After the absorption of Mercia into the rest of England, Ulverlei became the property of the Earls of Mercia, who if not descendants of the royal house were their successors. The first of these was Leofric, husband of Godiva, heroine of the Coventry legend, and the earldom descended through his son Ælfgar to Edwin, his grandson, who was in possession at the time of the Norman conquest. Perhaps, because of the royal connection, William I granted the lands to Christina, who was granddaughter of King Edmund Ironside.