# Ordgar > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ordgar > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ordgar.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordgar > Source revision: 1344428501 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Ealdorman of Devon}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}} '''Ordgar''' (died 971) was [Ealdorman of Devon](/source/Ealdorman_of_Devon) in England. He was a great [West Country](/source/West_Country) landowner and apparently a close advisor of his son-in-law [Edgar the Peaceful](/source/Edgar_the_Peaceful), king of [England](/source/England). His daughter [Ælfthryth](/source/%C3%86lfthryth_(wife_of_Edgar)) was King Edgar's third wife and was the mother of King [Æthelred the Unready](/source/%C3%86thelred_the_Unready) (c.968 – 1016). He was created an [ealdorman](/source/ealdorman) by King Edgar in 964. ==Biography== ===Historical sources=== Little is known about Ordgar other than what survives in three historical sources: *His name appears as a witness on charters of King Edgar between 962 and 970.{{cite web|last=Lewis|first=C.P.|title=Ordgar (d. 971), magnate|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/20813?docPos=1|work=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=13 January 2011}} *Digressions in [William of Malmesbury](/source/William_of_Malmesbury)'s ''[Gesta pontificum Anglorum](/source/Gesta_pontificum_Anglorum)''{{cite book|last1=Thomson|first1=R. M.|last2=Winterbottom|first2=M.|title=William of Malmesbury: Gesta Pontificum Anglorum: Volume II: General Introduction and Commentary|date=2007|publisher=Clarendon Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-922661-0|page=151}} *More substantial references in [Geoffrey Gaimar](/source/Geoffrey_Gaimar)'s ''L'Estoire des Engles'' regarding the love affairs and marriages of his daughter Ælfthryth{{cite web|last=Short|first=Ian|title=Gaimar, Geffrei (fl. 1136–1137), Anglo-Norman poet and historian|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/10281|work=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=13 January 2011}} ==Gaimar's account== According to [Gaimar](/source/Geoffrey_Gaimar), Ordgar was the son of an ealdorman, and owned land in every [parish](/source/parish) from [Exeter](/source/Exeter) in Devon to [Frome](/source/Frome) in Somerset. He married an unknown lady of royal birth, by whom he had a daughter [Ælfthryth](/source/%C3%86lfthryth_(wife_of_Edgar)). The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography draws a conclusion that Ordgar was "clearly a figure of some importance" to have secured such a match. King Edgar determined on marrying Ælfthryth and to this end he sent [Æthelwald, Ealdorman of East Anglia](/source/%C3%86thelwald%2C_Ealdorman_of_East_Anglia) as his agent to woo her. On arrival Æthelwald found her in company with her father Ordgar, whom she completely controlled by her personality, playing chess, which they had learned from the [Danes](/source/Danes).{{sfn|Bateson|1895}} Æthelwald instead took Ælfthryth for his own wife and married her in about 956.{{sfn|Bateson|1895}} Æthelwald died in 962, and [Dunstan](/source/Dunstan) suspected that he was murdered by his wife Ælfthryth who thereafter, according to Dunstan, seduced King Edgar and murdered his son Prince [Edward the Martyr](/source/Edward_the_Martyr) in order to pave the way for the crowning of her son [Æthelred](/source/%C3%86thelred_the_Unready) as king. It is, however, certain that, under whatever actual circumstances, Ælfthryth became King Edgar's third wife in 964 and in the same year her father Ordgar was created ealdorman. The ''ODNB'' supposes that Ordgar from the time of his daughter's royal marriage until 970 was one of Edgar's closest advisors, by virtue of his being named as a witness on almost all charters issued by King Edgar during the period. ==Tavistock Abbey== Older historians thought that [Tavistock Abbey](/source/Tavistock_Abbey) was founded in 961 by Ordgar{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Tavistock|volume=26|pages=457–458}} but the modern consensus is that it was wholly the foundation of his son [Ordwulf](/source/Ordwulf) in 974;{{cite web|title=Tavistock Abbey|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1020401|publisher=[Historic England](/source/Historic_England)|date=2001-08-28|access-date=2020-09-23}}{{cite book|first=Mary|last=Freeman|chapter=Ordulf's Shadow in Tavistock|pages=23–36|editor=Bliss, Jane|display-editors=etal|title=Aspects of Devon History|publisher=Devon History Society|year=2012|isbn=978-0-903766-02-9}} the charter of confirmation was granted in 981 by King Æthelred, Ordwulf's nephew. ==Death and burial== Ordgar died in 971. According to [William of Malmesbury](/source/William_of_Malmesbury), he was buried with his son Edulf at [Tavistock](/source/Tavistock), Devon, but according to [Florence of Worcester](/source/Florence_of_Worcester), he was buried at [Exeter](/source/Exeter).{{sfn|Bateson|1895}} ==Issue== The name of Ordgar's wife is not known; however, he is known to have issue: * [Ordwulf](/source/Ordwulf) (died after 1005), High Reeve of Devon * [Ælfthryth](/source/%C3%86lfthryth_(wife_of_Edgar)), Queen Consort of England, married King Edgar of England. * Edulf (died 971 or before), was of gigantic strength and stature.Gesta Pontiff. pp. 202-3Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 42 pg 242-243 ==References== {{reflist}} ;Attribution *{{DNB|first=Mary|last=Bateson|wstitle=Ordgar|volume=42}} ==External links== * {{PASE|75016|Ordgar 5}} Category:Year of birth unknown Category:971 deaths Category:10th-century English landowners Category:History of Devon --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ordgar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordgar) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordgar?action=history)). 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