A famous Leofric was the bishop of Devon and Cornwall from 1046 to 1072. It was during this period that the bishop's seat was moved from Crediton[?] to Exeter.
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.
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