Aldhun

After having spent twenty-two years in his bishopric, Aelfsig died; and in his stead Aldhun, a man of devoted religion, was elected, and consecrated bishop, in the year nine hundred and ninety from the incarnation of our Lord, which was the twelfth year of the reign of king Aethelred, who had obtained possession of the royal sceptre upon the death of his brother Edward, who was miserably murdered by the treachery of his stepmother. This bishop was of a noble family, but much more ennobled by his devotion, which rendered him acceptable to God; and, like all his predecessors, he was a monk in habit and mode of life. Even to this present day the inhabitants of the district celebrate his praises, the account of which they have received from their ancestors.
CHAP. XXXVL—HOW ALDUNE CONVEYED THE BODY OF ST. CUTHBERT TO RIPPUN; AND HOW HE AFTERWARDS CAME FROM WEDERLAU TO DURHAM; AND OF THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO CARRIED HIM.
IN the year nine hundred and ninety-five from our Lord’s incarnation, and in the seventeenth year of the reign of king Ethelred, when this same bishop Aldun was now entering upon the sixth year of his episcopate, he was admonished by a revelation from heaven, that, carrying with him the uncorrupt body of the most holy father, he should escape by flight, as speedily as possible, from the irruption about to be made by some pirates who were close at hand. So he took the body with him, and he and all the people who are styled the people of St. Cuthbert conveyed it to Hripum;³ and this was in the one hundred and thirteenth year after it had been located at Cunecacestre. It is worthy of note that in this their flight not one individual of that great multitude, from the least to the greatest, was afflicted with any infirmity, but they all accomplished their journey without any fatigue or inconvenience whatever. Not only did the men, but even the more delicate of their cattle, and those which had just before been born (for it was during spring time that this occurred) endure the fatigues of the road without difficulty and suffering. But after three or four months, peace being restored, as they were returning with the venerable body to its former resting-place, and had now reached a spot near Durham, called Wurdelau, on the eastern side of the city, the vehicle, on which the shrine containing the holy body was deposited, could not be induced to advance any further. They who attempted to move it were assisted by others, but their efforts, though vigorous, were equally ineffective; nor did the additional attempts of the crowd which now came up produce any result in moving it; for the shrine containing the uncorrupted body continued where it was, as firmly fixed as if it were a mountain. This circamstance clearly intimated to all that he refused to be reconducted to his former place of residence; but at the same time they did not know where they should deposit him, for the place on which they were at that time standing, in the middle of a plain, was then uninhabitable. Hereupon the bishop addressed the people, and gave directions that they should solicit an explanation of this sign from heaven by a fast of three days’ duration, which should be spent in watching and prayer, in order that they might discover where they should take up their abode along with the holy body of the father. This having been done, a revelation was made to a certain religious person named Eadmer, to the purport that they were required to remove the body to Durham, and there to prepare a resting-place for it. When this revelation was publicly announced, all were comforted thereby, and joyfully returned thanks to Christ; and a very few of their number were now able to raise the saint’s shrine, whereas the whole multitude had previously been unable even so much as to move it. And thus with joy and thanksgiving they translated the holy body to Durham, the spot which had been pointed out to them from heaven; and, having made a little church of boughs of trees with all speed, therein they placed the shrine for a time.
³ Ripon, in Yorkshire.
… CHAP. XXXVII—HOW THE PLACE WAS MADE HABITABLE.
WHEN the whole assembly of the people accompanied the holy body of the father Cuthbert into Durham, it was discovered that the place, although naturally strong, was not easily habitable; for the whole space, with the sole exception of a moderate-sized plain in the midst was covered with a very dense wood. This had been kept under cultivation, having been regularly ploughed and sown; and hereon, at a later period, bishop Aldhun erected a tolerably large church of stone, as will appear hereafter. The said bishop, assisted by all the populace, and by Uhtred,² earl of the Northumbrians, cut down the whole of the timber, and in a brief space of time made the place habitable. The entire population of the district, which extends from the river Coquet to the Tees, readily and willingly rendered assistance as well to this work as to the erection of the church at a later period; nor did they discontinue their labours until the whole was completed. When the wood had been uprooted, and a residence assigned by lot to each person, the bishop, in the warmth of his love for Christ and St. Cuthbert, commenced to build a fine church upon a large scale, and devoted all his energies to its completion. In the meantime the sacred corpse had been translated from that smaller church, which we have already mentioned, and removed into another which was called the White Church; and there it remained for the three years during which the larger fabric was being built.
² See Dugdale’s Baron, i. 3.
… CHAP. XXXIX.—AS TO THE PERIOD AT WHICH BISHOP ALDUN DEDICATED THE CHURCH AT DURHAM, AND ABOUT THE GIFTS WITH WHICH IT WAS ENDOWED BY THE NOBILITY.
NOW, to return to our previous narration, the venerable bishop Aldhun solemnly dedicated the church upon the day before the nones of September [4th Sept.], in the third year after its foundation; and to the great joy of all, and to the honour of God, he translated the incorrupted body of the most holy father Cuthbert, and deposited it with due honour in the place which had been prepared for its reception. And so, up to the present time, the episcopal see remains in this place, along with the holy body, although it had originally been founded by king Oswald and bishop Aidan in the island of Lindisfarne. From that period, I mean from the year in which Aidan ascended the bishop’s seat in that island, until the year in which Aldhun mounted that in Durham, three hundred and sixty-one years had elapsed, and three hundred and nine from the death of the father Cuthbert.
The whole of the population, no less than the bishop, was exceedingly delighted with the locality in which the providence of God had been pleased to fix the future abode of the body of his servant, and to manifest that such was his pleasure by the miracle and revelation which we have already recorded. This bishop was a personage of uncommon devotion and humility, and beloved by all good men for his words and actions.
At this time there were very many who contributed divers gifts to the benefit of the church, as well as landed possessions for the support of those who there ministered to the holy confessor. One of these, a nobleman called Styr, the son of Ulf, obtained permission from king Ethelred to give Dearnington, with its adjuncts, to St. Cuthbert; and (in the presence of the king, and of Wolstan, archbishop of York, and Aldhun, bishop of Durham, and the other chief men who had assembled with the king at York) this donation was so confirmed, that a sentence of an eternal anathema was pronounced upon the person who should deprive St. Cuthbert of the gift.
… CHAP. XL.—CONCERNING KING CNUT; AND OF THE PRAYER OF BISHOP ALDUN, AND HIS DEATH.
IN the year of our Lord’s incarnation ten hundred and eighteen, while Cnut ruled the kingdom of the Angles, a comet appeared for thirty nights to the people of Northumbria, a terrible presage of the calamity by which that province was about to be desolated. For, shortly afterwards, (that is, after thirty days,) nearly the whole population, from the river Tees to the Tweed, and their borders, were cut off in a conflict in which they were engaged with a countless multitude of Scots at Carrun.⁵ When the bishop heard of the miserable destruction of the people of St. Cuthbert, he was smitten to the heart with deep grief, and he sighed forth these words: “It is my miserable lot to be reserved to see such days as these are! Have I lived thus long only to be the witness of such a destruction of my people as the present? The land will never recover its original condition. O most holy Cuthbert! O confessor beloved of God! if ever at any time I have done aught which was well-pleasing in your sight, make me now, I entreat you, some return for the same; and let this be my reward, that, since my people have fallen, I may not long survive them.” It was not long before he obtained the request for which he had been a petitioner; for a few days afterwards he was seized with sickness, and died,⁶ after having held the bishopric for twenty-nine years; of which number, five were passed at Chester, and twenty-four at Durham. Of the church, the building of which he had commenced, he left behind him nothing more than a western tower, and that in an unfinished condition; the completion and dedication of which were reserved for his successor.
⁵ Probably Carham, on the riyer Tweed. See Camd. Brit, col 1096.
⁶ A. D. 1018.

