{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022
The Ealdorman of Devon in England before the
Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...
of 1066, was the
Ealdorman
Ealdorman ( , )"ealdorman" ''Collins English Dictionary''. was an office in the Government ...
, that is the king's deputy as local ruler, of the
shire
Shire () is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries. It is generally synonymous with county (such as Cheshire and Worcestershire). British counties are among the oldes ...
of
Devon
Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
. Following the Norman Conquest the office was re-invented, if not actually continued, as
Earl of Devon
Earl of Devon is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of England. It was possessed first (after the Norman Conquest of 1066) by the Redvers family (''alias'' de Reviers, Revieres, etc.), and later by the Courtenay famil ...
.
Known ealdormen of Devon
*
Odda
Odda () is a list of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Hordaland counties of Norway, county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1913 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into Ullensvang Municipality i ...
, under
Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great ( ; – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when Alfr ...
, led Anglo-Saxon forces in the
Battle of Cynwit
The Battle of Cynwit or Countisbury Hill took place between West Saxons and Vikings in 878. The location of the fortress the battle is named for is not known with certainty but probably was at Countisbury Hill or Wind Hill, near Countisbury, D ...
, ultimately defeating an army led by Viking chieftain
Ubba
Ubba (Old Norse: ''Ubbi''; died 878) was a 9th-century Viking and one of the commanders of the Great Heathen Army that invaded Anglo-Saxon England in the 860s. The Great Army appears to have been a coalition of warbands drawn from Scandinavia, ...
.
* Ordgar (d. 971), under King Edgar (ruled 959-975). He founded
Tavistock Abbey
Tavistock Abbey, also known as the Abbey of Mary, the mother of Jesus, Saint Mary and Saint Rumon, is a ruined Order of Saint Benedict, Benedictine abbey in Tavistock, Devon. The Abbey was surrendered in 1539 during the Dissolution of the Monaste ...
in 961. His son was
Ordwulf
Ordwulf or Ordulf (died after 1005) was the son of Ordgar, Ealdorman of Devon (died 971). His sister was Queen Ælfthryth, third wife of King Edgar (born 943, died 975; ruled 959-975)'' The Peaceful'' and mother of King Æthelred II (c. 968-1 ...
(died after 1005), who realised the founding.Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, part 2 (notes), chapter 5. Thorn refers to Ordgar, Ealdorman of Devon as "Earl of Devon"