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, leads troops from England on an unsuccessful punitive raid against Welsh leaders Gruffydd ap Rhydderch, Rhys ap Rhydderch and Gruffydd ap Llywelyn.

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.

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.

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.

Certainly, Ealdred is one of the leading figures in the work, and it is likely that one of his clerks compiled the version.

A meeting at Eamont Bridge on 927 was sealed by an agreement that Constantine, Owen of Strathclyde, Hywel Dda, and Ealdred would " renounce all idolatry ": that is, they would not ally with the Viking kings.

Contemporary scholarship has not decided the matter although it is generally thought Ealdred performed the coronation.

Amongst them were members of a family who had killed Waltheof ’ s maternal great-grandfather, Uchtred the Bold, and his grandfather Ealdred.

Ealdred unsuccessfully tried to drive off the raiders, but was again routed by the Welsh.

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.

Ealdred supported Harold as king, but when Harold was defeated at the Battle of Hastings, Ealdred backed Edgar the Ætheling and then endorsed King William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy and a distant relative of King Edward's.

Ealdred crowned King William on Christmas Day in 1066.

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

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

Ealdred was a monk in the cathedral chapter at Winchester Cathedral before becoming abbot of Tavistock Abbey about 1027, an office he held until about 1043.

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.

However, Ealdred did not receive the other two dioceses that Lyfing had held, Crediton and Cornwall ; King Edward the Confessor ( reigned 1043 – 1066 ) granted these to Leofric, who combined the two sees at Crediton in 1050.

Ealdred was an advisor to King Edward the Confessor, and was often involved in the royal government.

Ealdred's expedition was betrayed by some Welsh soldiers who were serving with the English, and Ealdred was defeated.

In 1050, Ealdred went to Rome " on the king's errand ", apparently to secure papal approval to move the seat, or centre, of the bishopric of Crediton to Exeter.

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.

Ealdred helped Sweyn not only because Ealdred was a supporter of Earl Godwin's family but because Sweyn's earldom was close to his bishopric.

Normally, the bishop of Hereford would have led the defence in the absence of an Earl of Hereford, but in 1049 the incumbent, Æthelstan, was blind, so Ealdred took on the role of defender.

Earl Godwin's rebellion against the king in 1051 came as a blow to Ealdred, who was a supporter of the earl and his family.