Simeon’s account of the siege of Durham
IN the year of our Lord’s incarnation nine hundred and sixty-nine, during the reign of Ethelred, king of the English, Malcolm, king of the Scots, the son of king Kyned, collected together the entire military force of Scotland; and having devastated the province of the Northumbrians with the sword and fire, he laid siege to Durham. At this time bishop Aldun had the government there; for Waltheof, who was the earl of the Northumbrians, had shut himself up in Bebbanburc [Bamborough]. He was exceedingly aged, and in consequence could not undertake any active measures against the enemy. Bishop Aldun had given his daughter, named Ecgfrida, in marriage to Cospatric's son, named Ucthred, a youth of great energy, and well skilled in military affairs; and along with her the bishop had given him these vills—part of the lands of St. Cuthbert, namely, Bermetun, Skirningheim, Eltun, Carltun, Heaclif, and Heseldene, upon these terms, namely, that so long as he lived, he would treat his wife with honour.
… Upon his return home, however, Ucthred sent away the daughter of bishop Aldun; and because in so doing he had acted contrary to his promise and oath, the father of the young woman (I mean, the bishop) took back to the church the land which he had given Ucthred, along with his daughter. … The daughter of bishop Aldun, whom earl Ucthred had sent away, became the wife of a certain thane in Yorkshire, namely, Kilvert, the son of Ligulf; their daughter, Sigrida, became the wife of Arkil, the son of Ecgfrid, and she bore him a son named Cospatric. This Cospatric took to wife the daughter of Dolfin, the son of Torfin, by whom he begot Cospatric, who of late ought to have fought with Waltheof, the son of Eilaf. Kilvert, the son of Ligulf, sent away the daughter of bishop Aldun, (I mean, Ecgfrida.) whereupon her father commanded her to return forthwith to Durham; and when she obeyed his commands, she brought back with her Bermetun, and Skirningheim, and Eltun, which she had retained in her own possession; and thus she restored to the church and the bishop the lands which properly belonged to them.

