Edmund the Martyr (also known as St Edmund or Edmund of East Anglia, died 20 November 869) was king of
East Anglia
East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...
from about 855 until his death.
Few historical facts about Edmund are known, as the kingdom of East Anglia was devastated by the
Vikings
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
, who destroyed any contemporary evidence of his reign. Coins minted by Edmund indicate that he succeeded
Æthelweard of East Anglia
Æthelweard (died 854) was a 9th-century king of East Anglia, the long-lived Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. Little is known of Æthelweard's reign and even his regnal dates are not known for ...
, as they shared the same
moneyer
A moneyer is a private individual who is officially permitted to mint money. Usually the rights to coin money are bestowed as a concession by a state or government. Moneyers have a long tradition, dating back at least to ancient Greece. They beca ...
s. He is thought to have been of East Anglian origin, but 12th century writers produced fictitious accounts of his family, succession and his rule as king. Edmund's death was mentioned in the ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alf ...
'', which relates that he was killed in 869 after the
Great Heathen Army
The Great Heathen Army,; da, Store Hedenske Hær also known as the Viking Great Army,Hadley. "The Winter Camp of the Viking Great Army, AD 872–3, Torksey, Lincolnshire", ''Antiquaries Journal''. 96, pp. 23–67 was a coalition of Scandin ...
advanced into East Anglia.
Medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
versions of Edmund's life and martyrdom differ as to whether he died in battle fighting the Great Heathen Army, or if he met his death after being captured and then refusing the Viking leaders' demand that he renounce Christ.
A popular
cult
In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...
emerged after Edmund's death, and he was
canonised
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of ...
by the Church. A series of coins commemorating him was minted from around the time East Anglia was absorbed by the kingdom of
Wessex
la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons
, common_name = Wessex
, image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg
, map_caption = S ...
in 918, and in about 986, the French monk
Abbo wrote of his life and martyrdom.
During the 10th century, Edmund's remains were
translated
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...
from an unidentified location in East Anglia to Beodricesworth (modern
Bury St Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...
); they were temporarily moved to London for safekeeping in 1010. Edmund's cult flourished during the
Early
Early may refer to:
History
* The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.:
** Early Christianity
** Early modern Europe
Places in the United States
* Early, Iowa
* Early, Texas
* Early ...
and
High
High may refer to:
Science and technology
* Height
* High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area
* High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory
* High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift ...
Middle Ages, and he and
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066.
Edward was the son of Æth ...
were regarded as the
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
s of
medieval England
England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the medieval period, from the end of the 5th century through to the start of the Early Modern period in 1485. When England emerged from the collapse of the Roman Empire, the econ ...
until they were replaced by
Saint George
Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...
in the 15th century. Medieval manuscripts and works of art relating to Edmund include Abbo's ''Passio Sancti Eadmundi'',
John Lydgate
John Lydgate of Bury (c. 1370 – c. 1451) was an English monk and poet, born in Lidgate, near Haverhill, Suffolk, England.
Lydgate's poetic output is prodigious, amounting, at a conservative count, to about 145,000 lines. He explored and est ...
's 14th-century ''Life'', the
Wilton Diptych
The Wilton Diptych () is a small portable diptych of two hinged panels, painted on both sides, now in the National Gallery, London. It is an extremely rare survival of a late medieval religious panel painting from England.
The diptych was pain ...
, and a number of church
wall paintings.
King of the East Angles
Accession and rule
The existence of Edmund is known from coins minted by his
moneyer
A moneyer is a private individual who is officially permitted to mint money. Usually the rights to coin money are bestowed as a concession by a state or government. Moneyers have a long tradition, dating back at least to ancient Greece. They beca ...
s, three of whom—Dudda, Eadmund, and Twicga—minted coins for Edmund's predecessor,
Æthelweard Æthelweard, also spelled Ethelweard, Aethelweard, Athelweard, etc., is an Anglo-Saxon male name. It may refer to:
* King Æthelweard of the Hwicce (''fl''. 7/8th century)
* King Æthelweard of East Anglia (''fl.'' mid-9th century)
* Æthelweard (s ...
which suggests that a smooth transition of power occurred. The earliest documentary reference to Edmund is in the 870
annal
Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record.
Scope
The nature of the distinction between anna ...
of the ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alf ...
'' compiled 20 years after his death. According to the historian Susan Ridyard, Edmund was born and acceded to the East Anglian throne in . Nothing is known of his life or reign from contemporary written sources. The devastation in East Anglia that was caused by the
Vikings
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
destroyed all the
charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...
s that may have referred to Edmund.
