Ligulf (sometimes Liulf or Ligulf of Lumley; died 1080) was an Anglo-Danish nobleman with landholdings in the north of England.
Ligulf was married to Ealdgyth, the daughter of Ealdred the earl of Northumbria.[1] Ligulf's mother was a descendant of the earls of Bernicia.[citation needed] Ligulf was noted for his devotion to Saint Cuthbert.[2]
After the death of Waltheof in 1076, Ligulf was one of the last remaining noblemen in the north with ties to the house of Bamburgh, and he became one of the main advisors to Walcher, the Bishop of Durham. Two of Walcher's other advisors, Leobwin and Gilbert were opposed to Ligulf's advice.[1] According to John of Worcester, Leobwin took offence at the manner in which Ligulf replied to Leobwin's opposition to Ligulf's advice to the bishop.[3] In April or May 1080 they attacked Ligulf's house in the middle of the night and killed most of the household, including Ligulf.[1] The two men were aided by the bishop's own knights, although it is not clear if Walcher was involved in the plot or not.[4]
Ealdgyth survived Ligulf's death, as Walcher offered her a gift of land to settle the feud.[1] Walcher met Ligulf's surviving family, led by Eadulf Rus at Gateshead on 14 May 1080, and attempted to persuade them that the bishop had not been involved in the murder.[3] Walcher as both Bishop of Durham and Earl of Northumbria (a position he purchased) was duty bound to protect its people and prosecute crimes. Ligulf's family did not believe the bishop's protests of innocence, especially since Ligulf's murderers, Leobwin and Gilbert, were among Walcher's party. The Northumbrians presented Walcher with a petition of wrongs committed, which Walcher rejected. This enraged the Northumbrians, who then attacked Walcher and his supporters.[1] Walcher and his men sought refuge in a nearby church which was then set afire. Walcher was killed as he fled the burning church, Ligulf's murderers burned to death in the church as did many of Walcher's other men.
Ligulf and Ealdgyth had two sons – Morcar and Uhtred. Morcar became a monk at Jarrow. Uhtred may be the same as the Uhtred recorded in Domesday Book holding a manor at Rudston in Yorkshire as a tenant-in-chief of the king. Ligulf may also have had a daughter named Ragnald, as a "Ragnald, daughter of Ligulf" is recorded as granting lands to Fountains Abbey in the 1130s. She was married to Robert de Sarz.[1]
^ abcdefAird "Ligulf" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Ligulf (sometimes Liulf or Ligulf of Lumley; died 1080) was an Anglo-Danish nobleman with landholdings in the north of England. Ligulf was married to Ealdgyth...
Queen consort of Scotland. A fourth daughter Ealdgyth (Algitha) married Ligulf, who was murdered in 1080. Before his death they had two sons: Uhtred and...
occurred as revenge for the murder of Walcher's English right-hand man, Ligulf. Ligulf had been connected into the Bamburgh kindred marrying, according to...
members of the related Audley and Stanley families are two apparent brothers, Ligulf de Aldelegha and Adam de Standlega, who during the reigns of kings Stephen...
was Ligulf of Lumley, who was connected by birth to the old Northumbrian line and was married to the daughter of Ealdred, Earl of Bernicia. Ligulf's presence...
public access. In 1069, after the Norman conquest the English landlord Ligulf de Greystoke was re-granted his land and he built a wooden tower surrounded...
of Derby then merged in the Crown. The Stanley family was descended from Ligulf of Aldithley, who was also the ancestor of the Audleys (see Audley-Stanley...
Uhtred may have been identical with the man of that name who was a son of Ligulf, a great Northumbrian thegn killed at Durham in 1080. Dolfin, called in...
[Featherstone] and Prestone [Purston] and Arduwic [Hardwick] and Osele [Nostell], Ligulf had 16 carucates of land for geld, and 6 ploughs may be there." It is thought...
in the Domesday Book as having two ploughlands and being the property of Ligulf in 1066, but King William in 1086. The name was recorded as either Elrebec...
Domesday Book as Hamelsec in the Bulford hundred and as a possession of Ligulf. After the Norman invasion the land was granted to Count Robert of Mortain...
invasion the manor was split between several land owners. Those named included Ligulf, Northmann, Thorkil, Thorsten and Thorulf. Afterwards some of the land was...
built, and is the supposed location of the murder of Ligulf by Bishop Walcher's officers after Ligulf complained to the bishop of their cruelty. The Northumbrians...
and Gospatric. Ecgfrida is subsequently married off to Kilvert, son of Ligulf, a thegn from Yorkshire, through whom she mothers a daughter named Sigrid...
the time of the time of Norman conquest, lands in the manor were held by Ligulf, Northmann, Earl Morcar, Earl Waltheof and Gamal, son of Karli. Afterwards...
believed that the Bulmers were related to the Anglo-Saxon noble Liulf, (Ligulf, Luigulf, etc.), who was the first member of the Lumley family. Liulf was...
Yorkshire from Robert, which before the Norman Conquest had been owned by Ligulf. Throughout all three ridings of Yorkshire, Fossard's holdings amounted...
as Fridebi with the manor lands shared between Gamal, son of Kalri and Ligulf, subsequently passing after invasion to Hugh, son of Baldric, who made Gerard...
probably a form of Sigulph (other variants include Ulf, L'ulf, Lyulph, Ligulf), the ancestral owner of the land, from whom the lake, Ullswater, may also...
Malcolm Canmore, King of Scots at the Battle of Alnwick. 1107–1118 Joint Ligulf and Aluric 1119–1132 Odard 1133–1150 Adam son of Odard 1154 Odard 1155–1170...
William the Conqueror as under the ownership of Godwin of Tissington and Ligulf. Another place, Soham or Salham had also been recorded in Domesday, and...
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