Saint Edmund, King of England

Saint Edmund had been reigning for fifteen years when he was attacked by the Danes. Hi nguer a Hinguer Danish prince and leader of the Viking invaders. nd H ubba, Hubba Danish prince, brother of Hinguer. two princes of that nation who surpassed all pirates in barbarity, landed in England and spent the winter among the East Angles. Having made a truce with that nation, they departed in the summer for the North. They put all of Northumberland and Mercia to fire and sword, directing their march through the provinces of Lincoln, Northampton, and Cambridge. Edmund, relying on the faith of treaties, had believed his subjects to be safe and had not prepared for war. But, seeing that nothing was sacred to the barbarians, he gathered what troops he could and marched against them. He defeated a portion of their army near Thetford (county of Suffolk). This loss was soon repaired; the army of the infidels was even reinforced by new troops. Edmund, who was too weak to hold the field and who did not wish to waste the blood of his subjects in vain, withdrew toward his castle of Framlingham. The barbarians made him various proposals which he refused to accept, because they were contrary to religion and the justice he owed his people. He preferred to expose himself to death rather than betray his conscience. While he was fleeing, the infidels surrounded him at Hoxon, on the Waveney. He tried in vain to hide; his retreat was discovered: he w Hoxon Site of the capture and martyrdom of Edmund. as loaded with heavy chains and led to the general's tent. There, they made him new proposals; but he replied with firmness that religion was dearer to him than life, and that he would never consent to offend the God he worshipped. Hinguer, furious at this answer, had him beaten cruelly; after which, having ordered him to be tied to a tree, he had him torn with lashes. The holy king suffered this barbaric treatment with invincible patience and by invoking the sacred name of Jesus. The infidels left him tied to the tree and shot a hail of arrows at him, with which his body was soon all bristling. Finally, he was condemned by Hinguer to be beheaded. The Saint thus ended his martyrdom (November 20, 879).

The infidels carried Edmund's head into a wood and threw it into the thickets; but it was miraculously found and buried with the body at Hoxne. Shortly after, these holy relics were transferred to Beodricsworth, since called Bury St Edmunds. The holiness of the servant of God was attested by various miracles. In 920, the fear of the barbarians caused his relics to be carried to London; they remained there for three years, deposited in the church of St Gregory. They were then taken back to Bury St Edmunds. The wooden church, which was built in that place in honor of Saint Edmund, subsisted until the time of King Cnut, who , to repa roi Canut King of England and Denmark, founder of the abbey of Bury. ir the outrages committed by his father Sweyn against this place and the relics of Saint Edmund, founded (1020) a new church and an abbey in honor of the holy Martyr, and had them built with the greatest magnificence.

Saint Edmund is depicted: 1° tied to a tree and pierced with arrows; 2° beheaded, with a wolf at his side guarding his head from the approach of carnivorous animals.

Father Giry supplemented with the Caractéristiques des Saints by Father Cahier.