Edmund cannot be placed within any ruling dynasty. The 10th century French monk
Abbo of Fleury
Abbo or Abbon of Fleury ( la, Abbo Floriacensis; – 13 November 1004), also known as Saint Abbo or Abbon, was a monk and abbot of Fleury Abbey in present-day Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire near Orléans, France.
Life
Abbo was born near Orléan ...
stated that Edmund was ', which according to Ridyard "was probably Abbo's rather verbose way of saying he was descended from the ancient nobility of his race".
A variety of different coins were
minted
Minted is an online marketplace of premium design goods created by independent artists and designers. The company sources art and design from a community of more than 16,000 independent artists from around the world. Minted offers artists two bus ...
by Edmund's moneyers during his reign. The letters ''AN'', standing for 'Anglia', appear on the coins of only Edmund and
Æthelstan
Æthelstan or Athelstan (; ang, Æðelstān ; on, Aðalsteinn; ; – 27 October 939) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to his death in 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder and his first ...
, another 9th century king of the East Angles; the letters appear on Edmund's coins as part of the phrase ''+ EADMUND REX AN
LORUM' ("Edmund, King of the Angles"). Edmund's later coins read ''+ EADMUND REX'' ("Edmund, King"). Otherwise, no chronology for his coins has been confirmed.
Death and burial
For decades after the
Viking raid on Lindisfarne in 793, their attacks on England were mainly raids on isolated
monastic communities
Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic life plays an important role ...
. According to the ''
Annales Bertiniani
''Annales Bertiniani'' (''Annals of Saint Bertin'') are late Carolingian, Frankish annals that were found in the Abbey of Saint Bertin, Saint-Omer, France, after which they are named. Their account is taken to cover the period 830-82, thus contin ...
'' and the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', a larger-scale attack occurred in . By the end of the decade the Vikings had started to over-winter in England. A larger force still, known to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''
chronicle
A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...
rs as the ' (‘
Great Heathen Army
The Great Heathen Army,; da, Store Hedenske Hær also known as the Viking Great Army,Hadley. "The Winter Camp of the Viking Great Army, AD 872–3, Torksey, Lincolnshire", ''Antiquaries Journal''. 96, pp. 23–67 was a coalition of Scandin ...
’), appeared in 865. Three thousand men in hundreds of ships arrived off the east coast of England, probably from bases in Ireland. The army's first winter was spent in East Anglia before they moved on, arriving in
Northumbria
la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria
, common_name = Northumbria
, status = State
, status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
by 866/867. The Great Heathen Army attacked Mercia by the end of 867 and made peaceful terms with the Mercians; a year later the Vikings returned to East Anglia.
The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', which generally described few matters relating to the East Angles and their rulers, relates that "here the army rode across Mercia into East Anglia, and took winter-quarters at Thetford; and that winter King Edmund fought against them, and the Danish took the victory, and killed the king and conquered all that land". Where Edmund was killed and whether he died in battle or was murdered by the Danes afterwards is not known. The Great Heathen Army went on to invade
Wessex
la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons
, common_name = Wessex
, image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg
, map_caption = S ...
in late 870, where they were confronted by
Æthelred of Wessex
Æthelred (; ang, Æþelræd ) or Ethelred () is an Old English personal name (a compound of '' æþele'' and '' ræd'', meaning "noble counsel" or "well-advised") and may refer to:
Anglo-Saxon England
* Æthelred and Æthelberht, legendary prin ...
and his brother, the future
Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bot ...
.
Edmund was buried in a wooden chapel near to where he was killed. At a date generally assumed by historians to have been during the reign of
Æthelstan
Æthelstan or Athelstan (; ang, Æðelstān ; on, Aðalsteinn; ; – 27 October 939) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to his death in 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder and his first ...
, who became king of the Anglo-Saxons in 924, Edmund's body was
translated
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...
from —the location of which has never been conclusively identified—to ', now modern
Bury St Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...
. In 925 Æthelstan founded a religious community to take care of Edmund's
shrine
A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...
.
Memorial coinage
Following the death of the Danish
Guthrum
Guthrum ( ang, Guðrum, c. 835 – c. 890) was King of East Anglia in the late 9th century. Originally a native of what is now Denmark, he was one of the leaders of the "Great Summer Army" that arrived in Reading, Berkshire, Reading during April ...
