Leofwine, Ealdorman of the Hwicce


Leofwine was appointed Ealdorman of the Hwicce by King Æthelred II of England in 994. The territory of the Hwicce was a kingdom in the western midlands in the early Anglo-Saxon period, which soon became a subdivision of Mercia. Leofwine was the son of Ælfwine, who is otherwise unknown, but the family appears to come from the East Midlands. Leofwine and his sons were remembered by the Worcester church as spoliators who seized church land, but as benefactors by East Midlands religious establishments.
Under Æthelred, Leofwine's sphere of office was in the Hwicce areas of Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, but these counties were given to Danes by King Cnut soon after he gained the throne in 1016. However, Leofwine kept his rank and may have been appointed Ealdorman of Mercia in 1017 in succession to Eadric Streona, but Leofwine's eldest son Northman was murdered on Cnut's orders in the same year. Leofwine is last recorded as a charter witness in 1023 and probably died soon afterwards. His son Leofric was Earl of Mercia by 1032. Leofwine had two others sons, Edwine, who died at the Battle of Rhyd-y-groes in 1039, and Godwine.