Leofric was probably born in Cornwall, and his parents were English.Hindley Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons p. 239 Because canon law required that a bishop be 30 years old when consecrated, it is likely that Leofric was born before 1016. The medieval chronicler Florence of Worcester referred to him as a Brytonicus, which presumably meant that he was a native of Cornwall.Barlow English Church pp. 83–84 He had a brother, Ordmaer, who acted as his steward and administered the family estates.Barlow "Leofric (d. 1072)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Leofric was educated in Lotharingia,Barlow Feudal Kingdom p. 34 and may have been brought up abroad.Huscroft Ruling England p. 50 Leofric may have gone into exile either in 1013 when Sweyn Forkbeard, the king of Denmark invaded England or in 1016, when Sweyn's son Cnut became king of England.Barlow "Leofric and his Times" Norman Conquest and Beyond p. 114 His education possibly took place at the church of St Stephen's in Toul, where the future Pope Leo IX was a canon from 1017 to 1024 and bishop after 1027.
Leofric was probably born in Cornwall, and his parents were English.Hindley Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons p. 239 Because canon law required that a bishop be 30 years old when consecrated, it is likely that Leofric was born before 1016. The medieval chronicler Florence of Worcester referred to him as a Brytonicus, which presumably meant that he was a native of Cornwall.Barlow English Church pp. 83–84 He had a brother, Ordmaer, who acted as his steward and administered the family estates.Barlow "Leofric (d 1072)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Leofric was educated in Lotharingia,Barlow Feudal Kingdom p. 34 and may have been brought up abroad.Huscroft. Ruling England p. 50 Leofric may have gone into exile either in 1013 when Sweyn Forkbeard, the king of Denmark invaded England or in 1016, when Sweyn's son Cnut became king of England.Barlow "Leofric and his Times" Norman Conquest and Beyond p. 114 His education possibly took place at the church of St Stephen's in Toul, where the future Pope Leo IX was a canon from 1017 to 1024 and bishop after 1027.