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Edmund the Martyr (also known as St Edmund or Edmund of East Anglia, died 20 November 869) [note 1] was king of East Anglia from about 855 until his death. Few historical facts about Edmund are known, as the kingdom of East Anglia was devastated by the Vikings, who destroyed any contemporary evidence of his reign.
Edmund (born 841/842—died Nov. 20, 869; feast day November 20) was the king of East Anglia (from 855). Of his life little is known. In the year 869 the Danes, who had been wintering at York, marched through Mercia into East Anglia and took up their quarters at Thetford.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Aug 16, 2019 · St Edmund the Martyr. Image source. Born in either 841 or 842, St Edmund was an English King whose dominion spanned large parts of East Anglia. After he was brutally executed by the invading Vikings (the Great Heathen Army), King Edmund attained sainthood and relatively large cult following for over four centuries.
The unparalleled piety, humility, meekness, and other virtues of St. Edmund are admirably set forth by our historians. This incomparable prince and holy martyr was considered by succeeding English kings as their special patron, and as an accomplished model of all royal virtues.
Dec 4, 2015 · On the day of Nativity of Christ, December 25, 855 (or 856), the 15-year-old Edmund was crowned and anointed King of East Anglia. This may have taken place on the site of the present-day St. Stephen’s Chapel in Bures on the Suffolk-Essex border, which still stands in the Suffolk village of Bures St. Mary to this day.
It is surprising to learn that St George was not the first patron saint of England. That honour was originally held by St Edmund, or Edmund the Martyr, King of East Anglia in the 9th century AD. Born on Christmas Day 841 AD, Edmund succeeded to the throne of Anglo-Saxon East Anglia in 856.
Nov 20, 2023 · Saint Edmund holds a unique place in history as the only English sovereign to die for both his religious beliefs and the defense of his throne until the time of King Charles I. His martyrdom quickly earned him reverence, and his cultus (devotion) spread widely throughout the Middle Ages.
