Edward the Martyr
Encyclopedia
Edward the Martyr (c. 962 – 18 March 978) was king of the English from 975 until he was murdered in 978. Edward was the eldest son of King Edgar
, but not his father's acknowledged heir
. On Edgar's death, the leadership of England was contested, with some supporting Edward's claim to be king and other supporting his much younger half-brother Æthelred the Unready. Edward was chosen as king and was crowned by his main clerical supporters, Archbishops Dunstan
and Oswald of Worcester
.
Edward's reign began inauspiciously when a comet
was sighted. A famine followed. The great nobles of the kingdom, ealdormen
Ælfhere
and Æthelwine
quarreled and civil war almost broke out. In the so-called anti-monastic reaction the nobles took advantage of Edward's weakness to dispossess the Benedictine
reformed monasteries of lands and other properties which King Edgar had granted to them. Edward's short reign was brought to an end by his murder at Corfe Castle
in circumstances which are not altogether clear.
Edward's body was reburied with great ceremony at Shaftesbury Abbey
early in 980. In 1001 his remains were moved to a more prominent place in the abbey, probably with the blessing of his half-brother King Æthelred. Edward was already reckoned a saint by this time. A number of lives
of Edward were written in the centuries following his death in which he was portrayed as a martyr
, generally seen as a victim of his stepmother Queen Dowager Ælfthryth. He is today recognized as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church
, the Roman Catholic Church
, and the Anglican Communion
.
.
For further information on Edward's mother it is necessary to rely on later sources of questionable reliability. The earliest such source is a life of Dunstan
by Osbern of Canterbury, probably written in the 1080s. Osbern writes that Edward's mother was a nun at Wilton Abbey
whom the king seduced. When Eadmer
wrote a life of Dunstan some decades later, he included an account of Edward's parentage obtained from Nicholas of Worcester. This denied that Edward was the son of a liaison between Edgar and a nun, and instead presented him the son of one Æthelflæd, daughter of Ordmær, "ealdorman of the East Anglians", whom Edgar had married in the years when he ruled Mercia
, that is between 957 and Eadwig's death in 959. Yet further accounts are offered by Goscelin
in his life of Edgar's daughter Saint Edith of Wilton
, and in the histories of John of Worcester
and William of Malmesbury
. Summarising these various accounts Edward's mother probably was a noblewoman named Æthelflæd, surnamed Candida or Eneda—"the White" or "White Duck".
A charter of 966 describes Ælfthryth, whom Edgar had married in 964, as the king's "lawful wife", and their son Edmund as legitimate son of the king. Edward is merely the king's son. The contradictions regarding who Edward's mother was, and the fact that Edmund appears to have been regarded as the legitimate heir until his death in 971, suggests that Edward was probably illegitimate.
. Edgar's intentions may have been signalled by the fact that on a charter to the New Minster
at Winchester
, the names of Ælfthryth and her son Æthelred appear ahead of Edward's name. Edgar's actual plans for the succession can only be conjecture as he died, still a young man aged about 32, on 8 July 975, leaving two sons, neither yet an adult.
Edgar had been a strong ruler who had forced monastic reforms on a probably unwilling church and nobility, aided by the leading clerics of the day, Dunstan
, Archbishop of Canterbury
, Oswald of Worcester
, Archbishop of York
, and Bishop Æthelwold of Winchester
. The endowment of the reformed Benedictine
monasteries with the lands required for their support had seen many lesser nobles dispossessed outright and leases and loans of land rewritten to the benefit of the monasteries. Secular clergy, many of whom will have been members of the nobility, had been expelled from the new monasteries. While Edgar lived, he strongly supported the reformers, but following his death the discontents which these changes had provoked came into the open.
The leading figures had all been supporters of the reform, but they were no longer united. Relations between Archbishop Dunstan and Bishop Æthelwold may have been strained. Archbishop Oswald was at odds with Ealdorman Ælfhere, Ealdorman of Mercia
, while Ælfhere and his kin were rivals for power with the affinity of Æthelwine, Ealdorman of East Anglia
. It is said that Dunstan questioned Edgar's marriage with Queen Dowager Ælfthryth and the legitimacy of their son Æthelred.
These leaders were divided as to whether Edward or Æthelred should succeed Edgar. Neither law nor precedent offered much guidance. The choice between the sons of Edward the Elder
had divided his kingdom, and Edgar's elder brother Eadwig had been forced to give over a large part of the kingdom to Edgar. It is certain that the Queen Dowager supported the claims of Æthelred, her son, aided by Bishop Æthelwold, and that Dunstan supported Edward, aided by his fellow archbishop Oswald. It is likely that Ealdorman Ælfhere and his allies supported Æthelred and that Æthelwine and his allies supported Edward, although some historians suggest the opposite.
