl of Mercia SOURCE: Hans A. M. Weebers, Genealogies of the U.S. Presidents, (http://users.legacyfamilytree.com/USPresidents/Index.htm). SOURCE: A Brief History of Anglo-Saxon England www.durenmar.de/articles/anglosaxon.html DEATH: "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" A.D. 1057 The same year died Earl Leofric, on the second before the calends of October; who was very wise before God, and also before the world; and who benefited all this nation. (80) He lies at Coventry (81): and his son Elgar took to his territory. MISCELLANEOUS: LEOFRIC m Usage: Anglo-Saxon Means "dear power", derived from the Old English element leof "dear, agreeable, beloved" combined with ric "power". PROPERTY: By the reign of Edward the Confessor, Kingsbury was held by Earl Leofric of Mercia and his wife, the Countess Godiva but they were deprived of it by William I who gave it to Turchill de Arden after the Norman Conquest. (Kingsbury Parish Historical Society, England)
Note: CHILDREN: Leofric and Godgyfu had one known child, the above-mentioned
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