Leofwine (died in or after 1023) was appointed Ealdorman of the

Hwicce Hwicce () was a tribal kingdom in Anglo-Saxon England. According to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', the kingdom was established in 577, after the Battle of Deorham. After 628, the kingdom became a client or sub-kingdom of Mercia as a result of th ...

by King

Æthelred the Unready Æthelred II ( ang, Æþelræd, ;Different spellings of this king’s name most commonly found in modern texts are "Ethelred" and "Æthelred" (or "Aethelred"), the latter being closer to the original Old English form . Compare the modern diale ...

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 la, Merciorum regnum , conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia , common_name=Mercia , status=Kingdom , status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879) Client state of Wessex () , life_span=527–918 , era= Heptarchy , event_start= , date_start= , ...

. Leofwine was the son of Ælfwine, who is otherwise unknown, but the family appears to have originated in the East Midlands. Leofwine and his sons were considered by the

See of Worcester The Diocese of Worcester forms part of the Church of England (Anglican) Province of Canterbury in England. The diocese was founded around 679 by St Theodore of Canterbury at Worcester to minister to the kingdom of the Hwicce, one of the many ...

as spoliators who seized church land, but East Midlands religious establishments regarded them as benefactors. 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 Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norwa ...

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 Eadric Streona (died 1017) was Ealdorman of Mercia from 1007 until he was killed by King Cnut. Eadric was given the epithet "Streona" (translated as "The Acquisitive”) in Hemming's Cartulary because he appropriated church land and funds for ...

, but Leofwine's eldest son

Northman Northman ( ang, Norþman; fl. 994) was a late 10th-century English ealdorman (or earl), 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 Du ...

was murdered on Cnut's orders in the same year. Leofwine is last recorded in surviving charters in 1023, when he was named as witness, 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 A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

in 1039, and Godwine.

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* ; probably also identifiable with further entries Anglo-Saxon ealdormen 10th-century English people 11th-century English people 11th-century deaths Year of birth unknown {{UK-noble-stub