Ealdred (archbishop of York)
Ealdred was Abbot of Tavistock, Bishop of Worcester, and Archbishop of York. He was an advisor to King Edward the Confessor, and was often involved in the royal government. In 1058 he undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the first bishop from England to do so. He supported Harold Godwinson as King of England, but when Harold was defeated at the Battle of Hastings, he backed Edgar the Ætheling. He crowned King William the Conqueror on Christmas Day in 1066.
About Ealdred (archbishop of York) in brief
Ealdred was Abbot of Tavistock, Bishop of Worcester, and Archbishop of York. He was an advisor to King Edward the Confessor, and was often involved in the royal government. In 1058 he undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, the first bishop from England to do so. Ealdred supported the churches and monasteries in his diocese with gifts and building projects. He supported Harold Godwinson as King of England, but when Harold was defeated at the Battle of Hastings, he backed Edgar the Ætheling. He then endorsed King William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy and a distant relative of King Edward’s. He crowned King William on Christmas Day in 1066. He died in York in 1069, and is buried at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. He may have been related to Lyfing, his predecessor as bishop of Worcester. Another relative was Wilstan or Wulfstan, who under his influence became Abbots of Gloucester. He is believed to be the first English bishop to attend a papal council in Rome, along with his fellow English bishop Herman Sweyn. It may also have been the first British bishop to go on a pilgrimage, if if sources from the Norman Conquest of England are to be believed. He held two properties from the abbey until his death, and continued to hold two properties after leaving the abbacy until he died. He had a son and a daughter, both of whom are believed to have died in childhood.
He also had two daughters, one of whom is thought to have been his daughter-in-law, and one who died in infancy. He never had any children of his own, but had several illegitimate children who he had with his wife, who he also had a relationship with. He lived in the same area of England as his father, and may have had an affair with one of his daughters. He may have been a monk at the monastery at Winchester before becoming abbot. In around 1027 he was appointed Abbot at Tavistocks Abbey. He became bishop of Worcester in 1046, a position he held until his resignation in 1062. He suffered two defeats at the hands of raiders before securing a settlement with Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, a Welsh ruler. He led an unsuccessful expedition against the Welsh. In 1050 he went to Rome, apparently to secure papal approval to move the bishopric of Crediton to Exeter, or centre of the centre of England. He did not receive the other two dioceses Lyfing had held, Crediton and Cornwall; these were given to Leofric, who combined the two sees at Crediton in 1050. He helped secure the election of WulfStan as his successor at Worcester in 1060. In the same year he was elected to the archbishopric of York but had difficulty in obtaining papAL approval for his appointment, managing to get it only when he promised not to hold the bishoprics of York and Worcester simultaneously.
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