, king of East Anglia, in around 890, the same moneyers who had minted his coins started to produce money in commemoration of Edmund. The coins, whose design was based upon those produced during Edmund's reign, provide the earliest evidence that he was venerated as a saint. All the
pennies
A penny is a coin ( pennies) or a unit of currency (pl. pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is th ...
and (more rarely)
half-pennies that were produced read ''SCE EADMVND REX''—'O St Edmund the king!'. Some of them have a
legend
A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...
that provides evidence that the Vikings experimented with their initial design.
The St Edmund memorial coins were minted in great quantities by a group of more than 70 moneyers, many of whom appear to have originated from continental Europe; over 1800 specimens were found when the
Cuerdale Hoard
The Cuerdale Hoard is a hoard of more than 8,600 items, including silver coins, English and Carolingian jewellery, hacksilver and ingots. It was discovered on 15 May 1840 on the southern bank of a bend of the River Ribble, in an area called Cuer ...
was discovered in
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
in 1840. The coins were widely used within the
Danelaw
The Danelaw (, also known as the Danelagh; ang, Dena lagu; da, Danelagen) was the part of England in which the laws of the Danes held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. The Danelaw contrasts with the West Saxon law and the Mercian ...
. They have mainly been found in the east of England, but the exact location of any of the mints they came from is not known with certainty, although scholars have assumed that they were made in East Anglia.
Veneration
Cult at Bury St Edmunds
Edmund's
cult
In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...
was promoted and flourished, but it declined, with the production of St Edmund coins ceasing after around 910. The saint did not reappear in
liturgical calendars
Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
from the 9th century until the appearance of Abbo of Fleury's ''Passio Sancti Eadmundi'' three centuries later. In 1010, Edmund's remains were translated to London to protect them from the Vikings, where they were kept for three years before being returned to Bury.
The Danish king
Canute
Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway ...
, who ruled England from 1016, converted to Christianity and was instrumental in founding the abbey at Bury St Edmunds. The new stone
abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.
The conce ...
church was completed in 1032, having possibly been commissioned by Canute in time to be consecrated on the 16th anniversary of the
Battle of Assandun
The Battle of Assandun (or Essendune) was fought between Danish and English armies on 18 October 1016. There is disagreement whether Assandun may be Ashdon near Saffron Walden in north Essex, England, or, as long supposed and better evidenced, ...
, which took place on 18 October 1016. Edmund's shrine became one of the most famous and wealthy
pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...
locations in England. The abbey's power grew upon being given jurisdiction over the western half of the county of
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
by the creation in 1044 of the
Liberty of Saint Edmund
Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom.
In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
, established by
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066.
Edward was the son of Æth ...
, and a larger church was built in 1095, into which Edmund's
relic
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...
s were translated.
After the
Norman conquest of England
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...
in 1066, the
abbot
Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...
planned out over 300 new houses within a
grid-iron pattern at a location that was close to the abbey precincts, a development which caused the town to more than double in size.
King John King John may refer to:
Rulers
* John, King of England (1166–1216)
* John I of Jerusalem (c. 1170–1237)
* John Balliol, King of Scotland (c. 1249–1314)
* John I of France (15–20 November 1316)
* John II of France (1319–1364)
* John I o ...
is said to have given a great
sapphire
Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sapphir ...
and a precious stone set in gold to the shrine, which he was permitted to keep upon the condition that it was returned to the abbey when he died.
Edmund's shrine was destroyed in 1539, during the
English Reformation
The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...
. According to a letter (now in
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
's
Cotton Collection), the shrine was defaced, and silver and gold to the value of over 5000
marks
Marks may refer to:
Business
* Mark's, a Canadian retail chain
* Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain
* Collective trade marks, trademarks owned by an organisation for the benefit of its members
* Marks & Co, the inspiration for the novel '' ...
was taken away. The abbot and his monks were expelled and the abbey was dissolved.
Cult at Toulouse
In 1664, a lawyer from the French city of
Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
publicized a claim that Edmund's remains had been taken from Bury by the future
Louis VIII of France
Louis VIII (5 September 1187 – 8 November 1226), nicknamed The Lion (french: Le Lion), was King of France from 1223 to 1226. As prince, he invaded England on 21 May 1216 and was excommunicated by a papal legate on 29 May 1216. On 2 June 1216 ...
following his defeat at the
Battle of Lincoln in 1217. The relics had then been donated by Louis to the
Basilica of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse
The Basilica of Saint-Sernin (Occitan: ''Basilica de Sant Sarnin'') is a church in Toulouse, France, the former abbey church of the Abbey of Saint-Sernin or St Saturnin. Apart from the church, none of the abbey buildings remain. The current churc ...