The arguments employed by the factions are largely unknown, although later sources suggest that perceptions of legitimacy played a part, as did the relative age of the two candidates. In time, Edward was anointed by Archbishops Dunstan and Oswald at Kingston upon Thames
, most likely in 975. There is evidence that the settlement involved a degree of compromise. Æthelred appears to have been given lands which normally belonged to the king's sons, some of which had been granted by Edgar to Abingdon Abbey
and which were now forcibly repossessed for Æthelred by the leading nobles.
, after recording Edward's succession, reports that a comet
appeared and that famine and "manifold disturbances" followed. The "manifold disturbances", sometimes called the anti-monastic reaction, appear to have started soon after Edgar's death. During this time the experienced Ealdorman Oslac of Northumbria, effective ruler of much of northern England, was exiled in circumstances which are unknown. Oslac was followed as ealdorman by one Thored, either Oslac's son of that name or the Thored Gunnar's son mentioned by the Chronicle in 966. Edward, or rather those who were wielding power on his behalf, also appointed a number of new ealdormen to positions in Wessex
. Little is known of two of these men, and it is difficult to determine which faction, if any, they belonged to. Edwin, probably ruling in Sussex
, and perhaps also parts of Kent
and Surrey
, was buried at Abingdon, an abbey patronised by Ælfhere. Æthelmær, who oversaw Hampshire
, held lands in Rutland
, perhaps suggesting links to Æthelwine. The third ealdorman, Æthelweard, today best known for his Latin
history, ruled in the west. Æthelweard was a descendant of King Æthelred of Wessex and probably the brother of King Eadwig's wife. He appears to have been a supporter of Edward rather than of either faction.
It appears that in some places the secular clergy who had been driven from the monasteries returned, driving the regular clergy out in their turn. Bishop Æthelwold had been the main enemy of the seculars, and Archbishop Dunstan appears to have done little to aid his fellow reformer at this time. More generally, the magnates took the opportunity to undo many of Edgar's grants to monasteries and to force the abbots to rewrite leases and loans to favour the local nobility. Ealdorman Ælfhere was the leader in this regard, attacking Oswald's network of monasteries across Mercia. Ælfhere's rival Æthelwine, while a staunch protector of his family monastery of Ramsey Abbey
, treated Ely Abbey and other monasteries harshly. At some point during these disorders Ælfhere and Æthelwine appear to have come close to open warfare. This may well have been related to Ælfhere's ambitions in East Anglia and to attacks upon Ramsey Abbey. Æthelwine, supported by his kinsman Ealdorman Byrhtnoth
of Essex and others unspecified, mustered an army and caused Ælfhere to back down.
Very few charter
s survive from Edward's reign, perhaps as few as three, and the absence of a sizable body of charters such as are found in the reign of Edgar and Æthelred leave much of Edward's reign in obscurity. All of the surviving charters concern the royal heartland of Wessex
, two dealing with Crediton
where Edward's former tutor Sideman
was bishop
. Whereas during Edgar's reign dies for coins were cut only at Winchester
and distributed from there to other mints across the kingdom, during Edward's reign this system no longer prevailed. Dies were now cut locally at York
and at Lincoln
. The general impression is of a reduction or breakdown of royal authority in the midlands and north. Nonetheless, the machinery of government evidently continued to function as councils and synods continued to meet during Edward's reign, at Kirtlington
in Oxfordshire
after Easter 977, and again at Calne
in Wiltshire
the following year. The meeting at Calne saw the death and injury of some councillors when the floor of the room in which they were meeting collapsed.
now stand, in the evening of 18 March 978, while visiting Ælfthryth and Æthelred. It adds that he was buried at Wareham
"without any royal honours". The compiler of this version of the Chronicle, manuscript E, called the Peterborough
Chronicle, says:
Of other early sources, the life of Oswald of Worcester attributed to Byrhtferth
of Ramsey adds that Edward was killed by Æthelred's advisers who attacked him when he was dismounting. It agrees that he was buried without ceremony at Wareham. Archbishop Wulfstan II alludes to the killing of Edward in his Sermo Lupi ad Anglos
, written not later than 1016. A recent study translates his words as follows:
, claim that Ælfthryth organised the killing of Edward, while Henry of Huntingdon
has her kill Edward herself.
Modern historians have offered a variety of interpretations of Edward's killing. Three main theories have been proposed. Firstly, that Edward was killed, as the life of Oswald claims, by nobles in Æthelred's service, either as a result of a personal quarrel, or to place their master on the throne. Although it may be a trope
of hagiography
, the life of Oswald portrays Edward as an unstable young man who, according to Frank Stenton
: "had offended many important persons by his intolerable violence of speech and behavior. Long after he had passed into veneration as a saint it was remembered that his outbursts of rage had alarmed all who knew him, and especially the members of his own household."
The second case is much the same as the first, except that Ælfthryth would be in some manner implicated, either beforehand by plotting the killing, or afterwards in allowing the killers to go free and unpunished. A third alternative, noting that Edward in 978 was very close to ruling on his own, proposes that Ealdorman Ælfhere was behind the killing so as to preserve his own influence and to prevent Edward taking revenge for his actions earlier in the reign.
