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

John of Worcester, a medieval chronicler, stated that Ealdred crowned King Harold II in 1066, although the Norman chroniclers mention Stigand as the officiating prelate.

Ealdred crowned William king on Christmas Day 1066.

An innovation in William's coronation ceremony was that before the actual crowning, Ealdred asked the assembled crowd, in English, if it was their wish that William be crowned king.

Both the tapestry and Norman sources named Stigand, the excommunicated Archbishop of Canterbury, as the man who crowned Harold, possibly to discredit Harold's kingship ; English sources suggested that he was crowned by Ealdred, Archbishop of York and favoured by the papacy, making Harold's position as legitimate king more secure.

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.

The English sources claim that Ealdred, the Archbishop of York, crowned Harold, while the Norman sources claim that Stigand did so, with the conflict between the various sources probably tracing to the post-Conquest desire to vilify Harold and depict his coronation as improper.

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

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.

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.

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.

Ealdred became involved with the see of Ramsbury after its bishop Herman got into a dispute with King Edward over the movement of the seat of his bishopric to Malmesbury Abbey.

William of Malmesbury says that Ealdred, by " amusing the simplicity of King Edward and alleging the custom of his predecessors, had acquired, more by bribery than by reason, the archbishopric of York while still holding his former see.

It has been speculated that Æthelburh was the abbess who was a kinswoman of King Ealdred of the Hwicce, but there are other prominent women named Æthelburh during that period.

Gothfrith was expelled and at Eamont, near Penrith, on 12 July 927, Ealdred, King Constantine of Scotland and Owain of Strathclyde accepted Æthelstan's overlordship.

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.

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.

Eanberht, King of Hwicce, jointly with Uhtred and Ealdred.

Uhtred was the King of Hwicce, jointly with Eanberht and Ealdred.

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

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.

After the Battle of Hastings, Ealdred joined the group who tried to elevate Edgar the Ætheling, Edward the Exile's son, as king, but eventually he submitted to William the Conqueror at Berkhamsted.

John of Worcester says that the group supporting Edgar vacillated over what to do while William ravaged the countryside, which led to Ealdred and Edgar's submission to William.

In March 1067, William took Ealdred with him when William returned to Normandy, along with the other English leaders Earl Edwin of Mercia, Earl Morcar, Edgar the Ætheling, and Archbishop Stigand.

In 1069, when the northern thegns rebelled against William and attempted to install Edgar the Ætheling as king, Ealdred continued to support William.

The medieval chronicler William of Malmesbury records a story that when the new sheriff of Worcester, Urse d ' Abetot, encroached on the cemetery of the cathedral chapter for Worcester Cathedral, Ealdred pronounced a rhyming curse on him, saying " Thou are called Urse.

Ealdred was one of a few native Englishmen who William appears to have trusted, and his death led to fewer attempts to integrate Englishmen into the administration, although such efforts did not entirely stop.

Archbishop Stigand submitted to William there, and when the duke moved on to Berkhamsted soon afterwards, Edgar the Ætheling, Morcar, Edwin and Archbishop Ealdred also submitted.

After his victory at Hastings, William expected to receive the submission of the surviving English leaders, but instead Edgar Atheling was proclaimed king by the Witenagemot, with the support of Earls Edwin and Morcar, Stigand, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Ealdred, the Archbishop of York.

There was a series of Benedictine archbishops, including Saint Oswald, Wulfstan, and Ealdred, who travelled to Westminster to crown William in 1066.

Stigand submitted to William the Conqueror at Wallingford in early December 1066, and assisted at his coronation on Christmas Day, 1066, although the actual coronation was performed by Ealdred.

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

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.

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.

Cynesige, the archbishop of York, died on 22 December 1060, and Ealdred was elected Archbishop of York on Christmas Day, 1060.

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.

While archbishop, Ealdred built at Beverley, expanding on the building projects begun by his predecessor Cynesige, as well as repairing and expanding other churches in his diocese.

Ealdred was back at York by 1069 ; he died there on 11 September 1069, and was buried in his episcopal cathedral.

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.

* 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.

After the death of Harold at the Battle of Hastings, Stigand worked with Earl Edwin and Earl Morcar, as well as Archbishop Ealdred of York, to put Edgar the Ætheling on the throne.

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

Thomas succeeded Ealdred as Archbishop of York in 1070 ; he was nominated on 23 May and was probably consecrated on 25 December.