Northman, son of Leofwine
Encyclopedia
Northman was a Mercia
n chieftain of the early 11th century. A member of a powerful Mercian kindred
, he is known primarily for receiving Twywell
in Northamptonshire
from King Æthelred II in 1013 and his death at the hands of King Cnut the Great in 1017. His death on the orders of Cnut's contrasts with the successful career enjoyed by his brother Leofric
as Earl of Mercia
during Cnut's reign. He was said to have been an associate of the arch-villain Eadric Streona
, whose fate he shared in 1017.
styled Northman, son of Leofwine, Ealdorman of the Hwicce, Dux ("duke", "ealdorman" or "warlord"), and said he was a brother of Leofric
comes ("count" or "ealdorman") in the account of Northman's death at the hands of Cnut the Great. No other source claims that Northman was an ealdorman
, and so the authenticity of this title is in doubt.
Northman was the eldest of four known sons of Ealdorman Leofwine. The others were Leofric, later Earl of Mercia
, Eadwine (died 1039), and Godwine (died 1155 c 1058). Ealdorman Leofwine's father was a man named Ælfwine. Ælfwine is difficult to identify, but was possibly the Ælfwine killed at the Battle of Maldon
in 991, and was possibly a son of Ælfric
, ealdorman of Mercia between 983 and 985.
, a dux in Northumbria. A charter from Evesham Abbey
, c. 989, describes a grant of land at Hampton, Worcestershire
by King Æthelred II to a Northman minister (thegn
); this charter is however regarded as spurious.
It is likely that Northman is the same as Northman miles ("Northman the knight") to whom in 1013 King Æthelred II granted Twywell
in Northamptonshire
. This charter was preserved in the archives of Thorney Abbey
, which in the 1050s was one of the abbeys controlled by Northman's relation Abbot Leofric of Peterborough.
Northman's last non-chronicle appearance was a subscription to a lease given by Wulfstan
, Bishop of Worcester
, to his brother Ælfwig.
and likely some kind of saga material about Eadric Streona.
The account in the surviving versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (in recensions C, D, E) is shorter, and does not give Northman the title of dux:
The Chronicle of Crowland Abbey, the reliability of which is often dubious, says that Northman was a retainer of Eadric Streona
, ealdorman in much of Mercia
. It adds that Northman had been killed by Cnut for this reason. Despite the murder of Northman, his father Leofwine continued in his office until 1023, under the overlordship of the newly implanted Earl Hákon, and his brother Leofric eventually became Earl of Mercia.
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
n chieftain of the early 11th century. A member of a powerful Mercian kindred
Kindred
In the Heathen movements, a kindred is a local worship group and organisational unit. Other terms used are hearth, theod , blotgroup, sippe, and other less popular ones such as garth, stead, and others....
, he is known primarily for receiving Twywell
Twywell
Twywell is a village and civil parish in the English county of Northamptonshire.Located just to the north of the A14 road approximately three miles west of Thrapston, Twywell forms part of the district of East Northamptonshire.-History:...
in Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
from King Æthelred II in 1013 and his death at the hands of King Cnut the Great in 1017. His death on the orders of Cnut's contrasts with the successful career enjoyed by his brother Leofric
Leofric, Earl of Mercia
Leofric was the Earl of Mercia and founded monasteries at Coventry and Much Wenlock. Leofric is remembered as the husband of Lady Godiva.-Life and political influence:...
as Earl of Mercia
Earl of Mercia
Earl of Mercia was a title in the late Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Danish, and early Anglo-Norman period in England. During this period the earldom covered the lands of the old Kingdom of Mercia in the English Midlands....
during Cnut's reign. He was said to have been an associate of the arch-villain Eadric Streona
Eadric Streona
Eadric Streona was an ealdorman of the English Mercians. His name a loose translation of the Anglo-Saxon "the Grasper." Streona is historically regarded as the greatest traitor of the Anglo-Saxon period in English history....
