Leofric (bishop) - Death and Legacy

Death and Legacy

Leofric survived William the Conqueror's 1068 siege of Exeter unscathed, although there is no evidence that he was present in the city during the siege. Whether Leofric had originally supported King Harold against William or if he supported William from the start is unclear. The fact that he survived William's purge of the native English bishops in 1070 is evidence that he must not have been too outspoken against William. Leofric remained bishop until he died on 10 February or 11 February 1072. He was buried in the crypt of his cathedral. When the cathedral was rebuilt, his remains were moved to the new church, but the location of the tomb has been lost. The current tomb only dates from 1568 and does not mark Leofric's resting place.

During Leofric's bishopric, his cathedral library was the fourth largest in England, and was an important scriptorium. He gave an important manuscript of Old English poetry, the Exeter Book, to the cathedral library in 1072. Contained in the Exeter Book are a number of poems showing of all the principal types of poems composed in Old English. This manuscript is one of four main sources for modern knowledge of Anglo-Saxon poetry. Along with the Exeter Book, he also gave a number of other manuscripts and books to the cathedral upon his death. Three versions of the donation list drawn up by Leofric survive, which is one of the earliest surviving cathedral library catalogues. The list consists of 31 books used to conduct cathedral services, 24 other ecclesiastical works, and 11 works that were secular. This last group included philosophical works as well as poetry. The number of manuscripts that he owned and bequeathed to his cathedral was quite large for his time. Besides the Exeter Book and the Leofric Missal, Leofric's own copy of the Rule of Chrodegang also survives, although it is no longer at Exeter. Now it is at Cambridge University, where it is Corpus Christi College MS 191. Another surviving manuscript from Leofric's collection is a Gospel book written in Latin now in the Bodleian Library, which was probably acquired by Leofric while he was on the continent, as the manuscript was originally written for a Breton monastery. In all, about 20 of the manuscripts gifted by Leofric can be identified and are still extant, and only two remain at Exeter – including the Exeter Book.

The notice in his cathedral's records recording his death stated that Leofric was active in his diocese as a preacher, that he built many churches in his bishopric, and was noted as a teacher of his clergy. The historian Frank Barlow describes Leofric as "an able administrator and a progressive force" and one who "exemplifies the foreign prelate at his best".