Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk
Interior of St James' cathedral, built in 1438,
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
The rulers of Wessex wanted a strong East Anglia as a buffer against the invaders. On that account Edmund was crowned in Bures at Christmas 855/6 by Bishop Humbert of Elmham, in the far southern part of Suffolk where the Wessex influence was largest. During his 14 year reign he was a very pious king, who also tried to organise resistance against the continuing Danish incursions.
In 865 the Danes launched a big attack to conquer the country. A large army was landed with the objective to conquer Northumbria. However, to that end the Danes needed to dispose of horses, which they could not transport across the North sea. They acquired the horses in East Anglia; they trained their cavalry, looted the harvest and sailed in October to launch their big attack. York fell, and North Umbria, once the cultural centre of christian Europe, was no more. Next the Danes tried to conquer Mercia but met with fierce resistance due to a treaty between Mercia and Wessex; they were therefore back in York in 868. In the meantime Edmund had organised the defenxe, but the Danes drove him back. Not much fighting was required to take Edmund prisoner, as the deeply religious king had decided to die as a martyr, just like Christ, and thus unit his people against the invader.
Roof of St James' cathedral, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
The events were recorded 115 years later by the priest Abbo. According to his account Edmund was surrounded, taken prisoner, chained and beaten, tied to a tree and beaten with a whip, and subsequently shot with arrows. He still had not died and was speakigof Christ; for that reason he was beheaded. It is said that his head was dumped in the bushes. This is where the legend starts. People found the body, and the head was found by a wolf; it is more likely that it was found by a dog. Miraculously the body had not decayed, and the head was attached to the body again; the beard grew and needed to be trimmed reularly, like the fingernails. These hairs and the finger clippings became relics. Edmund's body was brought to Beoderiesworth. Edmund became a martyr, coins were minted with his portrait, even in Denmark where the king had become a Christian.
External links
About Bury St Edmunds
More about Bury St Edmunds
Abbey and Church of St Mary
More about Edmund: 1, 2, 3
See also Edmund
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