Ealdred

Ealdred (or Aldred; died 11 September 1069) was Abbot of Tavistock, Bishop of Worcester, and Archbishop of York in Anglo-Saxon England.

He is related to a number of other ecclesiastics of the period.

After becoming a monk at the monastery at Winchester, he is appointed Abbot of Tavistock Abbey in around 1027.

In 1046, he is named to the Bishopric of Worcester.

Ealdred, besides his episcopal duties, served Edward the Confessor, the King of England, as a diplomat and as a military leader.

He workdto bring one of the king's relatives, Edward the Exile, back to England from Hungary to secure an heir for the childless king.

In 1058, he undertakes a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the first bishop from England to do so.

As administrator of the Diocese of Hereford, he is involved in fighting against the Welsh, suffering two defeats at the hands of raiders before securing a settlement with Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, a Welsh ruler.

In 1060, Ealdred is elected to the archbishopric of York, but has difficulty in obtaining papal approval for his appointment, only managing to do so when he promises not to hold the bishoprics of York and Worcester simultaneously.

He helps secure the election of Wulfstan as his successor at Worcester.

During his archiepiscopate, he builds and embellishes churches in his diocese, and works to improve his clergy by holding a synod which publishes regulations for the priesthood.

Some sources state that following King Edward the Confessor's death in 1066, it was Ealdred who crowned Harold Godwinson as King of England.

Ealdred supports Harold as king, but when Harold is defeated at the Battle of Hastings, Ealdred backs Edgar the Ætheling and then endorses King William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy and a distant relative of King Edward's.

Ealdred crowns King William on Christmas Day in 1066.

William never quite trusts Ealdred or the other English leaders, and Ealdred has to accompany William back to Normandy in 1067, but he has returned to York by the time of his death in 1069.

Ealdred supports the churches and monasteries in his diocese with gifts and building projects.

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