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

Eadwulf Cudel Eadwulf III of Bamburgh or Eadwulf Cudel or Cutel (meaning cuttlefish) (died early 1020s) 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 Northumbria be ...

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

Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...

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

Bernicia Bernicia ( ang, Bernice, Bryneich, Beornice; la, 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 ap ...

(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. The village is notable for the nearby Bamburgh Castle, a castle which was the seat of ...

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

Thurbrand the Hold Thurbrand ( ang, Þūrbrand; fl. 1010s; died c. 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 No ...

in 1016 with the connivance of

Cnut Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norwa ...

. Ealdred's mother was Ecgfrida, daughter of

Aldhun Aldhun of Durham (died 1018 or 1019), also known as Ealdhun, was the last Bishop of Lindisfarne (based at Chester-le-Street) and the first Bishop of Durham. He was of "noble descent". Since the late 9th century the see of Lindisfarne was based a ...

, bishop of

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

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, and president of the Royal Historical Society (1937–1945). The son of Henry Stenton of Southwell, Nottinghamshire, he was edu ...

as "the most remarkable private feud in English history". Richard Fletcher 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 male name. Notable people with the name include: * Eadwulf of Elmham, a 10th-century Bishop of Elmham * Eadwulf of Hereford (died 830s), Bishop of Hereford * Eadwulf I of Northumbria, king of Northumbr ...

, who was murdered in 1041 by

Siward, Earl of Northumbria Siward ( or more recently ) or Sigurd ( ang, Sigeweard, non, Sigurðr digri) 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-c ...

, husband of one of Ealdred's daughters.

Issue

English chronicler

Simeon of Durham __NOTOC__ Symeon (or Simeon) of Durham (died after 1129) was an English chronicler and a monk of Durham Priory. Biography Symeon entered the Benedictine monastery at Jarrow as a youth. It moved to Durham in 1074, and he was professed in 1085 o ...

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 ( enm, Wallef, on, Valþjóf) (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 Siw ...

, his daughter Maud married

David I of Scotland David I or Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim ( Modern: ''Daibhidh I mac haoilChaluim''; – 24 May 1153) was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 1124 and later King of Scotland from 1124 to 1153. The youngest son of Mal ...

and became Queen consort of Scotland. *A fourth daughter Ealdgyth (Algitha) married

Ligulf Ligulf (sometimes Liulf or Ligulf of Lumley; died 1080) was an Anglo-Danish nobleman with landholdings in the north of England. Ligulf was married to Ealdgyth, the daughter of Ealdred the earl of Northumbria.Aird "Ligulf" ''Oxford Dictionary of Na ...

, 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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

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

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

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