English embassy to Rome (1061)

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The English embassy to Rome in 1061 was a deputation sent by king Edward the Confessor to the pope, Nicholas II, to deal with various ecclesiastical matters, particularly the ordination of Giso, Bishop of Wells, Walter, Bishop of Hereford, and Ealdred, Archbishop of York. They travelled to Rome under the protection of Tostig, earl of Northumbria and his brother Gyrth. Ealdred was initially refused ordination by the pope because he was adjudged guilty of pluralism and other breaches of canon law, and the embassy received a further setback when they were despoiled by robbers as they began their journey home. When they returned indignantly to Rome, however, Ealdred was granted the archbishopric after all, and the party was able to make its way home to England with almost all its objectives achieved.