. The first record of this is a relic list for Saint-Sernin of around 1425, which included St Edmund among the church's relics.
In 1644, after the city was saved from the
plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pes ...
from 1628 to 1631, which the population ascribed to the intercession of a saint known to the church authorities as ''Aymundus'', who they decided was Edmund. In gratitude for its deliverance, the city vowed to build a new
reliquary
A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including ''wikt:phylactery, phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it i ...
for the saint's remains. Edmund's cult flourished there for over two centuries. The reliquary, designed by
Jean Chalette
Jean Chalette (27 December 1581 (baptised) – 2 October 1643) was a French miniature and portrait painter.
Chalette was born in Troyes, where he at first practised his art. In 1581 he was summoned to Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is ...
, was silver and adorned with solid silver statues. In 1644, the relics were verified and catalogued for interment in the newly-completed shrine, by which time the cult's origins had been forgotten. Edmund's shrine was removed in 1794 during the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
. The saint's relics were restored to the Basilica of St. Sernin in 1845 and placed in a new reliquary.
Relics at Arundel
In 1901 the
Archbishop of Westminster
The Archbishop of Westminster heads the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, in England. The incumbent is the metropolitan of the Province of Westminster, chief metropolitan of England and Wales and, as a matter of custom, is elected presid ...
,
Herbert Vaughan
Herbert Alfred Henry Vaughan, MHM (15 April 1832 – 19 June 1903) was an English prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Westminster from 1892 until his death in 1903, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1893. He was th ...
, received "certain relics" from the Basilica of Saint-Sernin. The relics, believed at the time to be those of St Edmund, were intended for the high altar of London's
Westminster Cathedral
Westminster Cathedral is the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It is the largest Catholic church in the UK and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster.
The site on which the cathedral stands in the City of ...
, which was then under construction.
The acceptance of the relics required the intercession of
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...
, after an initial refusal by the church in France. Upon their arrival in England they were housed in the
Fitzalan Chapel
The Fitzalan Chapel is the chancel of the church of St Nicholas in the western grounds of Arundel Castle.
The church of St Nicholas is one of the very few church buildings that is divided into two worship areas, a Roman Catholic area (the chan ...
at
Arundel Castle
Arundel Castle is a restored and remodelled medieval castle in Arundel, West Sussex, England. It was established during the reign of Edward the Confessor and completed by Roger de Montgomery. The castle was damaged in the English Civil War a ...
prior to their translation to Westminster. Although their validity had been confirmed in 1874, when two pieces were given to
Edward Manning, Archbishop of Westminster, concerns were raised about the authenticity of the Arundel relics by
Montague James
Montague James (d. c. 1812) was a Maroons, Maroon leader of Cudjoe's Town (Trelawny Town) in the last decade of eighteenth-century Jamaica. It is possible that Maroon colonel Montague James took his name from the white superintendent of Trelawny ...
and Charles Biggs in ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
''. The relics remained at Arundel under the care of the
Duke of Norfolk
Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the title refers to the county of Norfolk. The current duke is Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk. The dukes ...
while a historical commission was set up by Cardinal Vaughan and Archbishop Germain of Saint-Sernin. They remain at Arundel. In 1966 three teeth from the collection of relics from France were given to
Douai Abbey
Douai Abbey is a Benedictine Abbey at Upper Woolhampton, near Thatcham, in the English county of Berkshire, situated within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth. Monks from the monastery of St. Edmund's, in Douai, France, came to Woolhampton ...
in
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
.
Commemoration and attributes
The
feast day
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...
of Edmund, King and Martyr in the Catholic Church is 20 November. He is also remembered in the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
, with a
Lesser Festival Lesser Festivals are a type of observance in the Anglican Communion, including the Church of England, considered to be less significant than a Principal Feast, Principal Holy Day, or Festival, but more significant than a Commemoration. Whereas Princ ...
on this day of the year. Edmund's particular attributes are the arrow and the sword, being an English king, his attributes include the
orb and
sceptre
A sceptre is a staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia. Figuratively, it means royal or imperial authority or sovereignty.
Antiquity
Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia
The ''Was'' and other ...
. According to the ''
Oxford Dictionary of Saints
The ''Oxford Dictionary of Saints'' by David Hugh Farmer is a concise reference compilation of information on more than 1300 saints and contains over 1700 entries. It is published by Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is ...
