St Edmund, king and martyr

If we exclude Abbo's Passio St Eadmundi and later texts associated with Edmund's cult, the historical record is largely silent about Edmund. Annal 870 (=869) of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (MS A) records:

Her rad se here ofer Mierce innan East Engle 7 wintersetl namon. æt Þeodforda, 7 þy wintre Eadmund cyning him wiþ feaht, 7 þa Deniscan sige namon, 7 þone cyning ofslogon, 7 þæt lond all geeodon; 7 þy geare gefor Ceolnoþ ærce biscop.
In this year the host rode through Mercia to East Anglia and took winter quarters at Thetford, and during winter King Edmund fought against them and the Danes won victory, slew the king and overran the entire kingdom. And in this year died archbishop Ceolnoth.

In a similar manner, Asser's De rebus gestis Aelfredi describes Edmund dying with a large portion of his army, fighting against the Vikings (ch. 33). Neither of these sources present Edmund's death as a martyrdom, yet by the early ninth century coins in the name of 'sanctus Eadmundus' were circulating in areas under Danish control (Blunt 1967-9, Blackburn & Pagan 1986, p. 294). The largest hoard of these coins was found at Cuerdale in Lancashire, a hoard now dated c. 905.

The location of this and other hoards suggests that Edmund's cult enjoyed the support of the Danes. This is curious, and has led Susan Ridyard to argue that the Danes sponsored the cult to help maintain control over East Anglia. She argues the cult was political, rather than popular in origin (1988). East Anglia having been absorbed into the West Saxon kingdom with the death of Eric in 903, the West Saxon kings began to sponsor the church at Bury-St-Edmunds. It is therefore surprising that a passio was not commissioned until 985, and then by the monks of Ramsey rather than Bury.


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