, a nunnery with royal connections which had been endowed by King Alfred the Great
and where Edward and Æthelred's grandmother Ælfgifu had spent her latter years. Edward's remains were reburied with lavish public ceremony. Later accounts, such as the Passio S. Eadwardi have more complicated accounts, including the concealment of Edward's body in a marsh, where it was revealed by miraculous events. The Passio dates the reburial to 18 February.
In 1001, Edward's relics, for by now he was reckoned a saint, were translated
to a more prominent place within the nunnery at Shaftesbury. The ceremonies are said to have been led by the then-Bishop of Sherborne, Wulfsige III
, accompanied by a senior cleric whom the Passio calls Elsinus, sometimes identified with Ælfsige, the abbot of the New Minster, Winchester
. King Æthelred, preoccupied with the threat of a Danish invasion, did not attend in person, but he issued a charter to the Shaftesbury nuns late in 1001 granting them lands at Bradford on Avon
which is thought to be related. A 13th century calendar of saints
gives the date of this translation as 20 June.
The rise of Edward's cult has been interpreted in various ways. It is sometimes portrayed as a purely popular movement, or as the product of a political attack on King Æthelred by former supporters of Edward. Alternatively, Æthelred has been seen as one of the key forces in the promotion of Edward's cult and that of their sister Eadgifu
. As well as the charter granting land to Shaftesbury at the elevation of Edward's relics in 1001, it has been suggested that Æthelred legislated the observation of Edward's feast days across England in a law code of 1008. It is, however, not quite certain that this innovation, seemingly drafted by Archbishop Wulfstan II, dates from Æthelred's reign, and it may instead have been promulgated by King Cnut. David Rollason has drawn attention to the increased importance of the cults of other murdered royal saints in this period. Among these are the cults of King Ecgberht of Kent
's nephews whose lives form part of the Mildrith
Legend, and those of the Mercia
n Saints Kenelm
and Wigstan.
, the monasteries were dissolved
and many holy places were demolished, but Edward's remains were hidden so as to avoid desecration
. In 1931, the relics were recovered by Mr. Wilson-Claridge during an archaeological excavation; their identity was confirmed by Dr. T.E.A. Stowell, an osteologist. In 1970, examinations performed on the relics suggested that the young man had died in the same manner as Edward. Mr. Wilson-Claridge wanted the relics to go to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
. His brother, however, wanted them to be returned to Shaftesbury abbey. For decades, the relics were kept in a bank vault in Woking
, Surrey
because of the unresolved dispute about which of two churches should have them.
In time, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia was victorious and placed the relics in a church in Brookwood Cemetery
, in Woking, with the enshrinement ceremony occurring in September 1984. The St Edward Brotherhood of monks was organized there as well. The church is now named St Edward the Martyr Orthodox Church
, and it is under the jurisdiction of a traditionalist Greek Orthodox jurisdiction. In the Orthodox Church, St Edward is ranked as a Passion-bearer, a type of saint who accepts death out of love for Christ. Edward was never officially canonized, but he is regarded as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church
, the Roman Catholic Church
and the Anglican Communion
. His feast day is celebrated on 18 March, the day of his murder.
Edgar
Edgar is a common name from Old English words ead + gar . Literally meaning "prosperity-spear" or "prosperous spearman." It may refer to:-Historical:...
, but not his father's acknowledged heir
Heir apparent
An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....
. On Edgar's death, the leadership of England was contested, with some supporting Edward's claim to be king and other supporting his much younger half-brother Æthelred the Unready. Edward was chosen as king and was crowned by his main clerical supporters, Archbishops Dunstan
Dunstan
Dunstan was an Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, a Bishop of Worcester, a Bishop of London, and an Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restored monastic life in England and reformed the English Church...
and Oswald of Worcester
Oswald of Worcester
Oswald of Worcester was Archbishop of York from 972 to his death in 992. He was of Danish ancestry, but brought up by his uncle, Oda, who sent him to France to the abbey of Fleury to become a monk. After a number of years at Fleury, Oswald returned to England at the request of his uncle, who died...
.
Edward's reign began inauspiciously when a comet
Comet
A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
was sighted. A famine followed. The great nobles of the kingdom, ealdormen
Ealdorman
An ealdorman is the term used for a high-ranking royal official and prior magistrate of an Anglo-Saxon shire or group of shires from about the ninth century to the time of King Cnut...