, whose fate he shared in 1017.
Family and status
The chronicler John of WorcesterJohn of Worcester
John of Worcester was an English monk and chronicler. He is usually held to be the author of the Chronicon ex chronicis.-Chronicon ex chronicis:...
styled Northman, son of Leofwine, Ealdorman of the Hwicce, Dux ("duke", "ealdorman" or "warlord"), and said he was a brother of Leofric
Leofric, Earl of Mercia
Leofric was the Earl of Mercia and founded monasteries at Coventry and Much Wenlock. Leofric is remembered as the husband of Lady Godiva.-Life and political influence:...
comes ("count" or "ealdorman") in the account of Northman's death at the hands of Cnut the Great. No other source claims that Northman was an ealdorman
Ealdorman
An ealdorman is the term used for a high-ranking royal official and prior magistrate of an Anglo-Saxon shire or group of shires from about the ninth century to the time of King Cnut...
, and so the authenticity of this title is in doubt.
Northman was the eldest of four known sons of Ealdorman Leofwine. The others were Leofric, later Earl of Mercia
Earl of Mercia
Earl of Mercia was a title in the late Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Danish, and early Anglo-Norman period in England. During this period the earldom covered the lands of the old Kingdom of Mercia in the English Midlands....
, Eadwine (died 1039), and Godwine (died 1155 c 1058). Ealdorman Leofwine's father was a man named Ælfwine. Ælfwine is difficult to identify, but was possibly the Ælfwine killed at the Battle of Maldon
Battle of Maldon
The Battle of Maldon took place on 10 August 991 near Maldon beside the River Blackwater in Essex, England, during the reign of Aethelred the Unready. Earl Byrhtnoth and his thegns led the English against a Viking invasion. The battle ended in an Anglo-Saxon defeat...
in 991, and was possibly a son of Ælfric
Ælfric
Ælfric of Abingdon , also known as Ælfric of Wessex, was a late 10th century Archbishop of Canterbury, as well as previously holding the offices of abbot of St Albans and Bishop of Ramsbury, all of which are in England...
, ealdorman of Mercia between 983 and 985.
Charter appearances
Tracing Northman is the witness-lists of charters is difficult because of the contested authenticity of many of these, and because there was another magnate of that name, NorthmanNorthman
Northman was a late 10th century English ealdorman , with a territorial base in Northumbria north of the river Tees. He appears in two different strands of source. These are, namely, the textual tradition of Durham witnessed by Historia de Sancto Cuthberto and the Durham Liber Vitae, and an...
, a dux in Northumbria. A charter from Evesham Abbey
Evesham Abbey
Evesham Abbey was founded by Saint Egwin at Evesham in England between 700 and 710 A.D. following a vision of the Virgin Mary by Eof.According to the monastic history, Evesham came through the Norman Conquest unusually well, because of a quick approach by Abbot Æthelwig to William the Conqueror...
, c. 989, describes a grant of land at Hampton, Worcestershire
Hampton, Worcestershire
Hampton is an area of Evesham in Worcestershire, England having formerly been a separate village.It is linked to the nearby town of Evesham by the ancient Hampton Ferry.-Hampton floods July 2007 :...
by King Æthelred II to a Northman minister (thegn
Thegn
The term thegn , from OE þegn, ðegn "servant, attendant, retainer", is commonly used to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves...
); this charter is however regarded as spurious.
It is likely that Northman is the same as Northman miles ("Northman the knight") to whom in 1013 King Æthelred II granted Twywell
Twywell
Twywell is a village and civil parish in the English county of Northamptonshire.Located just to the north of the A14 road approximately three miles west of Thrapston, Twywell forms part of the district of East Northamptonshire.-History:...
in Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
. This charter was preserved in the archives of Thorney Abbey
Thorney Abbey
Thorney Abbey was on the island of Thorney in The Fens of Cambridgeshire, England.- History :The earliest documentary sources refer to a mid-7th century hermitage destroyed by a Viking incursion in the late 9th century. A Benedictine monastery was founded in the 970s, and a huge rebuilding...
