Ealdred was an Earl in north-east England from the death of his uncle,

Eadwulf Cudel Eadwulf Cudel or Cutel (meaning cuttlefish) (died early 1020s), sometimes numbered Eadwulf III, was ruler of Bamburgh for some period in the early eleventh century. Following the successful takeover of York by the Vikings in 866/7, southern Northum ...

, soon after 1018 until his murder in 1038. He is variously described by historians as Earl of

Northumbria Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland. The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...

,Stenton, p. 390, n. 1 Earl of

Bernicia Bernicia () was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England. The Anglian territory of Bernicia was approximately equivalent to the modern English cou ...

(northern Northumbria)Fletcher, p. 114 and Earl of

Bamburgh Bamburgh ( ) is a village and civil parish on the coast of Northumberland, England. It had a population of 454 in 2001, decreasing to 414 at the 2011 census. Bamburgh was the centre of an independent north Northumbrian territory between 867 a ...

, his stronghold on the Northumbrian coast. He was the son of Uhtred, Earl of Northumbria, who was murdered by

Thurbrand the Hold Thurbrand (; 1010s; died 1024), nicknamed "the Hold", was a Northumbrian magnate in the early 11th century. Perhaps based in Holderness and East Yorkshire, Thurbrand was recorded as the killer of Uhtred the Bold, Earl of Northumbria. The killi ...

in 1016 with the connivance of

Cnut Cnut ( ; ; – 12 November 1035), also known as Canute and with the epithet the Great, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway from 1028 until his death in 1035. The three kingdoms united under Cnut's rul ...

. Ealdred's mother was Ecgfrida, daughter of Aldhun, bishop of Durham.

Historic Blood Feud

Some time probably in the mid 1020s Ealdred killed Thurbrand in revenge for his father's death. In 1038 Ealdred was murdered by Thurbrand's son. There were several other revenge murders in what was described by

Frank Stenton Sir Frank Merry Stenton FBA (17 May 1880 – 15 September 1967) was an English historian of Anglo-Saxon England, a professor of history at the University of Reading (1926–1946), president of the Royal Historical Society (1937–1945), Readi ...

as "the most remarkable private feud in English history".

Richard Fletcher Richard Fletcher may refer to: Politicians * Richard Fletcher (American politician) (1788–1869), US Representative from Massachusetts *Richard Fletcher (died 1560), MP for Rye *Richard Fletcher (died c.1607), MP for Derby (UK Parliament constitue ...

gives an account in his book ''Bloodfeud: Murder and Revenge in Anglo-Saxon England''. Ealdred was succeeded as Earl of Bernicia by his half-brother,

Eadwulf Eadwulf (sometimes Eadulf) is an Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Sco ...

, who was murdered in 1041 by

Siward, Earl of Northumbria Siward ( or more recently ; ) or Sigurd (, ) was an important earl of 11th-century northern England. The Old Norse nickname ''Digri'' and its Latin translation ''Grossus'' ("the stout") are given to him by near-contemporary texts. It is possibl ...

, husband of one of Ealdred's daughters.

Issue

English chronicler

Simeon of Durham __NOTOC__ Symeon (or Simeon) of Durham (fl. c.1090 to c. 1128 ) was an English chronicler and a monk of Durham Priory. Biography Symeon was a Benedictine monk at Durham Cathedral at the end of the eleventh century. He may have been one of 23 mon ...

identifies five children of Ealdred, all daughters. Three of those daughters were all named "Ælfleda" (Ælfflaed), while this may seem unlikely it is actually common for the time. If a child died young often the next child of the same sex was given the same name. The first two daughters of that name probably died very young, there appears to be no other record of them. *The third daughter to be named Ælfflaed lived to adulthood and became the second wife of

. One of her sons (Ealdred's grandson) was

Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria (, ) (died 31 May 1076) was the last of the Anglo-Saxon earls and the only English aristocrat to be executed during the reign of William I. Early life Waltheof was the second son of Siward, Earl of Northumbria. ...

, his daughter Maud married

David I of Scotland David I or Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim (Scottish Gaelic, Modern Gaelic: ''Daibhidh I mac haoilChaluim''; – 24 May 1153) was a 12th century ruler and saint who was David I as Prince of the Cumbrians, Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 112 ...

and became Queen consort of Scotland. *A fourth daughter Ealdgyth (Algitha) married Ligulf, who was murdered in 1080.Aird, Ligulf Before his death they had two sons: Uhtred and Morcar.The historical works of Simeon of Durham, tr., with preface and notes, by J. Stevenson, by Simeon, Publication date 1855 pp.361-362 https://archive.org/details/historicalworks00simegoog/page/n158/mode/1up?q=Etheldritha *A fifth daughter Etheldreda (Etheldritha) married Orm, son of Gamel, identified in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

as owner of 61 properties in Yorkshire, they had children.

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ealdred, Earl of Bernicia 1038 deaths Eadwulfing Rulers of Bamburgh Year of birth unknown