Ælfhere
Ælfhere, Ealdorman of Mercia
Ælfhere was ealdorman of Mercia. His family, along with those of Æthelstan Half-King and Æthelstan Rota, rose to greatness in the middle third of the 10th century. In the reign of Edward the Martyr, Ælfhere was a leader of the anti-monastic reaction and an ally of Edward's stepmother Queen Dowager...
and Æthelwine
Æthelwine, Ealdorman of East Anglia
Æthelwine was ealdorman of East Anglia and one of the leading noblemen in the kingdom of England in the later 10th century. As with his kinsmen, the principal source for his life is Byrhtferth's life of Oswald of Worcester...
quarreled and civil war almost broke out. In the so-called anti-monastic reaction the nobles took advantage of Edward's weakness to dispossess the Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
reformed monasteries of lands and other properties which King Edgar had granted to them. Edward's short reign was brought to an end by his murder at Corfe Castle
Corfe Castle
Corfe Castle is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. It is the site of a ruined castle of the same name. The village and castle stand over a gap in the Purbeck Hills on the route between Wareham and Swanage. The village lies in the gap below the castle, and is some eight...
in circumstances which are not altogether clear.
Edward's body was reburied with great ceremony at Shaftesbury Abbey
Shaftesbury Abbey
Shaftesbury Abbey was an abbey that housed nuns in Shaftesbury, Dorset. Founded in the year 888, the abbey was the wealthiest Benedictine nunnery in England, a major pilgrimage site, and the town's central focus...
early in 980. In 1001 his remains were moved to a more prominent place in the abbey, probably with the blessing of his half-brother King Æthelred. Edward was already reckoned a saint by this time. A number of lives
Hagiography
Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...
of Edward were written in the centuries following his death in which he was portrayed as a martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
, generally seen as a victim of his stepmother Queen Dowager Ælfthryth. He is today recognized as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
, the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, and the Anglican Communion
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
.
Ætheling
His date of birth is unknown, but it is likely that he was a teenager when he succeeded his father in 975, and was the eldest of Edgar's three children. All that can be said with certainty of Edward's parentage is that he was King Edgar's son, but not the son of Queen Ælfthryth. This much and no more is known from contemporary chartersCharters
Charters is a surname and may refer to :* Ann Charters , American professor of English* Charlie Charters , former English rugby union official and sports marketing executive* Frank Charters, , English cricketer...
.
For further information on Edward's mother it is necessary to rely on later sources of questionable reliability. The earliest such source is a life of Dunstan
Dunstan
Dunstan was an Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, a Bishop of Worcester, a Bishop of London, and an Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restored monastic life in England and reformed the English Church...
by Osbern of Canterbury, probably written in the 1080s. Osbern writes that Edward's mother was a nun at Wilton Abbey
Wilton Abbey
Wilton Abbey was a Benedictine convent in Wiltshire, England, three miles from Salisbury on the site now occupied by Wilton House. A first foundation was made as a college of secular priests by Wulfstan, Ealdorman of Wiltshire, about 773, but after his death was changed into a convent for twelve...
whom the king seduced. When Eadmer
Eadmer
Eadmer, or Edmer , was an English historian, theologian, and ecclesiastic. He is known for being a contemporary biographer of his contemporary archbishop and companion, Saint Anselm, in his Vita Anselmi, and for his Historia novorum in Anglia, which presents the public face of Anselm...
wrote a life of Dunstan some decades later, he included an account of Edward's parentage obtained from Nicholas of Worcester. This denied that Edward was the son of a liaison between Edgar and a nun, and instead presented him the son of one Æthelflæd, daughter of Ordmær, "ealdorman of the East Anglians", whom Edgar had married in the years when he ruled Mercia
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
, that is between 957 and Eadwig's death in 959. Yet further accounts are offered by Goscelin
Goscelin
Goscelin of Saint-Bertin was a Benedictine hagiographical writer, born between 1020–1035 and who died shortly after 1107...
in his life of Edgar's daughter Saint Edith of Wilton
Edith of Wilton
Saint Edith of Wilton was an English nun, a daughter of the 10th century King Edgar of England, born at Kemsing, Kent, in 961...
, and in the histories of John of Worcester
John of Worcester
John of Worcester was an English monk and chronicler. He is usually held to be the author of the Chronicon ex chronicis.-Chronicon ex chronicis:...
and William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. C. Warren Hollister so ranks him among the most talented generation of writers of history since Bede, "a gifted historical scholar and an omnivorous reader, impressively well versed in the literature of classical,...
. Summarising these various accounts Edward's mother probably was a noblewoman named Æthelflæd, surnamed Candida or Eneda—"the White" or "White Duck".
A charter of 966 describes Ælfthryth, whom Edgar had married in 964, as the king's "lawful wife", and their son Edmund as legitimate son of the king. Edward is merely the king's son. The contradictions regarding who Edward's mother was, and the fact that Edmund appears to have been regarded as the legitimate heir until his death in 971, suggests that Edward was probably illegitimate.
Disputed succession
Edmund's brother Æthelred may have inherited his position as favoured heirHeir apparent
An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....
