Ealdred makes a pilgrimage in 1058 to…

Ealdred makes a pilgrimage in 1058 to Jerusalem.

The first English bishop to make the journey, he travels through Hungary, and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that "he went to Jerusalem in such state as no-one had done before him".

While in Jerusalem, he had made a gift of a gold chalice to the church of the Holy Sepulchre.

It is possible that the reason Ealdred traveled through Hungary was to arrange the travel of Edward the Exile's family to England.

Another possibility is that he wished to search for other possible heirs to King Edward in Hungary.

It is not known exactly when Edward the Exile's family returned to England, whether they returned with Edward in 1057, or sometime later, so it is only a possibility that they returned with Ealdred in 1058.

Very little documentary evidence is available from Ealdred's time as Bishop of Worcester.

Only five leases that he signed survive, and all date from 1051 to 1053.

Two further leases exist in Hemming's Cartulary as copies only.

How the diocese of Worcester was administered when Ealdred was abroad is unclear, although it appears that Wulfstan, the prior of the cathedral chapter, performed the religious duties in the diocese.

On the financial side, the Evesham Chronicle states that Æthelwig, who became abbot of Evesham Abbey in 1058, administered Worcester before he became abbot.