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

Edward sent Ealdred after the death in battle of Bishop Leofgar of Hereford, who had attacked Gruffydd ap Llywelyn after encouragement from the king.

Ealdred, Bishop of Worcester, is unsuccessful in driving them off.

He had been taken as a young child to Hungary, and in 1054 Bishop Ealdred of Worcester visited the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry III to secure his return, probably with a view to becoming Edward's heir.

Although Ealdred, the Bishop of Worcester actually went to the Continent in search of Edward, Ian Walker, the biographer of King Harold Godwinson, feels that Stigand was behind the effort.

Wulfstan was consecrated Bishop of Worcester on 8 September 1062, by Ealdred.

As is usual with charters of this period, the authenticity of some of these documents is open to question ( though Della Hooke has established high reliability for the Cornish material ), but that of others ( e. g. Edgar's grant of estates at Tywarnhaile and Bosowsa to his thane Eanulf in 960, Edward the Confessor's grant of estates at Traboe, Trevallack, Grugwith and Trethewey to Bishop Ealdred in 1059 ) is not in any doubt.

* Ealdred ( Bishop of Lincoln ) ( 9th century )

In the same year, a diploma granting rights to the diocese of Cornwall and Bishop Ealdred of Cornwall stated that it was written by Sigeric, but it is unlikely that the document was actually written by the archbishop.

Some say it was his father Earl Godwin who pleaded his case to the King, others that is was Aldred, or Ealdred, Bishop of Worcester who had met him in Flanders returning from his pilgrimage.

In 757 Eanberht, Uhtred, and Ealdred, granted land to Bishop Milred,

In 757 Eanberht, Uhtred, and Ealdred, granted land to Bishop Milred

In 757 Eanberht, Uhtred, and Ealdred, granted land to Bishop Milred, and in 759 to Abbot Headda.

Ealdred, also called Brihtwine, was a monk and provost at Abingdon before becoming abbot in 1066 ; he was later implicated in the conspiracy of Bishop Æthelwine of Durham, and was deposed in 1071.

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

Ealdred was probably born in the west of England, and could be related to Lyfing, his predecessor as bishop of Worcester.

Ealdred was made bishop of Worcester in 1046, a position he held until his resignation in 1062.

Lyfing died on 26 March 1046, and Ealdred became bishop of Worcester shortly after.

According to the medieval chronicler John of Worcester, Ealdred was given the see of Ramsbury to administer while Herman remained outside England.

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.

Although a bishop was promptly appointed to Hereford, none was named to Worcester, and it appears that Ealdred intended to retain Worcester along with York, which several of his predecessors had done.

The story of Ealdred being deposed comes from the Vita Edwardi, a life of Edward the Confessor, but the Vita Wulfstani, an account of the life of Ealdred's successor at Worcester, Wulfstan, says that Nicholas refused the pallium until a promise to find a replacement for Worcester was given by Ealdred.

John of Worcester also claims that at Wulfstan's consecration, Stigand, the archbishop of Canterbury extracted a promise from Ealdred that neither he nor his successors would lay claim to any jurisdiction over the diocese of Worcester.

Given that John of Worcester wrote his chronicle after the eruption of the Canterbury – York supremacy struggle, the story of Ealdred renouncing any claims to Worcester needs to be considered suspect.

For whatever reason, Ealdred gave up the see of Worcester in 1062, when papal legates arrived in England to hold a council and make sure that Ealdred relinquished Worcester.

Ealdred was succeeded by Wulfstan, chosen by Ealdred, but John of Worcester relates that Ealdred had a hard time deciding between Wulfstan and Æthelwig.

Although Ealdred gave up the bishopric, the appointment of Wulfstan was one that allowed Ealdred to continue his considerable influence on the see of Worcester.

He may have acted as suffragan, or subordinate bishop, to his predecessor Lyfing before formally assuming the bishopric, as from about 1043 Ealdred witnessed as an episcopus, or bishop, and a charter from 1045 or early 1046 names Sihtric as abbot of Tavistock.

The diocese had suffered a serious raid from the Welsh in 1055, and during his administration, Ealdred continued the rebuilding of the cathedral church as well as securing the cathedral chapter's rights.

Because the position of Stigand, the archbishop of Canterbury, was irregular, Wulfstan sought and received consecration as a bishop from Ealdred.

According to the medieval chronicler Geoffrey Gaimar, after the Battle of Stamford Bridge Harold entrusted the loot gained from Harold Hardrada to Ealdred.

Along with the Pontificale, Ealdred may have brought back from Cologne the first manuscript of the Cambridge Songs to enter England, a collection of Latin Goliardic songs which became famous in the Middle Ages.

Faced with Ragnall's invasion, Ealdred came north seeking assistance from Constantine.

There was an intention to rebuild the abbey in 1005 when Abbot Ealdred was licensed to remove building material from Verulamium.

In 778 Ealdred received a grant of land from Offa, King of Mercia.

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

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

That same year, as Ealdred was returning to England he met Sweyn, a son of Godwin, Earl of Wessex, and probably absolved Sweyn for having abducted the abbess of Leominster Abbey in 1046.

Later in 1051, when he was sent to intercept Harold Godwinson and his brothers as they fled England after their father's outlawing, Ealdred " could not, or would not " capture the brothers.

In 1054 King Edward sent Ealdred to Germany to obtain Emperor Henry III's help in returning Edward the Exile, son of Edmund Ironside, to England.

Although some sources state that Ealdred attended the coronation of Emperor Henry IV, this is not possible, as on the date that Henry was crowned, Ealdred was in England consecrating an abbot.

Ealdred had returned to England by 1055, and brought with him a copy of the Pontificale Romano-Germanicum, a set of liturgies, with him.

It appears likely that the Rule of Chrodegang, a continental set of ordinances for the communal life of secular canons, was introduced into England by Ealdred sometime before 1059.

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

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.

date – Ealdred becomes abbot of Tavistock in England.

Edward's immediate successor was the Earl of Wessex, Harold Godwinson, the richest and most powerful of the English aristocrats, who was elected king by the Witenagemot of England and crowned by the Archbishop of York, Ealdred, although Norman propaganda claimed the ceremony was performed by Stigand, the uncanonically elected Archbishop of Canterbury.

William was acclaimed King of England and crowned by Ealdred on 25 December 1066, in Westminster Abbey.

On Christmas Day, 1066 Ealdred, the Archbishop of York crowned William King of England.

It was probably the death of Ealdred in 1069 that moved the pope to send the legates, as that left only one archbishop in England ; and he was not considered legitimate and unable to consecrate bishops.

He entrenched his position in northern England by marrying Ælfflæd, the daughter of Ealdred, Earl of Bamburgh.