Edward the Martyr

Edward the Martyr, King of England

Edward the Martyr or Eadweard II (around 962 - 18 March 978 ) was King of England from 975 until his assassination in 978.

Eduard was the son of King Edgar and officially his first wife Æthelflæd. Edward's claim to the throne was vigorously thwarted by a group around his stepmother, Queen Ælfthryth (Elfrida), who would have preferred to see her son Æthelred on the throne. However, Edward's claim received more support - including that of Bishop Dunstan - and was confirmed by the Witan . He was then crowned by Dunstan and Oswald of Worcester .

Edward's reign was short and marked by party disputes. He was murdered at Corfe Castle by servants of his stepmother Queen Ælfthryth. Because of this brutal murder he was called "the martyr", not least because his murderers were not of the Christian faith. Edward had also been an advocate for the Church during his life. He was canonized within a short time and Shaftesbury Abbey , where he was reburied in 980, became a place of pilgrimage. Many miracles are reported that took place on his sarcophagus, including the healing of the blind and lepers.

He is venerated as a saint not only in the Roman Catholic, but also in the Orthodox and Anglican churches.

Life

Edward the Martyr is commonly referred to as the son of King Edgar and his wife Æthelflæd, although his mother is supposed to have been Edgar's former lover, Saint Wulfthryth, who later became the abbess of Wilton . But that too is not certain. Saint Wulfthryth was the mother of Edgar's daughter, Saint Eadgyth ( Edith von Wilton ), who was born in 961 , and is therefore even considered Edgar's second wife in some sources. The oldest sources speak, however, of another nun from Wilton who was seduced by Edgar, who would have given birth to Eduard and would have remained nameless. By withholding the real name of his mother, Eduard could then be officially presented at court as the son of Edgar's then wife Æthelflæd. This is the only mention of Edgar's first wife, a daughter of Ordmær, an Ealdorman from East Anglia . In 965 Edgar married Ælfthryth, with whom he had two sons: Edmund, who died very young in 970, and Æthelred. That would actually have made Edward's stepbrother the rightful heir to the throne. Since King Edgar, who was only 32 years old, suddenly died on July 8, 975, without having arranged his succession, two heirs to the throne applied for the rule, both of whom were still young people.

Eduard's claims were contradicted by a group of nobles who wanted to give the crown to Æthelred, who was only seven years old. In addition to his mother, this group also included Ealdorman Ælfhere and Bishop Æthelwold of Winchester . Eduard, on the other hand, was supported by Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury , and Oswald of Worcester, Archbishop of York , as well as other nobles such as Ælfwine and Byrhtnoth. It was mainly through Dunstan's support that Eduard was recognized and crowned by the Witan , the council of the great. It is possible that his resolute advocacy for the Catholic Church contributed to this recognition, even though he was only 13 years old. In the tradition of Thoderic Paulus he is portrayed as “a young man with great devotion and excellent behavior, who leads a believing, good and holy life. He loves God and the Church more than anything. He was generous to the poor, a refuge for the righteous, an advocate of the Christian faith and a paragon of virtuous grace ”.

At the time of Edward's accession to the throne, the kingdom was ravaged by famine and there were violent attacks on monasteries by nobles from Mercia . These raids were led by Ælfhere, who claimed for himself the lands that King Edgar had given to the monks. Many monasteries were destroyed and the monks had to flee. The king, together with Archbishop Dunstan, defended the rights of the church and the monasteries. The fact that Eduard often had problems with the Ealdorms during his reign is attributed not least to his inexperience. It is said that during his three and a half year reign he gained the affection of his people mainly through his righteousness. Despite this behavior in public, Eduard is said to have insulted many influential people with his little diplomatic demeanor. He is also said to have outbursts of anger towards his closest confidants.

death

According to tradition, Edward's brief reign ended when he visited his stepbrother and stepmother. On March 18, 978, the king was hunting with dogs and riders at Wareham in Dorset . During the hunt he decided to visit his younger brother Æthelred, who lived with his mother Ælfthryth at Corfe Castle near Wareham. Without his entourage the king appeared alone at the castle. While he was on his horse in the lower castle, Ælfthryth offered him a cup of mead . While Eduard was drinking, one of Ælfthryth's servants gave him a stab. He managed to ride away but soon fell from his horse. One foot got caught in the stirrup, so that it was dragged by his horse to a stream below the castle, where it remained. Legend has it that a pillar of light rose above his body.