. Edgar's intentions may have been signalled by the fact that on a charter to the New Minster
New Minster, Winchester
The New Minster, Winchester was a royal Benedictine abbey founded in 901 in Winchester in the English county of Hampshire.Alfred the Great had intended to build the monastery, but only got around to buying the land. His son, Edward the Elder, finished the project according to Alfred's wishes, with...
at Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
, the names of Ælfthryth and her son Æthelred appear ahead of Edward's name. Edgar's actual plans for the succession can only be conjecture as he died, still a young man aged about 32, on 8 July 975, leaving two sons, neither yet an adult.
Edgar had been a strong ruler who had forced monastic reforms on a probably unwilling church and nobility, aided by the leading clerics of the day, Dunstan
Dunstan
Dunstan was an Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, a Bishop of Worcester, a Bishop of London, and an Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restored monastic life in England and reformed the English Church...
, Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, Oswald of Worcester
Oswald of Worcester
Oswald of Worcester was Archbishop of York from 972 to his death in 992. He was of Danish ancestry, but brought up by his uncle, Oda, who sent him to France to the abbey of Fleury to become a monk. After a number of years at Fleury, Oswald returned to England at the request of his uncle, who died...
, Archbishop of York
Archbishop of York
The Archbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and metropolitan of the Province of York, which covers the northern portion of England as well as the Isle of Man...
, and Bishop Æthelwold of Winchester
Æthelwold of Winchester
Æthelwold of Winchester , was Bishop of Winchester from 963 to 984 and one of the leaders of the tenth century monastic reform movement in Anglo-Saxon England....
. The endowment of the reformed Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
monasteries with the lands required for their support had seen many lesser nobles dispossessed outright and leases and loans of land rewritten to the benefit of the monasteries. Secular clergy, many of whom will have been members of the nobility, had been expelled from the new monasteries. While Edgar lived, he strongly supported the reformers, but following his death the discontents which these changes had provoked came into the open.
The leading figures had all been supporters of the reform, but they were no longer united. Relations between Archbishop Dunstan and Bishop Æthelwold may have been strained. Archbishop Oswald was at odds with Ealdorman Ælfhere, Ealdorman of Mercia
Ælfhere, Ealdorman of Mercia
Ælfhere was ealdorman of Mercia. His family, along with those of Æthelstan Half-King and Æthelstan Rota, rose to greatness in the middle third of the 10th century. In the reign of Edward the Martyr, Ælfhere was a leader of the anti-monastic reaction and an ally of Edward's stepmother Queen Dowager...
, while Ælfhere and his kin were rivals for power with the affinity of Æthelwine, Ealdorman of East Anglia
Æthelwine, Ealdorman of East Anglia
Æthelwine was ealdorman of East Anglia and one of the leading noblemen in the kingdom of England in the later 10th century. As with his kinsmen, the principal source for his life is Byrhtferth's life of Oswald of Worcester...
. It is said that Dunstan questioned Edgar's marriage with Queen Dowager Ælfthryth and the legitimacy of their son Æthelred.
These leaders were divided as to whether Edward or Æthelred should succeed Edgar. Neither law nor precedent offered much guidance. The choice between the sons of Edward the Elder
Edward the Elder
Edward the Elder was an English king. He became king in 899 upon the death of his father, Alfred the Great. His court was at Winchester, previously the capital of Wessex...
had divided his kingdom, and Edgar's elder brother Eadwig had been forced to give over a large part of the kingdom to Edgar. It is certain that the Queen Dowager supported the claims of Æthelred, her son, aided by Bishop Æthelwold, and that Dunstan supported Edward, aided by his fellow archbishop Oswald. It is likely that Ealdorman Ælfhere and his allies supported Æthelred and that Æthelwine and his allies supported Edward, although some historians suggest the opposite.
The arguments employed by the factions are largely unknown, although later sources suggest that perceptions of legitimacy played a part, as did the relative age of the two candidates. In time, Edward was anointed by Archbishops Dunstan and Oswald at Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in southwest London. It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the...
, most likely in 975. There is evidence that the settlement involved a degree of compromise. Æthelred appears to have been given lands which normally belonged to the king's sons, some of which had been granted by Edgar to Abingdon Abbey
Abingdon Abbey
Abingdon Abbey was a Benedictine monastery also known as St Mary's Abbey located in Abingdon, historically in the county of Berkshire but now in Oxfordshire, England.-History:...
and which were now forcibly repossessed for Æthelred by the leading nobles.
Edward's reign
The Anglo-Saxon ChronicleAnglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
, after recording Edward's succession, reports that a comet
Comet
A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
appeared and that famine and "manifold disturbances" followed. The "manifold disturbances", sometimes called the anti-monastic reaction, appear to have started soon after Edgar's death. During this time the experienced Ealdorman Oslac of Northumbria, effective ruler of much of northern England, was exiled in circumstances which are unknown. Oslac was followed as ealdorman by one Thored, either Oslac's son of that name or the Thored Gunnar's son mentioned by the Chronicle in 966. Edward, or rather those who were wielding power on his behalf, also appointed a number of new ealdormen to positions in Wessex
Wessex
The Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
. Little is known of two of these men, and it is difficult to determine which faction, if any, they belonged to. Edwin, probably ruling in Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, and perhaps also parts of Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
and Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, was buried at Abingdon, an abbey patronised by Ælfhere. Æthelmær, who oversaw Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, held lands in Rutland
Rutland
Rutland is a landlocked county in central England, bounded on the west and north by Leicestershire, northeast by Lincolnshire and southeast by Peterborough and Northamptonshire....
