ALDRED, Ealdred, or Alred, a prominent ecclesiastic in the 11th century, was successively abbot of Tavistock, bishop of Worcester, and archbishop of York. He was promoted to the see of Worcester in 1046, and in 1050 was sent on a special mission to Rome by Edward the Confessor. In 1054 he went as ambassador to the court of the Emperor Henry III. with the object of negotiating for the return of Edward the Aetheling from Hungary, and remained a year at Cologne. In 1058 he undertook and accomplished a journey to Jerusalem, a pilgrimage which no English bishop had ventured on before. He was appointed archbishop of York in 1060, and proceeded to Rome to obtain the pallium; but the pope at first refused to confirm the appointment. At length, however, Aldred was duly invested with the robe of office on condition of his resigning his former see, which he had continued to hold till that time. On the death of Edward (1066) Aldred sided with Harold, and officiated at his coronation; but after the battle of Hastings he made submission to William, and poured the sacred oil on the head of the Conqueror ere the year was completed in which he had crowned Harold. There are several traditions, which may be regarded as having some foundation in fact, that represent Aldred as administering rebuke to William in the interests of his countrymen or in defence of his church’s rights. At the same time, he remained faithful to William, and when the English rose in the north against the Normans, he counselled submission. He died at York, Sept. 11, 1069, of grief, it is said, because of the threatened attack on his city by the combined forces of the English and Danes.