Aelred of Rievaulx was an heir of Saxons living under Norman rule, a native speaker of English daily speaking French and Latin, a descendant of generations of married priests in an age when priests we
Archdeacon of Exeter before entering Forde Abbey in 1169, Baldwin was elected abbot in 1175. Six years later he was made bishop of Worcester, and in 1184 became Archbishop of Canterbury.The Commendati
Aelred of Rievaulx, the saintly abbot, tells here of saintly forebears and wondrous events in the North of England. An exile and son of exiles, Aelred was well aware of the conflicts and contradiction