'', his attribute can also be a wolf.
A stone cross at
Hoxne
Hoxne ( ) is a village in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, about five miles (8 km) east-southeast of Diss, Norfolk and south of the River Waveney. The parish is irregularly shaped, covering the villages of Hoxne, Cross Street a ...
in Suffolk marks one supposed location of Edmund's death. The monument records that it was built on the site of an ancient oak tree which fell in 1848 and was found to have an arrow head embedded in its trunk. Some fifty-five
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...
es are dedicated to Edmund, perhaps the most notable being the Church of
St Edmund, King and Martyr
St Edmund, King and Martyr, is an Anglican church in Lombard Street, in the City of London, dedicated to St Edmund the Martyr.
Since 2001 it houses the London Centre for Spirituality, now (2017) renamed the London Centre for Spiritual Directi ...
,
Lombard Street in the
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
. The
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
community of
Douai Abbey
Douai Abbey is a Benedictine Abbey at Upper Woolhampton, near Thatcham, in the English county of Berkshire, situated within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth. Monks from the monastery of St. Edmund's, in Douai, France, came to Woolhampton ...
also has Edmund as its patron.
Medieval hagiographies and legends
''Passio Sancti Eadmundi''
In about 986, the monks of
Ramsey Abbey
Ramsey Abbey was a Benedictine abbey in Ramsey, Huntingdonshire (now part of Cambridgeshire), England. It was founded about AD 969 and dissolved in 1539.
The site of the abbey in Ramsey is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Most of the abbey's ...
commissioned Abbo of Fleury to write Edmund's ', or account of his martyrdom. According to Abbo,
St Dunstan
Saint Dunstan (c. 909 – 19 May 988) was an English bishop. He was successively Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restored monastic life i ...
, Archbishop of Canterbury, was the source of the story of the martyrdom, which he had heard told long before, in the presence of Æthelstan, by an old man who swore an oath that he had been Edmund's sword-bearer.
In Abbo's version of events, the king refused to meet the Danes in battle, preferring to die a martyr's death. According to Ridyard, Edmund's martyrdom cannot be proven and the nature of his fate—whether he died fighting or was murdered after the battle—cannot be read from the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. Ridyard notes that the story that Edmund had an armour-bearer implies that he would have been a warrior king who was prepared to fight the Vikings on the battlefield, but she acknowledges the possibility that such later accounts belong to "the realm of hagiographical fantasy".
Abbo named one of Edmund's killers as Hinguar, who can probably be identified with Ivarr inn beinlausi (Ivar the Boneless), son of
. After describing the horrific manner of Edmund's death, the ' continued the story. His severed head was thrown into the wood. As Edmund's followers searched for him, calling out "Where are you, friend?" the head answered, ("Here! Here! Here!") until at last they found it, clasped between a wolf's paws, protected from other animals and uneaten. The followers then recovered the head.
Abbo failed to date these events surrounding Edmund's translation to , although from his text it can be seen that he believed that the relics had been taken to Beodericsworth by the time that
Theodred became
Bishop of London
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
in around 926. Upon
exhumation
Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...
of the body, a miracle was discovered. All the arrow wounds upon Edmund's undecayed corpse had healed and his head was reattached. The last recorded inspection of the body whilst at Bury St Edmunds was in 1198.
The resemblance between the deaths of
St Sebastian
Saint Sebastian (in Latin: ''Sebastianus''; Narbo, Gallia Narbonensis, Roman Empire c. AD 255 – Rome, Italia, Roman Empire c. AD 288) was an early Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Diocleti ...
and St Edmund was remarked upon by Abbo: both saints were attacked by
archers
Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In mo ...
, although only Edmund is supposed to have been decapitated. His death bears some resemblance to the fate suffered by other saints:
St Denis was
whip
A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...
ped and beheaded and the body of
Mary of Egypt
Mary of Egypt ( cop, Ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ Ⲛⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ; ; c. 344 – c. 421) is an Egyptian saint, highly venerated as a Desert Mother in the Eastern Orthodox and Coptic Churches. The Catholic Church commemorates her a ...
was said to have been guarded by a
lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...
