Abbey Ruins Bury St Edmunds
Born on Christmas Day 841 AD, Edmund succeeded to the throne of Anglo-Saxon East Anglia in 856. Brought up as a Christian, he fought alongside King Alfred of Wessex against the pagan Viking and Norse invaders (the Great Heathen Army) until 869/70 when his forces were defeated and Edmund was captured by the Vikings. He was ordered to renounce his faith and share power with the pagan Vikings, but he refused.
According to the 10th century account of the saint’s life by Abbo of Fleury, who quotes Saint Dunstan as his source, Edmund was then bound to a tree, shot through by arrows and beheaded. The date was 20th November. His decapitated head is said to have been reunited with its body with the help of a talking wolf who protected the head and then called out “Hic, Hic, Hic” (“Here, Here, Here”) to alert Edmund’s followers.
It is uncertain where he was killed; some accounts state Bradfield St Clare near Bury St Edmunds, others Maldon in Essex or Hoxne in Suffolk.
What is known is that in 902 his remains were moved to Bedricsworth (modern Bury St. Edmunds) where King Athelstan founded a religious community to care for his shrine which became a place of national pilgrimage.
King Canute built a stone abbey on the site in 1020 to house the shrine. For centuries Edmund’s resting place was patronised by the kings of England and the abbey became increasingly wealthy as the cult of St Edmund grew.
Such was the influence of St Edmund that on St Edmund’s Day in 1214 rebel English barons held a secret meeting here before going to confront King John with the Charter of Liberties, the forerunner to Magna Carta which he signed a year later. This event is reflected in the motto of Bury St Edmunds: ‘Shrine of a King, Cradle of the Law’.
What became of Edmund? During the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII, his remains were removed to France where they remained until 1911. Today they are kept in the chapel in Arundel Castle.
From -
www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Edmund-ori...
Abbey Ruins Bury St Edmunds
Born on Christmas Day 841 AD, Edmund succeeded to the throne of Anglo-Saxon East Anglia in 856. Brought up as a Christian, he fought alongside King Alfred of Wessex against the pagan Viking and Norse invaders (the Great Heathen Army) until 869/70 when his forces were defeated and Edmund was captured by the Vikings. He was ordered to renounce his faith and share power with the pagan Vikings, but he refused.
According to the 10th century account of the saint’s life by Abbo of Fleury, who quotes Saint Dunstan as his source, Edmund was then bound to a tree, shot through by arrows and beheaded. The date was 20th November. His decapitated head is said to have been reunited with its body with the help of a talking wolf who protected the head and then called out “Hic, Hic, Hic” (“Here, Here, Here”) to alert Edmund’s followers.
It is uncertain where he was killed; some accounts state Bradfield St Clare near Bury St Edmunds, others Maldon in Essex or Hoxne in Suffolk.
What is known is that in 902 his remains were moved to Bedricsworth (modern Bury St. Edmunds) where King Athelstan founded a religious community to care for his shrine which became a place of national pilgrimage.
King Canute built a stone abbey on the site in 1020 to house the shrine. For centuries Edmund’s resting place was patronised by the kings of England and the abbey became increasingly wealthy as the cult of St Edmund grew.
Such was the influence of St Edmund that on St Edmund’s Day in 1214 rebel English barons held a secret meeting here before going to confront King John with the Charter of Liberties, the forerunner to Magna Carta which he signed a year later. This event is reflected in the motto of Bury St Edmunds: ‘Shrine of a King, Cradle of the Law’.
What became of Edmund? During the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII, his remains were removed to France where they remained until 1911. Today they are kept in the chapel in Arundel Castle.
From -
www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Edmund-ori...