Title: Saint

Alternate names/spellings: Ailred, Ælred, Æthelred

Dates: 1110 - 1167 () 

Aelred was born in Hexham, Northumbria, in 1110. He spent the beginning of his childhood in the court of King David of Scotland. The king wanted him to become a bishop, but Aelred wished instead to become a monk at the abbey at Rievaulx. In 1446 he was elected as abbott, putting him in charge of all Cistercian abbots in England as well. This position required him to travel throughout Scotland and England, and to Ireland and France. He wrote several books on spirituality, including Speculum caritatis and De spiritali amicitia, and histories such as the Life of St. Edward, Battle of the Standard, and The Life of Saint Ninian. TLM