Ordgar (died 971) was

Ealdorman of Devon {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 The Ealdorman of Devon in England before the Norman Conquest of 1066, was the Ealdorman, that is the king's deputy as local ruler, of the shire of Devon. Following the Norman Conquest the office was re-invented, if ...

in England. He was a great

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Glouc ...

landowner and apparently a close advisor of his son-in-law

Edgar the Peaceful Edgar ( ang, Ēadgār ; 8 July 975), known as the Peaceful or the Peaceable, was King of the English from 959 until his death in 975. The younger son of King Edmund I and Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury, he came to the throne as a teenager followin ...

, king of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. His daughter Ælfthryth was King Edgar's third wife and was the mother of King

Æthelred the Unready Æthelred II ( ang, Æþelræd, ;Different spellings of this king’s name most commonly found in modern texts are "Ethelred" and "Æthelred" (or "Aethelred"), the latter being closer to the original Old English form . Compare the modern diale ...

(c.968 – 1016). He was created an

ealdorman Ealdorman (, ) was a term in Anglo-Saxon England which originally applied to a man of high status, including some of royal birth, whose authority was independent of the king. It evolved in meaning and in the eighth century was sometimes applied ...

by King Edgar in 964.

Biography

Historical sources

Little is known about Ordgar other than what survives in three historical sources: *His name appears as a witness on charters of King Edgar between 962 and 970. *Digressions in

William of Malmesbury William of Malmesbury ( la, Willelmus Malmesbiriensis; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as " ...

's '' Gesta pontificum Anglorum'' *More substantial references in

Geoffrey Gaimar Geoffrey Gaimar (fl. 1130s), also written Geffrei or Geoffroy, was an Anglo-Norman chronicler. His contribution to medieval literature and history was as a translator from Old English to Anglo-Norman. His ''L'Estoire des Engleis'', or ''History o ...

's ''L'Estoire des Engles'' regarding the love affairs and marriages of his daughter Ælfthryth

Gaimar's account

According to Gaimar, Ordgar was the son of an ealdorman, and owned land in every

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

from

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

in Devon to

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...

in Somerset. He married an unknown lady of royal birth, by whom he had a daughter Ælfthryth. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography draws a conclusion that Ordgar was "clearly a figure of some importance" to have secured such a match. King Edgar determined on marrying Ælfthryth and to this end he sent

Æthelwald, Ealdorman of East Anglia Æthelwald or Æthelwold (died 963) was ealdorman of East Anglia. He is mentioned in Byrhtferth's life of Oswald of Worcester along with other members of his family. He was probably the oldest son of Æthelstan Half-King and succeeded to so ...

as his agent to woo her. On arrival Æthelwald found her in company with her father Ordgar, whom she completely controlled by her personality, playing chess, which they had learned from the

Danes Danes ( da, danskere, ) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. Danes generally regard t ...

. Æthelwald instead took Ælfthryth for his own wife and married her in about 956. Æthelwald died in 962, and

Dunstan Saint Dunstan (c. 909 – 19 May 988) was an English bishop. He was successively Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restored monastic life in ...

suspected that he was murdered by his wife Ælfthryth who thereafter, according to Dunstan, seduced King Edgar and murdered his son Prince

Edward the Martyr Edward ( ang, Eadweard, ; 18 March 978), often called the Martyr, was King of the English from 975 until he was murdered in 978. Edward was the eldest son of King Edgar, but was not his father's acknowledged heir. On Edgar's death, the leader ...

in order to pave the way for the crowning of her son

Æthelred Æthelred (; ang, Æþelræd ) or Ethelred () is an Old English personal name (a compound of '' æþele'' and '' ræd'', meaning "noble counsel" or "well-advised") and may refer to: Anglo-Saxon England * Æthelred and Æthelberht, legendary pri ...

as king. It is, however, certain that, under whatever actual circumstances, Ælfthryth became King Edgar's third wife in 964 and in the same year her father Ordgar was created ealdorman. The ''ODNB'' supposes that Ordgar from the time of his daughter's royal marriage until 970 was one of Edgar's closest advisors, by virtue of his being named as a witness on almost all charters issued by King Edgar during the period.

Tavistock Abbey

Older historians thought that

Tavistock Abbey Tavistock Abbey, also known as the Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Rumon, is a ruined Benedictine abbey in Tavistock, Devon. Nothing remains of the abbey except the refectory, two gateways and a porch. The abbey church, dedicated to Our Lady and S ...

was founded in 961 by Ordgar but the modern consensus is that it was wholly the foundation of his son

Ordwulf Ordwulf (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. 968-1016) ''The ...

in 974; the charter of confirmation was granted in 981 by King Æthelred, Ordwulf's nephew.

Death and burial

Ordgar died in 971. According to

, he was buried with his son Edulf at

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards (North, South and South West) had a population of 13 ...

, Devon, but according to

Florence of Worcester Florence of Worcester (died 1118), known in Latin as Florentius, was a monk of Worcester, who played some part in the production of the '' Chronicon ex chronicis'', a Latin world chronicle which begins with the creation and ends in 1140.Keynes, "Fl ...

, he was buried at

Issue

The name of Ordgar's wife is not known; however, he is known to have issue: *

(died after 1005), High Reeve of Devon * Ælfthryth, Queen Consort of England, married King Edgar of England. * Edulf (died 971 or before), was of gigantic strength and stature.Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 42 pg 242-243

References

;Attribution *

External links

* {{PASE, 12554, Ordgar 5 Year of birth unknown 971 deaths 10th-century English people English landowners History of Devon