Wulfrun

Wulfrun(a) (c. 935-c. 1005^[1]) was a Mercian noblewoman and landowner who held estates in Staffordshire.

Today she is particularly remembered for her association with Hēatūn, Anglo-Saxon for "high or principal farm or enclosure", which she was granted in a charter by King

She was born around 935 in Mercia and she seems to have also had a close connection with Tamworth, the main centre of royal power in Mercia at the time. It was from here that according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle she was abducted by Danes in 943. Later her son Wulfric Spot left to his daughter the lordship of an estate there that was "not to be subject to any service nor to any man born", that he may have inherited from Wulfrun; and it is believed that she was buried with the religious community there, to which Wulfric also left land.

Her son Wulfric "Spot" became one of

Her exact death date is unknown, but a reference however can be found in a charter to Ensham Monastery dating to 1005 which states that Wulfrun bequested land at Ramsey (now located in Cambridgeshire), being "at her last breath", indicating that she died shortly after the charter was written, sometime in 1005,^[1] although a now outdated source states that she died in Tamworth in 995 or 996,^[2] although she was probably alive until 1005.^[1]

Her lands may have been inherited from Wulfsige the Black,^[3] who was granted lands by King Edmund in 942, some of which correspond with lands later endowed by Wulfrun, and some with lands described in the will of her son Wulfric.^[4] Wulfsige may thus have been her father.

Sources

Contemporary knowledge of her comes from several text sources:

• Year 943 entry in the
  Vikings seized her when they took the fort at Tamworth. [It was in all probability to obtain a ransom.]^[5]
• Listed as a witness in an Anglo-Saxon
  Ethelred II ('Ethelred the Unready'), granted to Wulfrun ten hides of land at Hēatūn, which means "high or principal farm or enclosure".^[6]
• It is recorded that in 994 Wulfrun gave ten hides of land to endow a church at a place called Heantune (
  dative case). This may be the same land as in the previous entry. The church had previously been founded as an abbey by Wulfere.^[7]
• The
  Anglo-Saxon Wulfrūnehēantūn = "Wulfrūn's high or principal enclosure or farm",^[8][9][10] though a local tradition says that King Wulfhere of Mercia
  was involved in the founding of the town, the church, or both. Older forms of the town's name run against this hypothesis. Many buildings and firms in Wolverhampton are named after Wulfrun, for example, The Wulfrun Centre, Lady Wulfrun (formerly "The Goose in the city" pub), Wulfrun Hall and the Wulfrun Hotel.