Saint Edmund the Martyr, King of East Anglia (died 20 November 869/870)

The kingdom and the invasion

East Anglia (in Old English East Engle) was one of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of eastern England. In the mid-9th century, it was regularly exposed to Scandinavian raids. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Asser's Life of Alfred the Great, the sources closest to the events, tell the same story.

The pagan army, the famous Great Army, crossed Mercia to the East Angles and took winter quarters at Thetford (Deodforda in Old English, Theodford in Asser). That same winter, King Eadmund gave battle.^[8][9]

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, under the year 870, says in substance: the army passed through Mercia into East Anglia and took winter quarters at Thetford ; that winter, King Edmund fought against it ; the Danes won the victory, killed the king and seized the whole country.^[10]

Asser, a contemporary of the events, writes in the same terms, with an emphasis that betrays the closeness of the tragedy:

"Eodem anno Eadmund, Orientalium Anglorum rex, contra ipsum exercitum atrociter pugnavit, Sed, proh dolor! paganis nimium gloriantibus, ipso cum magna suorum parte ibidem occiso, inimici loco funeris dominati sunt, et totam illam regionem suo dominio subdiderunt." Asser, Life of Alfred the Great, chapters 32-33^[11]

Working translation: in the same year, Eadmund, King of the East Angles, fought fiercely against this army ; but, alas, the pagans triumphed beyond measure ; he himself was killed there with a great part of his men ; the enemy ruled over the place of his burial and subdued the whole region.

What the contemporary sources say, and do not say

Neither the Chronicle nor Asser speaks of arrows, beheading, refusal of the faith or a wolf. For them, Edmund died in battle, with a great part of his troops, and East Anglia was conquered.^[12][13] The introduction to Stevenson's edition even notes that Asser's author does not yet know the cult of the martyr king: the text predates the hagiography.^[14]

The year of death: 869 or 870

Modern calendars and scholarly notices differ on the year, without any of them being at fault:

• the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle places the entry under 870 (annal dccc.lxx), but the manuscripts vary: one of them places it under 871 ;
• Asser writes "Anno … DCCCLXX" ;
• the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913): "November 20, 870" ;
• Nominis and the Church of England calendar: 870 ;
• the French Wikipedia and modern historiography retain 869, noting that annal 870 corresponds to the actual year 869.^{[15][16][17][18][19]}

Tradition retains 20 November, the day that Abbo's Passio fixes explicitly (duodecimo Kal. Decembr.) and that all later calendars take up.^[20][21][22] This article gives both years rather than deciding between them.

A tradition written down a century later

The oldest complete Passio of Saint Edmund is that of Abbo of Fleury, monk of the abbey of Fleury (now Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire), composed around 985-987 at Ramsey.^[23][24] In his preface to Archbishop Dunstan, Abbo explains how the story reached him: Dunstan, when young, is said to have learned it from an old man who told it to King Athelstan, swearing that he had been Edmund's sword-bearer (armiger) on the day of his martyrdom.^[25]

It is a declared chain of transmission, not proof in the modern sense. It nevertheless shows that the story was circulating in England at the end of the 10th century, well before Abbo.

The martyrdom narrative

According to Abbo, Edmund was a king of noble Saxon origin. The invaders, led by Hinguar and Hubba, demanded his submission. Hinguar's messenger received this reply:

"Christianus rex Edmundus non se subdet pagano duci, nisi prius effectus fueris compos nostrae religionis." Abbo of Fleury, Passio Sancti Edmundi, chapter IX^[26]

Working translation: the Christian King Edmund will not submit to a pagan leader, unless the latter has first embraced our religion.

The king was then captured in his palace, bound, beaten with rods and whips, and tied to a tree. Abbo describes the torment of the arrows in terms that explicitly liken it to the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian: riddled with shafts "like a hedgehog", then beheaded.^[27] The date is fixed at 20 November.^[28]

The narrative continues with a famous episode: the king's head, thrown into the forest of Haegilisdun, was found thanks to a wolf guarding it between its paws ; the head itself answered "Her, her, her!" ("Here, here, here!") to those searching for it.^[29] A hidden Christian (delitescendo), witness to the scene, reported the final moments.^[30] The word "hermit" does not appear in Abbo's text: any hermit figure belongs to later developments.

Abbo further notes that the body is said to have remained incorrupt, with a red thread at the neck, and that a widow named Oswyn cut the saint's hair and nails.^[31] These are features of hagiographical tradition, not facts of modern history.

Aelfric of Eynsham

Around the year 1000, Aelfric of Eynsham took up Abbo's Passio in an Old English homily entitled "XXXII. NOV. 20. PASSION OF SAINT EDMUND, KING AND MARTYR".^[32] Aelfric is not an independent source: he shapes Abbo's narrative, citing the same chain of transmission (Dunstan, the sword-bearer, Athelstan) and the same names (Hingwar and Hubba). His importance lies in having fixed the tradition in the English language and preaching.^[33]

What belongs to later legend

Several details, often collected in modern notices, are not confirmed by the texts read and are presented here as unverified:

• birth at Nuremberg or descent from Alcmund of Saxony: the Catholic Encyclopedia itself flags this story as later legend ;
• birth at Norbury in 841 and coronation at Christmas 855: reported by Hermann of Bury (Miracula Eadmundi), but held by modern historians to be inventions^[34] ;
• coronation by Bishop Hunberht at Burna: found in Asser (chapter 10) and in the annals of St Neots, but flagged as interpolated in the index of Stevenson's edition^[35] ;
• identification of Hinguar with Ivar the Boneless: a hypothesis, presented as "probable" by the French Wikipedia^[36] ;
• Guthrum as the murderer: not attested in Abbo, Aelfric, Asser or the Chronicle ;
• the exact place of martyrdom: Hoxne (Catholic Encyclopedia, Nominis) versus Thetford (French Wikipedia) versus Haegilisdun, not located (Abbo). The debate remains open.^{[37][38][39][40]}

From the tomb to Bury St Edmunds

Abbo reports that Edmund's body was first buried at Haegilisdun, a place he does not locate.^[41] "After the wars were calmed", the body was transferred to Bedricesgueord (Beodericsworth), the future Bury St Edmunds.^[42] Abbo gives no year for this transfer. The French Wikipedia proposes "around 900-920" ; the English Wikipedia places it under Athelstan (from 924), with a monastery founded around 925.^[43][44] The date of 903, sometimes cited, is not confirmed by the sources read: it must not be published as certain.

The cult was in any case early. Coins bearing the legend SCE EADMVND REX ("Saint Edmund King"), struck at the end of the 9th or beginning of the 10th century, testify to a veneration earlier than Abbo's Passio.^[45][46] The abbey of Bury St Edmunds became one of the great pilgrimage centres of medieval England.^[47][48]

The shrine was destroyed at the dissolution of the monasteries, in 1539.^[49][50] Relics are claimed at Toulouse (Saint-Sernin) and at Arundel ; these claims, carried by the English Wikipedia alone, belong to a 19th-20th century controversy and are not presented as certain here.^[51]

Patronage

Saint Edmund is, with Saint Edward the Confessor and then Saint George, one of the successive patrons of England.^[52][53] He is invoked as patron of kings, of victims of torture and, according to some catalogues, against plagues.^[54][55] These patronages are attested by modern catalogues ; the primary liturgical source (Roman Missal) has not been read.

Iconography

Edmund's iconography is well established. The king is shown either holding an arrow (Wilton Diptych, 1395) or tied to a tree and pierced with arrows.^[56] He is distinguished from Saint Sebastian by the royal crown ; the wolf, guardian of his head, is another of his attributes.^[57][58]

The illumination in MS M.736 of the Morgan Library (Life and Miracles of St Edmund, c. 1130) belongs to the same cycle as the martyrdom reproduced in the infobox: it shows the crowned king, clothed in silk, led to his death.^[59] It is one of the oldest witnesses to the saint's representation.

The coins of the Cuerdale hoard, kept at the British Museum, bear the commemorative legend SCE EADMVND REX: they attest the cult of the martyr king as early as the end of the 9th century.^[60]

What is established by the sources read:

• Edmund, King of East Anglia, was killed during the invasion of the Great Army, on 20 November 869 or 870 (the gap comes from the reckoning of the annals) ;
• the Danish winter quarters were at Thetford ; Edmund fought and perished with a great part of his men (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Asser) ;
• Abbo of Fleury's Passio (c. 985-987) is the oldest complete narrative of the martyrdom ; it fixes the date at 20 November and tells of the refusal to apostatize, the arrows, the beheading and the episode of the wolf ;
• Aelfric of Eynsham (c. 1000) took up Abbo in Old English ;
• the cult was early (SCE EADMVND REX coins, late 9th / early 10th) ;
• the body was transferred to Beodericsworth / Bury St Edmunds ; the shrine was destroyed in 1539 ;
• the feast is on 20 November (Nominis: "Local feast" ; Church of England calendar: 20 Edmund, Martyr, 870).

What remains unverified or legendary, and which this article never presents as established:

• the exact date of the translation of the relics: the date of 903 is not confirmed ; the sources say "around 900-920" (FR) or the reign of Athelstan (EN) ; Abbo gives no year ;
• the exact place of death: Hoxne (CE, Nominis) versus Thetford (French Wikipedia) versus Haegilisdun, not located (Abbo) ;
• the identity of Hinguar and Hubba with the historical Ivar and Ubba: a hypothesis ; Guthrum not attested as the murderer ;
• the "hermit" witness: Abbo speaks of a hidden Christian, with no hermit status ;
• the coronation by Hunberht at Burna, Christmas 855/856: flagged as interpolated in Stevenson's edition of Asser ;
• the birth at Nuremberg, at Norbury, and the accession and coronation dates given by Hermann of Bury: held to be inventions by modern historians ;
• the relics at Toulouse, Arundel or Westminster: a controversy not examined ;
• the patronages (torture, plagues, wolves): asserted by modern catalogues, with no primary liturgical source read ;
• the status of 20 November in the universal Roman calendar: Nominis writes "Local feast" ; the Roman Missal has not been consulted ;
• Bede, Fursey and Geoffrey of Monmouth: no mention of Edmund verified ; the Historia Regum Britanniae has not been checked in its Latin text.

• Saint Alfred the Great, King of Wessex: Edmund's contemporary, whose resistance to the same invasions changed England's fate.
• Saint Edward the Confessor: the other king-saint of England, who succeeded Edmund in the national patronage before Saint George.
• Saint Sebastian: the martyr of the arrows, whose iconography served as the model for Edmund's.
• Saint Columbanus: another figure of early medieval Christianity, in a world where the boundary between history and legend is often hard to draw.