Ealdred was an Earl in north-east England from the death of his uncle, Eadwulf Cudel, soon after 1018[1] until his murder in 1038.
[4] He was the son of Uhtred, Earl of Northumbria, who was murdered by Thurbrand the Hold in 1016 with the connivance of Cnut.
Some time probably in the mid 1020s Ealdred killed Thurbrand in revenge for his father's death.
There were several other revenge murders in what was described by Frank Stenton as "the most remarkable private feud in English history".
[2] Richard Fletcher gives an account in his book Bloodfeud: Murder and Revenge in Anglo-Saxon England.