, perhaps suggesting links to Æthelwine. The third ealdorman, Æthelweard, today best known for his Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
history, ruled in the west. Æthelweard was a descendant of King Æthelred of Wessex and probably the brother of King Eadwig's wife. He appears to have been a supporter of Edward rather than of either faction.
It appears that in some places the secular clergy who had been driven from the monasteries returned, driving the regular clergy out in their turn. Bishop Æthelwold had been the main enemy of the seculars, and Archbishop Dunstan appears to have done little to aid his fellow reformer at this time. More generally, the magnates took the opportunity to undo many of Edgar's grants to monasteries and to force the abbots to rewrite leases and loans to favour the local nobility. Ealdorman Ælfhere was the leader in this regard, attacking Oswald's network of monasteries across Mercia. Ælfhere's rival Æthelwine, while a staunch protector of his family monastery of Ramsey Abbey
Ramsey Abbey
Ramsey Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey located in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, England, southeast of Peterborough and north of Huntingdon, UK.-History:...
, treated Ely Abbey and other monasteries harshly. At some point during these disorders Ælfhere and Æthelwine appear to have come close to open warfare. This may well have been related to Ælfhere's ambitions in East Anglia and to attacks upon Ramsey Abbey. Æthelwine, supported by his kinsman Ealdorman Byrhtnoth
Byrhtnoth
Byrhtnoth was a 10th century Ealdorman of Essex. His name is composed of Old English beorht and noth ....
of Essex and others unspecified, mustered an army and caused Ælfhere to back down.
Very few charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
s survive from Edward's reign, perhaps as few as three, and the absence of a sizable body of charters such as are found in the reign of Edgar and Æthelred leave much of Edward's reign in obscurity. All of the surviving charters concern the royal heartland of Wessex
Wessex
The Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
, two dealing with Crediton
Crediton
Crediton is a town and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon in England. It stands on the A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, about north west of Exeter. It has a population of 6,837...
where Edward's former tutor Sideman
Sideman (bishop)
Sideman was a medieval Bishop of Crediton.He was elected to Crediton in 973. He died on 30 April or 1 May or 2 May in 977. According to Byrhtferth of Ramsey, Sideman was a protege of Ælfhere, ealdorman of Mercia. The same source says that Edward the Martyr was fostered by Sideman for a time before...
was bishop
Bishop of Crediton
The Bishop of Crediton was originally a prelate who administered an Anglo-Saxon diocese in the 10th and 11th centuries, and is presently a suffragan bishop who assists the diocesan bishop.-Diocesan Bishops of Crediton:...
. Whereas during Edgar's reign dies for coins were cut only at Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
and distributed from there to other mints across the kingdom, during Edward's reign this system no longer prevailed. Dies were now cut locally at York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
and at Lincoln
Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Lincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....
. The general impression is of a reduction or breakdown of royal authority in the midlands and north. Nonetheless, the machinery of government evidently continued to function as councils and synods continued to meet during Edward's reign, at Kirtlington
Kirtlington
Kirtlington is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about west of Bicester.-Archaeology:The Portway is a pre-Roman road running parallel with the River Cherwell on high ground about east of the river. It bisects Kirtlington parish and passes through the village. A short stretch of it is now...
in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
after Easter 977, and again at Calne
Calne
Calne is a town in Wiltshire, southwestern England. It is situated at the northwestern extremity of the North Wessex Downs hill range, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty....
in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
the following year. The meeting at Calne saw the death and injury of some councillors when the floor of the room in which they were meeting collapsed.
Death
The version of Anglo-Saxon Chronicle which contains the most detailed account records that Edward was murdered, probably at or near the mound on which the ruins of Corfe CastleCorfe Castle
Corfe Castle is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. It is the site of a ruined castle of the same name. The village and castle stand over a gap in the Purbeck Hills on the route between Wareham and Swanage. The village lies in the gap below the castle, and is some eight...
now stand, in the evening of 18 March 978, while visiting Ælfthryth and Æthelred. It adds that he was buried at Wareham
Wareham, Dorset
Wareham is an historic market town and, under the name Wareham Town, a civil parish, in the English county of Dorset. The town is situated on the River Frome eight miles southwest of Poole.-Situation and geography:...
