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Revision as of 23:11, 18 August 2007

St Edmund the Martyr
King of the East Angles
Detail from the Wilton Diptych.
Reign25 December, 855 – 20 November, 869
PredecessorÆthelweard
SuccessorOswald
Burial
Bury St Edmunds
FatherAlcmund

Template:Infobox Monarch Saint

Edmund the Martyr (841 – 20 November 869) was a King of East Anglia.[1] He succeeded to the East Anglian throne in 855, while still a boy.[2] He was defeated in battle by the Great Heathen Army c. 870. Edmund was captured, tortured, and he died the death of a Christian martyr.[3]

He is seen as the patron saint of the Roman Catholic diocese of East Anglia, Suffolk County Council [1] kings, pandemics, torture victims and wolves. He was a patron saint of all England until the 14th century.

Life

According to both Abbo of Fleury[4] followed by John of Worcester, he came "ex antiquorum Saxonum prosapia," which apparently means that St Edmund was of foreign origin and that he belonged to the Old Saxons of the continent. This is a very doubtful tradition, but later expanded into a full legend which spoke of his Old Saxon parentage, his birth at Nuremberg to an otherwise unknown King Alcmund, his adoption by King Æthelweard of East Anglia, his nomination as successor to the king, and his landing at Hunstanton to claim his kingdom. [5]

Other accounts state that his father was, in fact, King Æthelweard.[6] What is certain is that the king died in 854, and was succeeded by Edmund when the boy was only a fourteen-year-old. Edmund was said to have been crowned by St Humbert[5] on 25 December 855.[2] His coronation was said to have taken place at "Burna" (probably Bures St Mary, Suffolk), which then functioned as the royal capital.

Almost nothing is known of the life of Edmund during the next fourteen years. It was recorded that Edmund was a model king who treated all with equal justice and was unbending to flatterers. It was also written that he retired for a year to his royal tower at Hunstanton and learned the whole Psalter, so that he could recite it from memory.[6]

Death

In the year 870, or just before, the Danes who had wintered at York, marched through Mercia into East Anglia and took up their quarters at Thetford. Edmund engaged them fiercely in battle, but the Danes under their leaders Ubbe Ragnarsson and Ivar the Boneless had the victory, killed King Edmund, and remained in possession of the battlefield.[7] In Abbo of Fleury's alternative and later version of events Edmund refused to meet them in battle himself, preferring to die a martyr's death:

"(Edmund) was all beset with their shots, as with a porcupine's bristles".

"When Hingwar (Ivar) came, Edmund the king stood within his hall, mindfull of the Saviour, and threw away his weapons, desiring to imitate Christ, who forbade Peter to fight with weapons against the...Jews. Then those wicked men bound Edmund and shamefully insulted him and beat him with clubs, and afterwards they led the faithful king to an earth-fast tree and tied him to it with hard bonds, and afterwards scourged him a long while with whips, and among the blows he was always calling the true faith of Jesus Christ. Then the heathen were madly angry because of his faith, because he called upon Christ to help him. They shot at him with javelins as if for their amusement, until he was all beset with their shots, as with a porcupine's bristles, even as Sebastian was. When Hingwar, the wicked seaman, saw that the noble king would not deny Christ, but with steadfast faith ever called upon Him, he commanded men to behead him, and the heathen did so. For while he was yet calling upon Christ, the heathen drew away the saint to slay him, and struck off his head with a single blow, and his soul departed joyfully to Christ. There was a certain man at hand, whom God was hiding from the heathen, who heard all this and told it afterward just as we tell it here.[4]

It is not known which account is correct. The conquerors may have simply killed the king in battle, or in a later martyrdom episode. The more widely spread version of the story, which makes him fall a martyr to Danish arrows when he had refused to renounce his faith or hold his kingdom as a vassal from heathen overlords,[1] dates from comparatively soon after the event. According to Abbo of Fleury, Edmund's earliest biographer, it came to him (Abbo) via St Dunstan, who heard it from the lips of Edmund's own standard-bearer.[4] This is chronologically just possible, but that is all.

