Æthelwold I was Bishop of Winchester from 29 November 963 until his death on 1 August 984, so the manuscript was produced between those dates. The benediction for the Feast of St. Swithun mentions miracles performed by Swithun, which lead H. A. Wilson to conclude that the benediction could not have been composed before the translation of Swithun's relics on 15 July 971. St. Ætheldreda is given a prominence in the manuscript that would indicate that the manuscript was not made until after 970 when Æthelwold had refounded the abbey of Ely, which had been founded by Ætheldreda. R. Deshman has argued that the drawings added to the Leofric Missal (Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Bodley 579) in about 979 were influenced by the illuminations of the Benedictional of St. Æthelwold, meaning that it was probably produced before 979.