"without any royal honours". The compiler of this version of the Chronicle, manuscript E, called the Peterborough
Peterborough
Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
Chronicle, says:
"No worse deed for the English race was done than this was, since they first sought out the land of Britain. Men murdered him, but God exalted him. In life he was an earthly king; after death he is now a heavenly saint. His earthly relatives would not avenge him, but his Heavenly Father has much avenged him."Other recensions of the Chronicle report even less detail, the oldest text stating only that he was killed, while versions from the 1040s say that he was martyred.
Of other early sources, the life of Oswald of Worcester attributed to Byrhtferth
Byrhtferth
Byrhtferth was a priest and monk who lived at Ramsey Abbey. He had a deep impact on the intellectual life of later Anglo-Saxon England and wrote many computistic, hagiographic, and historical works. He was a leading man of science and best known as the author of many different works...
of Ramsey adds that Edward was killed by Æthelred's advisers who attacked him when he was dismounting. It agrees that he was buried without ceremony at Wareham. Archbishop Wulfstan II alludes to the killing of Edward in his Sermo Lupi ad Anglos
Sermo Lupi ad Anglos
The Sermo Lupi ad Anglos is the title given to a homily composed in England between 1010-1016 by Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York , who commonly styled himself Lupus, or 'wolf' after the first element in his name [wulf-stan = 'wolf-stone']. Though the title is Latin, the work itself is written in...
, written not later than 1016. A recent study translates his words as follows:
"And a very great betrayal of a lord it is also in the world, that a man betray his lord to death, or drive him living from the land, and both have come to pass in this land: Edward was betrayed, and then killed, and after that burned ..."Later sources, further removed from events, such as the late 11th century Passio S. Eadwardi and John of Worcester
John of Worcester
John of Worcester was an English monk and chronicler. He is usually held to be the author of the Chronicon ex chronicis.-Chronicon ex chronicis:...
, claim that Ælfthryth organised the killing of Edward, while Henry of Huntingdon
Henry of Huntingdon
Henry of Huntingdon , the son of a canon in the diocese of Lincoln, was a 12th century English historian, the author of a history of England, Historia anglorum, "the most important Anglo-Norman historian to emerge from the secular clergy". He served as archdeacon of Huntingdon...
has her kill Edward herself.
Modern historians have offered a variety of interpretations of Edward's killing. Three main theories have been proposed. Firstly, that Edward was killed, as the life of Oswald claims, by nobles in Æthelred's service, either as a result of a personal quarrel, or to place their master on the throne. Although it may be a trope
Trope (literature)
A literary trope is the usage of figurative language in literature, or a figure of speech in which words are used in a sense different from their literal meaning...
of hagiography
Hagiography
Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...
, the life of Oswald portrays Edward as an unstable young man who, according to Frank Stenton
Frank Stenton
Sir Frank Merry Stenton was a 20th century historian of Anglo-Saxon England, and president of the Royal Historical Society . He was the author of Anglo-Saxon England, a volume of the Oxford History of England, first published in 1943 and widely considered a classic history of the period...
: "had offended many important persons by his intolerable violence of speech and behavior. Long after he had passed into veneration as a saint it was remembered that his outbursts of rage had alarmed all who knew him, and especially the members of his own household."
The second case is much the same as the first, except that Ælfthryth would be in some manner implicated, either beforehand by plotting the killing, or afterwards in allowing the killers to go free and unpunished. A third alternative, noting that Edward in 978 was very close to ruling on his own, proposes that Ealdorman Ælfhere was behind the killing so as to preserve his own influence and to prevent Edward taking revenge for his actions earlier in the reign.
Reburial and early cult
Edward's body lay at Wareham for a year before being disinterred. This was initiated by Ælfhere, perhaps as a gesture of reconciliation. According to the life of Oswald, Edward's body was found to be incorrupt when it was disinterred. The body was taken to the Shaftesbury AbbeyShaftesbury Abbey
Shaftesbury Abbey was an abbey that housed nuns in Shaftesbury, Dorset. Founded in the year 888, the abbey was the wealthiest Benedictine nunnery in England, a major pilgrimage site, and the town's central focus...
, a nunnery with royal connections which had been endowed by King Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great was King of Wessex from 871 to 899.Alfred is noted for his defence of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of southern England against the Vikings, becoming the only English monarch still to be accorded the epithet "the Great". Alfred was the first King of the West Saxons to style himself...
and where Edward and Æthelred's grandmother Ælfgifu had spent her latter years. Edward's remains were reburied with lavish public ceremony. Later accounts, such as the Passio S. Eadwardi have more complicated accounts, including the concealment of Edward's body in a marsh, where it was revealed by miraculous events. The Passio dates the reburial to 18 February.
Translation (relics)
In Christianity, the translation of relics is the removal of holy objects from one locality to another ; usually only the movement of the remains of the saint's body would be treated so formally, with secondary relics such as items of clothing treated with less ceremony...
to a more prominent place within the nunnery at Shaftesbury. The ceremonies are said to have been led by the then-Bishop of Sherborne, Wulfsige III
Wulfsige III
Wulfsige was a medieval Bishop of Sherborne.He was nominated about 993. He died on 8 January 1002.Wulfsige had a good pedigree as part of the tenth century reform movement...