Date and location of death

The traditional date of his death, quoted by most reference works, is 870. [8] However recent research has led to the claim that he actually died in 869,[9] and this date is now accepted as fact in most new histories.[1]

A page from the Anglo -Saxon Chronicle.

This uncertainty arose because the compilers of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle supposedly dated the start of the year from September, so an event that took place in November 869 according to the modern calendar would be considered by them to take place in 870. The Great Heathen Army undoubtedly invaded Wessex, the English kingdom whose history from that time is best documented, in December 870. This uncertainty raises the question of whether they did so within a few weeks of killing Edmund, or whether they spent a year pillaging and consolidating their position in East Anglia.

One possible location for the battle is at Hoxne near Eye in Suffolk, some 20 miles east of Thetford.[2] Another candidate is in Dernford, Cambridge.[10] Bradfield St Clare, near Bury St Edmunds is also a possible site for the martydom.[11] The king's body was ultimately interred at Beadoriceworth, the modern Bury St Edmunds.[12] The shrine of Edmund soon became one of the most famous and wealthy pilrgimage locations in England and the reputation of the saint became universal.[1] The date of his canonization is unknown, although Archdeacon Hermann's Life of Edmund, written in the late eleventh century, seems to state that it happened in the reign of Athelstan (924–939). Churches dedicated to his memory are found all over England, including Christopher Wren's St Edmund the King and Martyr in London. There are a number of colleges named after St Edmund. His shrine at Bury St Edmunds was destroyed in 1539, during the English Reformation. His feast day in the Orthodox, Roman, and Anglican traditions is 20 November.[12]

Edmund in legend

Legend of Edmund's martyrdom

File:EdmundMartyr.jpg
Edmund in The Little Lives of the Saints, illustrated by Charles Robinson in 1904.

According to legend, Edmund was killed by being tied to a tree shot to death with arrows and finally decapitated. His head was thrown into a nearby forest so that his entire body could not be buried.[4][12]

The legend continued, when his body was found, but without a head, eyewitnesses reported to the villagers that the head was lost in the forest.[4] For several days they searched for the head in the brambles and bushes, calling out "Where are you, friend?" to which the head would answer, "Here, here, here." [4] After almost a week of searching, they found Edmund's head in the possession of a gray wolf, clasped between its paws. [4]

The wolf, sent by God to protect the head from the dangers of the forest, was starving but did not eat the head for all the days it was lost[4]. After recovering the head the villagers marched back to the kingdom, praising God and the wolf that served him. The wolf walked beside them as if tame all the way to the kingdom, after which it turned around and vanished into the forest.

After giving the head and body a speedy burial, the kingdom rebuilt itself for several years before finally erecting a church worthy of Edmund's burial.[1] Legend told that upon exhumation of the body, a miracle was discovered. All the arrow wounds upon Edmund's corpse were healed and his head reattached to his body.[4] The only evidence of his previous decapitation was a thin, red line around his neck. Despite being buried for many years in a flimsy coffin, his skin was soft and fresh as if he were merely sleeping the entire time.

Legendary revenge

In Percy Dearmer's The Little Lives of the Saints, we are told of Edmund's posthumous revenge on the Danes:

...the last heathen Danish king, Sweyen (the father of Canute), tried to destroy (Bury St Edmunds). He laid siege to it, and demanded all the treasure of the church, else he threatened to destroy the church and kill all the clergy; and this he said with many taunting words about the saint who lay buried there. But as he was sitting on his war-horse, waiting to attack the town, he saw in the sky St Edmund coming towards him, a crown on his head and a long bright lance in his hand. 'Help, friends!' he cried. 'Edmund is coming to kill me!' Then he fell down, and died in convulsions.[5]

Sweyn's son, King Canute, converted to Christianity and rebuilt the abbey at Bury St Edmunds. In the year 1020, he made a pilgrimage there and offered his own crown upon the shrine as atonement for the sins of his forefathers.[5]

Legendary tree

Until the middle of the 19th century, an old tree stood in Hoxne park and it was believed that it was the tree on which Edmund had been martyred. In the year 1849, the old tree fell down and was chopped up. According to the story, in the heart of the tree an arrow head was found. Pieces of the tree were kept and one of them was used to form part of the altar of a church which was dedicated to Edmund.[5]

