Ealdred (Aldred) of York
EALDRED (ALDRED) OF YORK
A monk of Winchester (d. Sept. 11, 1069), abbot of Tavistock (c. 1027), bishop of worcester (1046), and then archbishop of York (1060), Ealdred was a power in both Church and State. He warred against the Welsh and Norse, served on royal embassies to Rome and Germany, and probably crowned Harold II. He administered the dioceses of Hereford and Ramsbury while holding Worcester, but was forced to surrender Worcester before Pope Nicholas granted him the pallium for York. Nonetheless, Ealdred reformed and strengthened his dioceses, especially York, Worcester, Gloucester, Southwell, and Beverley. He submitted to william i at Berkhamstead and consecrated him king (Christmas 1066) and Matilda queen (1068), subsequently serving the conqueror loyally, though protesting against any oppression. Sources for his life include the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Folcard's Vita of john of beverley, florence of worcester, simeon of durham, william of malmesbury, and the Chronica Pontificum of the Church of York (ed. J. Raine Historians … York 2, Rerum Britannicarum medii aevi scriptores, London 1858–96).
Bibliography: The Dictionary of National Biography from the Earliest Times to 1900 (London 1885–1900) 1:249–251. e. a. freeman, History of the Norman Conquest, 6 v. (Oxford 1867–79) v.2, 3, 4. f. e. harmer, ed. and tr., Anglo-Saxon Writs (Manchester, Eng. 1952).
[w. a. chaney]