, accompanied by a senior cleric whom the Passio calls Elsinus, sometimes identified with Ælfsige, the abbot of the New Minster, Winchester
New Minster, Winchester
The New Minster, Winchester was a royal Benedictine abbey founded in 901 in Winchester in the English county of Hampshire.Alfred the Great had intended to build the monastery, but only got around to buying the land. His son, Edward the Elder, finished the project according to Alfred's wishes, with...
. King Æthelred, preoccupied with the threat of a Danish invasion, did not attend in person, but he issued a charter to the Shaftesbury nuns late in 1001 granting them lands at Bradford on Avon
Bradford on Avon
Bradford on Avon is a town in west Wiltshire, England with a population of about 9,326. The town's canal, historic buildings, shops, pubs and restaurants make it popular with tourists....
which is thought to be related. A 13th century calendar of saints
Calendar of saints
The calendar of saints is a traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the feast day of said saint...
gives the date of this translation as 20 June.
The rise of Edward's cult has been interpreted in various ways. It is sometimes portrayed as a purely popular movement, or as the product of a political attack on King Æthelred by former supporters of Edward. Alternatively, Æthelred has been seen as one of the key forces in the promotion of Edward's cult and that of their sister Eadgifu
Edith of Wilton
Saint Edith of Wilton was an English nun, a daughter of the 10th century King Edgar of England, born at Kemsing, Kent, in 961...
. As well as the charter granting land to Shaftesbury at the elevation of Edward's relics in 1001, it has been suggested that Æthelred legislated the observation of Edward's feast days across England in a law code of 1008. It is, however, not quite certain that this innovation, seemingly drafted by Archbishop Wulfstan II, dates from Æthelred's reign, and it may instead have been promulgated by King Cnut. David Rollason has drawn attention to the increased importance of the cults of other murdered royal saints in this period. Among these are the cults of King Ecgberht of Kent
Ecgberht of Kent
Ecgberht was a King of Kent who ruled from 664 to 673, succeeding his father Eorcenberht s:Ecclesiastical History of the English People/Book 4#1....
's nephews whose lives form part of the Mildrith
Mildrith
Saint Mildthryth , also Mildrith, Mildryth or Mildred, was an Anglo-Saxon abbess.Mildthryth was the daughter of King Merewalh of Magonsaete, a sub-kingdom of Mercia, and Eormenburh , herself the daughter of King Æthelberht of Kent. Her sisters Milburh and Mildgytha were considered to be saints...
Legend, and those of the Mercia
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
n Saints Kenelm
Kenelm
Saint Kenelm was an Anglo-Saxon saint, venerated throughout medieval England, and mentioned in the Canterbury Tales...
and Wigstan.
Later cult
During the sixteenth century, under King Henry VIIIHenry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
, the monasteries were dissolved
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
and many holy places were demolished, but Edward's remains were hidden so as to avoid desecration
Desecration
Desecration is the act of depriving something of its sacred character, or the disrespectful or contemptuous treatment of that which is held to be sacred or holy by a group or individual.-Detail:...
. In 1931, the relics were recovered by Mr. Wilson-Claridge during an archaeological excavation; their identity was confirmed by Dr. T.E.A. Stowell, an osteologist. In 1970, examinations performed on the relics suggested that the young man had died in the same manner as Edward. Mr. Wilson-Claridge wanted the relics to go to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia , also called the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, ROCA, or ROCOR) is a semi-autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church....
. His brother, however, wanted them to be returned to Shaftesbury abbey. For decades, the relics were kept in a bank vault in Woking
Woking
Woking is a large town and civil parish that shares its name with the surrounding local government district, located in the west of Surrey, UK. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area and the London commuter belt, with frequent trains and a journey time of 24 minutes to Waterloo station....
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
because of the unresolved dispute about which of two churches should have them.
In time, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia was victorious and placed the relics in a church in Brookwood Cemetery
Brookwood Cemetery
Brookwood Cemetery is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in western Europe.-History:...
, in Woking, with the enshrinement ceremony occurring in September 1984. The St Edward Brotherhood of monks was organized there as well. The church is now named St Edward the Martyr Orthodox Church
St Edward the Martyr Orthodox Church
St. Edward the Martyr Orthodox Church is an Orthodox Church in Brookwood, Surrey, England.The Saint Edward Brotherhood was established at Brookwood in 1982 to prepare and care for the Church in which the relics of Saint Edward the Martyr were to be enshrined...
, and it is under the jurisdiction of a traditionalist Greek Orthodox jurisdiction. In the Orthodox Church, St Edward is ranked as a Passion-bearer, a type of saint who accepts death out of love for Christ. Edward was never officially canonized, but he is regarded as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
, the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
and the Anglican Communion
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
. His feast day is celebrated on 18 March, the day of his murder.