. The English
medievalist
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
Antonia Gransden
Antonia Gransden (1928 – 18 January 2020), English historian and medievalist, was Reader in Medieval History at the University of Nottingham. She was author of works in medieval historiography, including the two-volume study ''Historical Writin ...
described Abbo's ''Passio'' as "little more than a hotch-potch of hagiographical commonplaces" and argues that Abbo's ignorance of what actually happened to Edmund would have led him to use aspects of the ''Lives'' of well-known saints such as Sebastian and Denis as models for his version of Edmund's martydom. Gransden acknowledged that there are some aspects of the story—such as the appearance of the wolf that guards Edmund's head—that do not have exact parallels elsewhere.
''Miracles of St Edmund''
Herman the Archdeacon
Herman the Archdeacon (also Hermann the Archdeacon and Hermann of Bury, born before 1040, died late 1090s) was a member of the household of Herfast, Bishop of East Anglia, in the 1070s and 1080s. Thereafter, he was a monk of Bury St Edmunds ...
, who was an excellent Latinist, wrote another hagiography of Edmund, the ''Miracles of St Edmund'', at the end of the eleventh century. His original text does not survive, but a shortened version is part of a book dating to around 1100 produced by Bury St Edmunds Abbey, which is composed of Abbo's hagiography, followed by Herman's. The hagiographer and musician,
Goscelin
Goscelin of Saint-Bertin (or Goscelin of Canterbury, born c. 1040, died in or after 1106) was a Benedictine hagiographical writer. He was a Fleming or Brabantian by birth and became a monk of St Bertin's at Saint-Omer before travelling to Englan ...
, soon afterwards produced a revised version of Herman's ''Miracles'', which was hostile to Herman personally. Both versions are printed and translated by
Tom Licence
Tom Oliver Licence FSA, FRHistS, is a British historian specialising in the period 950–1200, with an additional interest in Victorian consumer waste. He is Professor of Medieval History and Consumer Culture at the University of East Anglia and ...
.
Other legends
''De Infantia Sancti Edmundi'', a fictitious 12th-century hagiography of Edmund's early life by the English
canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western can ...
Geoffrey of Wells
Geoffrey of Wells (Galfridius Fontibus) was a mid-12th-century English hagiographer and a canon of Wells Cathedral, whose ' ("The infancy of Saint Edmund"), part of the burgeoning library of 12th-century legendaries concerning Saint Edmund, accoun ...
, represented him as the youngest son of 'Alcmund', a
Saxon
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
king of Germanic descent. 'Alcmund' may never have existed. Edmund's fictitious continental origins were later elaborated upon in the 15th century by the poet John Lydgate in his ''The Lives of Saints Edmund and Fremund''. Lydgate spoke of his parentage, his birth at
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
, his adoption by
Offa of Mercia
Offa (died 29 July 796 AD) was List of monarchs of Mercia, King of Mercia, a kingdom of History of Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa of Mercia, Eowa, Offa came to ...
, his nomination as successor to the king and his landing at
Hunstanton
Hunstanton () is a seaside town in Norfolk, England, which had a population of 4,229 at the 2011 Census. It faces west across The Wash, making it one of the few places on the east coast of Great Britain where the sun sets over the sea. Hunstant ...
on the North Norfolk coast to claim his kingdom.
Edmund was said to have been crowned by
Humbert, bishop of Elmham on 25 December 855, at a location known as ', possibly
Bures St Mary
Bures St Mary is a civil parish in the Babergh District, Babergh district of the English county of Suffolk. In 2005 it had a population of 940, reducing to 918 at the 2011 Census. The parish covers the eastern part of the village of Bures, Engla ...
in Suffolk. At that time ' functioned as the royal capital. Biographical details of Edmund in the ''Catholic Encyclopedia'', published in 1913, include that "he showed himself a model ruler from the first, anxious to treat all with equal justice, and closing his ears to flatterers and untrustworthy informers". It was written that he withdrew for a year to his royal tower at Hunstanton and learned the whole
Psalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters we ...
, so that he could recite it from memory.
Edmund may have been killed at
Hoxne
Hoxne ( ) is a village in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, about five miles (8 km) east-southeast of Diss, Norfolk and south of the River Waveney. The parish is irregularly shaped, covering the villages of Hoxne, Cross Street a ...
, in Suffolk. His martyrdom is mentioned in a charter that was written when the church and chapel at Hoxne were granted to Norwich Priory in 1101. Place-name evidence has been used to link the name of Hoxne with Haegelisdun, named by Abbo of Fleury as the site of Edmund's martyrdom, but this evidence is dismissed by the historian Peter Warner. The association of Edmund's cult with the village has continued into modern times.
