Leofric of Mercia When the weak but saintly King Edward the Confessor nominally ruled all England the land was divided into four great earldoms, of which Mercia and Kent were held by two powerful rivals.
"Hero-Myths & Legends of the British Race"
Maud Isabel Ebbutt
earldoms and knighthoods were conferred and homages to the king were witnessed.
"Our Legal Heritage, 4th Ed."
S. A. Reilly
2. The student's attention is called to the culmination of Saxon England, and the overweening power and disintegrating tendencies of the great earldoms just before the Norman conquest, as marking the turning-point of English History.
"A Brief History of the English Language and Literature, Vol. 2 (of 2)"
John Miller Dow Meiklejohn