Leofrun

Last updated
Leofrun
Title Abbess of St Mildred's, Minster-in-Thanet, Kent
Personal
Religion Catholicism
Senior posting
Based in England
Period in office11th century

Leofrun (sometimes called Leofryn [1] or Leofrune [2] ) was the abbess of St Mildred's, Minster-in-Thanet, Kent, a Benedictine abbey for nuns. [3]

In 1011 Leofrun was captured by the Danes, along with Ælfheah the Archbishop of Canterbury and Godwine the Bishop of Rochester after the Danes had successfully laid siege to the town of Canterbury. [4]

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for 1011 records that Leofrun was captured, but does not specify what her fate was. A later chronicler, John of Worcester, records the name of her house. [2] The E and F versions of the Chronicle record her as "Abbot Leofwine", but the C and D versions have her as "Abbess Leofrun". [5]

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References

  1. Knowles, David (1963). The Monastic Order in England: A History of its Development from the Times of St. Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council, 940–1216 (Second ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 69. ISBN   0-521-05479-6.
  2. 1 2 Lawson, M. K. (2000). Cnut: England's Viking King. Stroud, UK: Tempus Publishing. p. 118 footnote 38. ISBN   0-7524-2964-7.
  3. Knowles, David; London, Vera C. M.; Brooke, Christopher (2001). The Heads of Religious Houses, England and Wales, 940–1216 (Second ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 216. ISBN   0-521-80452-3.
  4. Williams, Ann (2003). Æthelred the Unready: The Ill-Counselled King. London: Hambledon & London. pp. 106–107. ISBN   1-85285-382-4.
  5. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Translated by Swanton, Michael James. New York: Routledge. 1998. p. 141 footnote 19. ISBN   0-415-92129-5.