The method then by which this rank was attained becomes of some interest. And first it is necessary to inquire whether it was hereditary or not; whether it was for life, or only _durante beneplacito_, or _benemerito_. That it was not strictly hereditary appears in the clearest manner from the general fact that the appointments recorded in the Chronicle and elsewhere are given to nobles unconnected by blood with the last ealdorman. There are very few instances of an ealdorman’s rank being held in the same county by a father and son in succession. This occurred indeed in Mercia, where in 983 Ælfríc succeeded his father Ælfhere: Harald followed Godwine in his duchy, and at the same period, Leófríc and Sigeweard succeeded in establishing a sort of succession in their families. But when this did take place, it must be looked upon as a departure from the old principle, and as a thing which in practice would have been carefully avoided, during the better period of Anglosaxon history, for which the feeble reign of Æðelred offers no fair pattern. Under his weak and miserable rule the more powerful nobles might venture upon usurpations which would have been impossible under his father. And Cnut’s system of administration was favourable to the growth of an hereditary order of dukes. A further examination of our history shows that in general the dignity was held for life; we very rarely, if ever, hear of an ealdorman removed or promoted from one shire to another, and the entries in the Chronicle as well as the signatures to the charters attest that many of their number enjoyed their dignity for a very large number of years, in spite of the chances of an active military life. But we do find, and not unfrequently, that ealdormen have been expelled from their offices for treason and other grave offences. In the later times of Æðelred, when traitorous dealings with the Danish enemy offered the means of serving private or family hostility, the outlawry of the ealdorman who led the different conflicting parties in the state was common, and similar events accompanied the struggles of Godwine’s party against the family of Mercia, for the conduct of public affairs in England[354]. But at a much earlier period we hear of ealdormen losing their offices and lands: in 901, Eádweard gave to Winchester ten hides at Wiley, which duke Wulfhere had forfeited by leaving his king and country without licence[355]. ----- Footnote 354: See the Chronicle _passim_. Footnote 355: “Ista vero praenominata tellus primitus fuit praepeditus a quodam duce, nomine Wulfhere, et eius uxore, quando ille utrumque et suum dominum regem Ælfredum et patriam ultra iusiurandum quam regi et suis omnibus optimatibus iuraverat sine licentia dereliquit. Tunc etiam, cum omnium iudicio sapientium Gewissorum et Mercensium, potestatem et haereditatem dereliquit agrorum.” Cod. Dipl. No. 1078. -----