Dernford
Cambridgeshire is a county in eastern England, with an area of and a population as of mid-2015 of 841,218. It is crossed by the Nene and the Great Ouse rivers. The University of Cambridge, which was founded in the thirteenth century, made the ...
in Cambridgeshire, and
Bradfield St Clare
Bradfield St. Clare is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. According to Eilert Ekwall, the meaning of the village name is "the wide field". The ''Domesday Book'' records the population of Bradfield St. Cl ...
(near Bury St Edmunds) are other possible sites for where Edmund was martyred. In a preface to Lydgate's ''Life'', in which Edmund's banner—depicting three crowns set on a blue background—is described, the crowns are said to represent Edmund's martyrdom, virginity and kingship.
According to the
folklorist
Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...
Jennifer Westwood
Jennifer Westwood (5 January 1940 – 12 May 2008) was a British author, broadcaster and folklorist. She was a Doctor of Philosophy with special interests in English Language, Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse. Her first book, ''Mediaeval Tales'', was pu ...
, the ancient wooden church of
St Andrew, Greensted-juxta-Ongar, is said to have been a resting place for his body on the way to Bury St Edmunds in 1013.
Patronages
Edmund is the
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
of
pandemics
A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic disease with a stable number of in ...
as well as kings, the Roman Catholic
diocese of East Anglia
The Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church covering the counties of Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Peterborough in eastern England. The diocese makes up part of the Catholic As ...
, and Douai Abbey.
England did not ever have a single patron saint before the
Tudor period
The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603 in History of England, England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in Englan ...
; during the Middle Ages, several saints were considered to have a close association with England and to be nationally important: St Edmund;
St Gregory the Great
Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregori ...
;
St Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066.
Edward was the son of Æth ...
;
St Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...
; and
St George
Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...
. Of these saints, Edmund was the most consistently popular with English kings, although
Edward III
Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...
raised the importance of George when he associated him with the
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George C ...
.
In 2006,
BBC Radio Suffolk
BBC Radio Suffolk is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Suffolk.
It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on St Matthews Street in Ipswich.
According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience ...
radio presenter Mark Murphy and
David Ruffley
David Laurie Ruffley (born 18 April 1962, Bolton) is a former Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, which encompasses Bury St Edmunds and S ...
, the
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
for
Bury St Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...
, failed in their campaign to reinstate Edmund as the patron saint of England.
In 2013,
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
reported a new campaign launched by Murphy and the
brewer
Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...
Greene King
Greene King is a large pub retailer and brewer. It is based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The company owns pubs, restaurants and hotels. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by CK Assets in October 2019.
...
, which is based in Bury St Edmunds, to reinstate St Edmund as England's patron saint. Supporters of the campaign stated their hopes that a petition could be used to force Parliament to debate the issue.
In art
The veneration of Edmund throughout the centuries has created a legacy of noteworthy works of art. An illustrated copy of Abbo of Fleury's ''Passio Sancti Eadmundi'', made at Bury St Edmunds in around 1130, is now kept at the
Morgan Library
The Morgan Library & Museum, formerly the Pierpont Morgan Library, is a museum and research library in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is situated at 225 Madison Avenue, between 36th Street to the south and 37th S ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. The copy of
John Lydgate
John Lydgate of Bury (c. 1370 – c. 1451) was an English monk and poet, born in Lidgate, near Haverhill, Suffolk, England.
Lydgate's poetic output is prodigious, amounting, at a conservative count, to about 145,000 lines. He explored and est ...
's 15th-century ''Life'', written for
Henry VI of England
Henry VI (6 December 1421 – 21 May 1471) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. The only child of Henry V, he succeeded to the English thron ...
, is held at the British Library.
The
Wilton Diptych
The Wilton Diptych () is a small portable diptych of two hinged panels, painted on both sides, now in the National Gallery, London. It is an extremely rare survival of a late medieval religious panel painting from England.
The diptych was pain ...
was painted during the reign of
Richard II of England
Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father die ...
and is the most famous representation of Edmund in art.
Painted on oak panels, it shows Edmund and Edward the Confessor as the royal patrons of England presenting Richard to the
Virgin and Child
In art, a Madonna () is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word is (archaic). The Madonna and Child type is very prevalent in ...
.
The poet John Lydgate (13701451), who lived all his life in Bury St Edmunds, presented his twelve-year-old king Henry VI of England with a long poem (now known as ''Metrical Lives of Saints Edmund and Fremund'') when Henry came to the town in 1433 and stayed at the abbey for four months. The book is now kept by the British Library in London.