, which in the 1050s was one of the abbeys controlled by Northman's relation Abbot Leofric of Peterborough.
Northman's last non-chronicle appearance was a subscription to a lease given by Wulfstan
Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York
Wulfstan was an English Bishop of London, Bishop of Worcester, and Archbishop of York. He should not be confused with Wulfstan I, Archbishop of York or Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester. He is thought to have begun his ecclesiastical career as a Benedictine monk. He became the Bishop of London in 996...
, Bishop of Worcester
Bishop of Worcester
The Bishop of Worcester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England. He is the head of the Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury...
, to his brother Ælfwig.
Death
Accounts of his death form the main sources of information about Northman. John of Worcester related that:In July Cnut married Ælfgifu, that is Emma, Æthelred's widow, and at Christmas, when he was at London, ordered the treacherous Ealdorman EadricJohn of Worcester's Chronicle was compiled between 1124 and 1140, but is derived from earlier sources, including here a lost northern version of the Anglo-Saxon ChronicleEadric StreonaEadric Streona was an ealdorman of the English Mercians. His name a loose translation of the Anglo-Saxon "the Grasper." Streona is historically regarded as the greatest traitor of the Anglo-Saxon period in English history....
(ducem Edricum) to be killed in the palace because he feared that some day he would be entrapped by Eadric's treachery, just as Eadric's former lords Æthelred and EdmundEdmund IronsideEdmund Ironside or Edmund II was king of England from 23 April to 30 November 1016. His cognomen "Ironside" is not recorded until 1057, but may have been contemporary. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, it was given to him "because of his valour" in resisting the Danish invasion led by Cnut...
, that is Ironside, were frequently deceived, and he ordered his body to be thrown over the city wall, and left unburied. Ealdorman Northman, son of Ealdorman Leofwine, that is brother of Leofric the Ealdorman (dux Northmannus filius Leofuuini ducis, frater scilicet Leofrici comitis), and Brihtric, son of Ælfheah, governor of Devon, were killed with him, although blameless. The king made Leofric ealdorman (ducem) in place of his brother Northman, and afterwards held him in great affection.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
and likely some kind of saga material about Eadric Streona.
The account in the surviving versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (in recensions C, D, E) is shorter, and does not give Northman the title of dux:
In this year [1017] King Cnut succeeded to all the kingdom of England and divided it into four, Wessex for himself, East Anglia for Thorkel, Mercia for Eadric, and Northumbria for EricThe Evesham Chronicle also noted Northman's death. It described him as a "powerful man" (potens homo), and that all Northman's lands were afterwards given to Ealdorman Leofric his brother.Eiríkr HákonarsonEiríkr Hákonarson or Eric of Norway or Eric of Hlathir was earl of Lade, ruler of Norway and earl of Northumbria.-Background:...
. And in this yesr Ealdorman Eadric was killed, and Northman, son of Ealdorman Leofwine, and Æthelweard, son of Æthelmær the Stout, and Brihtric, son of Ælfheah of Devonshire. And King Cnut exiled the atheling EadwigEadwig ÆthelingEadwig Ætheling was the fifth of the six sons of King Æthelred the Unready) and his first wife, Ælfgifu...
and afterwards had him killed.
The Chronicle of Crowland Abbey, the reliability of which is often dubious, says that Northman was a retainer of Eadric Streona
Eadric Streona
Eadric Streona was an ealdorman of the English Mercians. His name a loose translation of the Anglo-Saxon "the Grasper." Streona is historically regarded as the greatest traitor of the Anglo-Saxon period in English history....
, ealdorman in much of Mercia
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
. It adds that Northman had been killed by Cnut for this reason. Despite the murder of Northman, his father Leofwine continued in his office until 1023, under the overlordship of the newly implanted Earl Hákon, and his brother Leofric eventually became Earl of Mercia.