Ealdorman in the context of "Cædwalla"

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⭐ Core Definition: Ealdorman

Ealdorman (/ˈɔːldərmən/ AWL-dər-mən or /()ˈældərmən/ (ay-)AL-dər-mən, Old English: [ˈæɑɫdorˌmɑn]) was an office in the government of Anglo-Saxon England. During the 11th century, it evolved into the title of earl.

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👉 Ealdorman in the context of Cædwalla

Cædwalla (/ˈkædˌwɔːlə/; c. 659 – 20 April 689) was the King of Wessex from approximately 685 until he abdicated in 688. His name is derived from the Welsh Cadwallon. He was exiled from Wessex as a youth and during this period gathered forces and attacked the South Saxons, killing their king, Æthelwealh, in what is now Sussex. Cædwalla was unable to hold the South Saxon territory, however, and was driven out by Æthelwealh's ealdormen. In either 685 or 686, he became King of Wessex. He may have been involved in suppressing rival dynasties at this time, as an early source records that Wessex was ruled by underkings until Cædwalla.

After his accession, Cædwalla returned to Sussex and won the territory again. He also conquered the Isle of Wight, gained control of Surrey and the kingdom of Kent, and in 686 he installed his brother Mul as king of Kent. Mul was burned in a Kentish revolt a year later, and Cædwalla returned, possibly ruling Kent directly for a period.

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Ealdorman in the context of Eadric Streona

Eadric Streona (died 1017) was Ealdorman of Mercia from 1007 until he was killed by King Cnut. Eadric was given the epithet "Streona" (translated as "The Acquisitive”) in Hemming's Cartulary because he appropriated church land and funds for himself. Eadric became infamous in the Middle Ages because of his traitorous actions during the Danish re-conquest of England.

Eadric was one of at least eight children and had relatively humble beginnings: his father Ethelric attended the court of King Æthelred the Unready, but was of no great significance and is not known to have had any titles. Even before becoming an ealdorman, Eadric seems to have acted as Æthelred's enforcer; in 1006 he instigated the killing of the Ealdorman of York, Elfhelm. Eadric was married to Æthelred's daughter Eadgyth by 1009, thus becoming his son-in-law. Eadric was appointed Ealdorman of Mercia in 1007.

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Ealdorman in the context of Æthelwine, Ealdorman of East Anglia

Æthelwine (died 992) was ealdorman of East Anglia and one of the leading noblemen in the kingdom of England in the later 10th century. As with his kinsmen, the principal source for his life is Byrhtferth's life of Oswald of Worcester. Æthelwine founded Ramsey Abbey in 969, and Byrhtferth and Ramsey Abbey remembered him as Dei amicus (friend to God), but the monks of nearby Ely saw him as an enemy who had seized their lands.

Æthelwine was the son of Æthelstan Half-King and Ælfwynn, but probably not the eldest son as his brother Æthelwald seems to have succeeded their father on his retirement in 956. Æthelwine appears to have followed Æthelwald in office from 962. He was a benefactor of the New Minster at Winchester, and of Ramsey Abbey.

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Ealdorman in the context of Ealdorman of Mercia

Earl of Mercia was a title in the late Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Danish, and early Anglo-Norman period in England. During this period the earldom covered the lands of the old Kingdom of Mercia in the English Midlands.First governed by ealdormen under the kings of Wessex in the 10th century, it became an earldom in the Anglo-Danish period.During the time of King Edward the earldom was held by Leofric and his family, who were political rivals to the House of Godwine. Following the Conquest in 1066 Edwin was confirmed as earl by King William. However he was implicated in the rebellion of 1071 and was dispossessed.Following the death of Edwin the earldom was broken up, the power and regional jurisdiction of the earl passing to the newly formed earldoms of Chester and later Shrewsbury.

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Ealdorman in the context of Ealhswith

Ealhswith or Ealswitha (died 5 December 902) was the wife of King Alfred the Great. She was the mother of King Edward the Elder who succeeded King Alfred to the Anglo-Saxon throne. Her father was a Mercian nobleman, Æthelred Mucel, Ealdorman of the Gaini, which is thought to be an old Mercian tribal group. Her mother was Eadburh, a member of the Mercian royal family and her lineage was one of the primary reasons for Alfred taking Ealhswith as his wife. She founded the nunnery of Nunnaminster.

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Ealdorman in the context of 700s (decade)

The 700s decade ran from January 1, 700, to December 31, 709.

  • The Wariʼ people invade and occupy the Cuzco Valley (modern Peru) in the southern highlands (approximate date).
  • The Moche culture in the northern part of modern day Peru collapses, largely due to environmental problems and/or political and social unrest (approximate date).
  • July 18 – Emperor Monmu dies after a 10-year reign. He is succeeded by his aunt Genmei, who becomes the 43rd empress of Japan. She is the sister of former empress Jitō, and the niece and wife of late emperor Tenmu.
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Ealdorman in the context of Æthelweard (historian)

Æthelweard (also Ethelward; d. c. 998) was an ealdorman and the author of a Latin version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle known as the Chronicon Æthelweardi. He was a kinsman of the royal family, being a descendant of the Anglo-Saxon King Æthelred I of Wessex, the elder brother of Alfred the Great.

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Ealdorman in the context of Eadred

Eadred (also Edred, c. 923 – 23 November 955) was King of the English from 26 May 946 until his death in 955. He was the younger son of Edward the Elder and his third wife Eadgifu, and a grandson of Alfred the Great. His elder brother, Edmund, was killed trying to protect his seneschal from an attack by a violent thief. Edmund's two sons, Eadwig and Edgar, were then young children, so Eadred became king. He suffered from ill health in the last years of his life and he died at the age of a little over thirty, having never married. He was succeeded successively by his nephews, Eadwig and Edgar.

Eadred's elder half-brother Æthelstan inherited the kingship of England south of the Humber in 924, and conquered the south Northumbrian Viking kingdom of York in 927. Edmund and Eadred both inherited kingship of the whole kingdom, lost it shortly afterwards when York accepted Viking kings, and recovered it by the end of their reigns. In 954, the York magnates expelled their last king, Erik Bloodaxe, and Eadred appointed Osullf, the Anglo-Saxon ruler of the north Northumbrian territory of Bamburgh, as the first ealdorman of the whole of Northumbria.

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