then part of his diocese of Worcester. He also repaired a large part of Beverley Minster in the diocese of York, adding a presbytery and an unusually splendid painted ceiling covering "all the upper part of the church from the choir to the tower... intermingled with gold in various ways, and in a wonderful fashion." He added a pulpit "in German style" of bronze, gold and silver, surmounted by an arch with a rood cross in the same materials; these were examples of the lavish decorations added to important churches in the years before the conquest. Ealdred encouraged Folcard, a monk of Canterbury, to write the Life of Saint John of Beverley. This was part of Ealdred's promotion of the cult of Saint John, who had been canonised only since 1037. Along with the Pontificale, Ealdred may have brought back from Cologne the first manuscript of the Cambridge Songs to enter England, a collection of Latin Goliardic songs which became famous in the Middle Ages. The historian Michael Lapidge suggests that the Laudes Regiae, which are included in Cotton Vitellius Exii, might have been composed by Ealdred, or a member of his household. Another historian, H. J. Cowdrey, argued that the laudes were composed at Winchester. These praise songs are probably the same performed at Matilda's coronation, but might have been used at other court ceremonies before Ealdred's death. Historians have seen Ealdred as an "old-fashioned prince-bishop". Others say he "raised the see of York from its former rustic state". He was known for his generosity and for his diplomatic and administrative abilities. After the Conquest, Ealdred provided a degree of continuity between the pre- and post-Conquest worlds. One modern historian feels it was Ealdred who was behind the compilation of the D version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and gives a date in the 1050s as its composition. Certainly, Ealdred is one of the leading figures in the work, and it is likely one of his clerks compiled the version. Notes Citations References Further reading External links 1069 deaths Abbots of Tavistock Archbishops of York Bishops of Hereford Bishops of Worcester 11th-century English Roman Catholic bishops 11th-century English Roman Catholic archbishops Year of birth unknown Burials at York Minster