ALDHUN, or EALDHUN (d. 1018), bishop of Durham, a monk of noble family, was appointed to the Bemician see of Chester-le-Street, Durham, in 990. In order to escape the ravages of the Danes, Aldhun, accompanied by the whole body of his monks, left Chester in 995, and carried the body of St. Cuthberht to Ripon. This migration was, according to Simeon of Durham, the result of a divine warning. After the departure of Olaf to Norway England enjoyed a respite from invasion. Seeing that the danger was past, Aldhun with St. Cuthberht’s body left Ripon after a stay of three or four months. He and his monks did not take the straight road back to Chester-le-Street, but went to Werdelau Hill to the east of the present city of Durham. There the carriage which bore the incorruptible body of the saint stuck fast. From this it was inferred that it was the will of St. Cuthberht to remain there. Unfortunately the place was uninhabitable. It was. however, revealed to one of the brethren that the body was to be taken to Durham. The choice, whether it was made by Aldhun or his patron, was a wise one, for the place was very strong. It cost no small pains to make it fit for the habitation of the bishop and his monks. Only one level spot was there in the neighbourhood where men could drive the plough. There Aldhun at once began to raise a large and stately church of stone. All the rest of the land was covered with trees. Uhtred, the Northumbrian earl, and all the people from the Coquet to the Tees, came to help the monks. The trees were grubbed up, dwellings were built, and in three years’ time (998) the church was consecrated, and received the body of the saint. Thus it was that after 113 years Chester-le-Street ceased to be the see of the Bernician bishop; and thus Aldhun planted church and city on the height above the Wear in a place of strength which has in no small degree affected the history of the bishopric. Many and rich gifts were made to the church of Durham during the episcopate of Aldhun. Some lands, however, were alienated to the Northumbrian earls to help them in times of need. Aldhun had a daughter named Ecgfreda, whom he married to Uhtred, son of Waltheof, the earl of Bernician Northumbria. On her marriage the bishop granted to her husband six of tlie estates of his church, to be held by him so long as he lived with his wife. Untred gained great glory by a victony over the Scots, and was made earl of both the Northumbrian earldoms. He was now rich enough to resign the bishop’s grant. He sent Ecgfreda back to her father, and restored the estates which he had received with her. Both he and Ecgfreda married again. Aldhun is described as religious, humble, and gracious in word and deed. In 1018 the whole strength of the Bernician earldom was destroyed at Carham by Malcolm, king of Scotland. Nearly all the thegns of the north fell in the battle. When Aldhun heard of the piteous slaughter of the people of his bishopric, he prayed that he might not survive them longer. He fell sick, and in a few days he died. One tower only of his new church remained unfinished at his death.
[Simeon of Durham, Hist. Dunelm. Eccl., De Ucthredo Comite, Hist. Regum.] W. H.

Ecgfrida

Simeon’s account of the siege of Durham
IN the year of our Lord’s incarnation nine hundred and sixty-nine, during the reign of Ethelred, king of the English, Malcolm, king of the Scots, the son of king Kyned, collected together the entire military force of Scotland; and having devastated the province of the Northumbrians with the sword and fire, he laid siege to Durham. At this time bishop Aldun had the government there; for Waltheof, who was the earl of the Northumbrians, had shut himself up in Bebbanburc [Bamborough]. He was exceedingly aged, and in consequence could not undertake any active measures against the enemy. Bishop Aldun had given his daughter, named Ecgfrida, in marriage to Cospatric's son, named Ucthred, a youth of great energy, and well skilled in military affairs; and along with her the bishop had given him these vills—part of the lands of St. Cuthbert, namely, Bermetun, Skirningheim, Eltun, Carltun, Heaclif, and Heseldene, upon these terms, namely, that so long as he lived, he would treat his wife with honour.
Now, when this young man perceived that the land was devastated by the enemy, and that Durham was in a state of blockade and siege, he collected together into one body a considerable number of the men of Northumbria and Yorkshire, and cut to pieces nearly the entire multitude of the Scots;
… When king Ethelred heard of this, he summoned this young man to his presence (this was during the lifetime of his father Waltheof,) and as a reward for his courage, and for the battle which he had fought so gallantly, he gave him the earldom which had been his father’s, adding thereto the earldom of the men of York. Upon his return home, however, Ucthred sent away the daughter of bishop Aldun; and because in so doing he had acted contrary to his promise and oath, the father of the young woman (I mean, the bishop) took back to the church the land which he had given Ucthred, along with his daughter. … The daughter of bishop Aldun, whom earl Ucthred had sent away, became the wife of a certain thane in Yorkshire, namely, Kilvert, the son of Ligulf; their daughter, Sigrida, became the wife of Arkil, the son of Ecgfrid, and she bore him a son named Cospatric. This Cospatric took to wife the daughter of Dolfin, the son of Torfin, by whom he begot Cospatric, who of late ought to have fought with Waltheof, the son of Eilaf. Kilvert, the son of Ligulf, sent away the daughter of bishop Aldun, (I mean, Ecgfrida.) whereupon her father commanded her to return forthwith to Durham; and when she obeyed his commands, she brought back with her Bermetun, and Skirningheim, and Eltun, which she had retained in her own possession; and thus she restored to the church and the bishop the lands which properly belonged to them. After this she took the veil, which she kept faithfully until the day of her death: she lies buried in the churchyard of Durham, awaiting the day of judgment.

Aldhun Family

Aldhun

Ecgfrida