Patron saint

There are calls from some in the English community to again declare Edmund as the patron saint of England, suggesting that the current St George was a 13th century import by Norman-descended monarchs as a way of eradicating any trace of the English folk memory.[13] However, Jocelin of Brakelond states:

...St Edmund's cult was further promoted by William the Conqueror and his successors.[14]

W.G. Perrin also states, the prohibition of the veneration of saints Edmund and Edward (the Confessor) occurred during the Reformation [15], specifically, under the reign of Edward VI and the introduction of the Book of Common Prayer [15]. Indeed, when the Castle of Carlaverock was taken in 1300 the banners of SS Edmund and Edward were borne, as they were also at the battle of Agincourt (1415) [15], and the feasts of the saints are still venerated in the Catholic liturgical calendar. [16]. Evidently, the Norman Catholic monarchs of England preserved the veneration of these two English patrons St. Edmund and St. Edward while the English Protestants monarchs of the Reformation prevented their veneration.

Some who call for this also wish to change the English flag from the Cross of St George (Argent, a cross Gules (red cross on a white field)) to the Flag of St Edmund. This consists of three gold crowns on a field of blue (Azure, three crowns Or).[15] This is an heraldic banner introduced during the Norman period.[17] BBC local radio Suffolk incorporated part of the St Edmund's flag with the Cross of St George in their programme to get St Edmund named as the principal patron saint of England [18].

Edmund in fiction

A realistic and possible account of Edmund's martyrdom is given in Bernard Cornwell's historical fiction novel, The Last Kingdom. There is also a description of Edmund just before his death in The Namesake, a juvenile historical novel by C. Walter Hodges. An alternative fictional version of Edmund's martydom is given in the short story, "November Saints", included in Alan Moore's novel/story collection, Voice of the Fire (1996/2004).

References

  1. ^ a b c d e The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd edition. USA: Oxford University Press. 13 March 1997. p. 428. ISBN 0-19-211655-X. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ a b c Bunson (1998). Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints. Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing. p. 212. ISBN 0-87973-588-0. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Churchill, Winston (1966). The Birth of Britain p.102. Dodd, Mead. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Abbo of Fleury (1961). Life of St Edmund in Anglo - Saxon Primer 9th Ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  5. ^ a b c d e Dearmer, Percy (1904). The Little Lives of the Saints. London: Wells Gardner, Darton & Co. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  6. ^ a b "St Edmund the Martyr". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. 1909. Retrieved August 2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  7. ^ Keynes, Simon (2004). Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred and other contemporary sources. Penguin Classics. ISBN 0-140-44409-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Blackwell Publishing. 2000. ISBN 9780631224921. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ Whitelock, Dorothy (1969). Fact and Fiction in the Legend of St Edmund in Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology Volume 31. pp. 217-233. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  10. ^ Scarle, R.D. "Do you know where King Edmund died in 869 AD ?". The Good Grid Reference. Cambridge Archaeology. Retrieved August 2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  11. ^ Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History Volume 35 part 3. 1983. p. 223. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  12. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference OSV was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ "Edmund for England". Edmund for England. Retrieved August 2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  14. ^ Jocelin of Brakelond (1989). Chronicle Of the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds. Oxford: Oxford World's Classics. ISBN 978-0-19283895-7. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  15. ^ a b c d British Flags W.G. Perrin Cambridge University Press 1922 Cite error: The named reference "Perrin" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  16. ^ The Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia http://www.catholiceastanglia.org/main/files/uplink/ordo07.pdf
  17. ^ Scott-Giles, W.C. (1965). The Romance of Heraldry. London: J. M. Dent. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  18. ^ "St Edmund". Where I Live: Suffolk. BBC. Retrieved August 2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

Public Domain This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

Further reading

  • Grant, Judith, editor. La Passiun de Seint Edmund. London: Anglo-Norman Text Society, 1978. ISBN 0-905474-04-X
  • Hervey, Francis. Corolla Sancti Eadmundi. London: J. Murray, 1907.

See also

External links

Preceded by:
Æthelweard 		King of East Anglia Succeeded by:
Oswald
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