Edmund's martyrdom features on several medieval wall-paintings to be found in churches across England.
File:St Edmund Statue Designs on Metal.jpg, alt=photograph of sculpture of Edmund , ''St Edmund'' (2011), Bury St Edmunds, pierced by arrows
File:Martrydom of St Edmund by Brian Whelan.jpg, alt=2011 painting of the death of Edmund , Brian Whelan
Brian Whelan (born 3 May 1957) is an Irish painter, author and playwright.
Early life
Whelan was born in Ealing, West London, UK, of Irish Roman Catholic parents. His childhood was spent both in London and Ireland (Kilkenny Waterford and Dubl ...
''The Martyrdom of St Edmund'', St Edmundsbury Cathedral
St Edmundsbury Cathedral (formally entitled the Cathedral Church of St James and St Edmund) is the cathedral for the Church of England's Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. It is the seat of the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich and is in ...
File:Salisbury Cathedral St Edmund the Martyr.jpg, alt=photograph of cathedral statue , Statue, Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury.
The buildi ...
File:The Wilton Diptych (left).jpg, alt=detail of the Wilton Diptych, The Wilton Diptych
File:Martrydom of St Edmund - geograph.org.uk - 232454.jpg, alt=photograph of wall painting depicting Edmund , Edmund's martyrdom on a wall painting at St Andrew's Church, Stoke Dry, Rutland
Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire.
Its greatest len ...
File:St. Edmund, St. Edmund's Church, Southwold, Suffolk - geograph.org.uk - 212502.jpg, alt=photograph of statue of Edmund , A statue of the saint outside St Edmund's Church, Southwold
St Edmund's Church, Southwold is a Grade I listed parish church in the Church of England in Southwold, Suffolk.
History
The parish church of Southwold is dedicated to Edmund the Martyr, St Edmund, and is considered to be one of Suffolk's fine ...
.
The saint features in a romantic poem, ''
Athelston
''Athelston'' is an anonymous Middle English verse romance in 812 lines, dating from the mid or late 14th century. Modern scholars often classify it as a "Matter of England" romance, because it deals entirely with English settings and characters. ...
'', whose 15th-century author is unknown. In the climactic scene of the poem, Edyff, the sister of King 'Athelston' of England, gives birth to Edmund after passing through a ritual
ordeal by fire
Trial by ordeal was an ancient judicial practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused was determined by subjecting them to a painful, or at least an unpleasant, usually dangerous experience.
In medieval Europe, like trial by combat, tri ...
.
See also
*
List of Catholic saints
This is an incomplete list of people and angels whom the Catholic Church has canonized as saints. According to Catholic theology, all saints enjoy the beatific vision. Many of the saints listed here are to be found in the General Roman Calend ...
*
Ragener
Saint Ragener (also Ragner) was, according to medieval documentary sources, a Christian martyr of the 9th century AD, who died at the hands of the Vikings alongside his uncle Edmund the Martyr. He was buried at St Peter's Church, Northampton
St ...
- reputedly a relative of St Edmund, who shared in his martyrdom.
Notes
Footnotes
Sources
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Further reading
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External links
*
* Illuminated manuscripts depicting Edmund, from the British Library:
::
Harley 1766(''The Fall of Princes'')
::
Royal 2 B VI(''Psalter and Canticles'' 13th century)
in Caxton's translation of ''The Golden Legend'' from the Christian Iconography website
* Images and information about the
Passio Sancti Eadmundi' at the
Morgan Library & Museum
The Morgan Library & Museum, formerly the Pierpont Morgan Library, is a museum and research library in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is situated at 225 Madison Avenue, between 36th Street to the south and 37th S ...
, New York
*
The Relics of St. Edmund: The Little Box from Toulouse' by Michael P. Peyton from the Saints and Relics website
*
' by Abbo of Fleury, from The Latin Library (in Latin)
Drawing of the model for the reliquary of St Edmundby
Jean Chalette
Jean Chalette (27 December 1581 (baptised) – 2 October 1643) was a French miniature and portrait painter.
Chalette was born in Troyes, where he at first practised his art. In 1581 he was summoned to Toulouse
Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edmund The Martyr
9th-century births
869 deaths
Anglo-Saxon warriors
East Anglian saints
Bury St Edmunds
East Anglian monarchs
9th-century Christian saints
9th-century Christian martyrs
9th-century English monarchs
Pre-Reformation Anglican saints
Anglican saints