While Æthelred, who was only ten years old at the time of the murder, cannot be attributed to the crime, the chronicler Henry von Huntington reports that Ælfthryth himself carried out the sting: “… Eduard was sneakily murdered by his own family… It is being stabbed reports that his stepmother, the mother of King Æthelred, is said to have stabbed him with a dagger when she offered him a mug to drink. "

Legend and canonization

Edward's body was hastily interred in Wareham without the royal honors. The Queen is said to have hidden the body in a hut that was inhabited by an old woman who was blind from birth and who was supported by the Queen out of pity. During the night, a ray of light is said to have illuminated the entire hut. Fearful, the woman pleaded with God for mercy and got her eyesight back. Then she discovered the dead body of the king. The church of St. Edwards at Corfe Castle was later built on the site of this hut. At daybreak the queen heard of the miracle. Again she ordered the body to be removed and this time it was buried in a swamp near Wareham.

A year after the murder, a pillar of fire was seen over the hidden grave, illuminating the entire area. Local residents then dug up the body again. Shortly afterwards, a spring with healing water formed at the burial site.

With the participation of a large crowd of onlookers, the body was brought to the Church of the Holy Mother of God in Wareham on February 13, 980 and buried there. After miracles were also attributed to the creek in which the dead body was first found, and further miracles occurred, especially among the blind, the remains were brought to Shaftesbury Abbey. When the body was lifted from the grave, it showed no signs of decay. The transfer of the body was overseen by Dunstan and Earl Ælfhere of Mercia , who had been a staunch opponent of Edward during his lifetime. A long procession formed on February 13, 981, which marched for seven days before arriving at Shaftesbury, where the body was handed over to the nuns. There Eduard was buried with all royal honors at the north end of the altar. Another miracle is said to have occurred during the procession. Two crippled men were brought close to the stretcher. She was discontinued and the two men immediately recovered.

So Ælfthryth, who regretted her crime, founded the two abbeys of Wherwell and Ambresbury . She entered the convent of Wherwell herself and ended her life in repentance.

In 1001 it is reported that the saint's tomb regularly rose and floated above the ground. King Ethelred then ordered the bishops to move the tomb to another location that would be more suitable. When it was opened, a wonderful scent emanated from the grave, so that all those present "... thought they were in paradise." On June 20, 1001, the bishops removed the remains of the saint from the grave and put them in a reliquary box other holy relics.

Eduard was officially canonized in 1008. King Ethelred ordered that the three holidays of the saint (March 18, February 13, June 20) be celebrated across the country. Shaftesbury Abbey was rededicated to the Mother of God and St. Edward. Shaftesbury was renamed Edwardstowe, but this was reversed during the Reformation. Over the centuries miracles have repeatedly been reported on the tomb of St. Edward, especially on lepers and the blind. The intercession of St. Edward is invoked against diseases of the gland.

Since the Reformation

During the reign of Henry VIII in the 16th century, the monasteries were disbanded and many holy sites were destroyed. The bones of Edward were, however, hidden and thus escaped desecration. It was not until 1931 that they were rediscovered during an archaeological excavation. In 1970 it could be proven that the deceased died in the same way as Eduard.

A dispute arose between the discoverer Wilson-Claridge and his brother. While Wilson-Claridge wanted to hand the bones over to the Russian Orthodox Church, his brother planned to bury the bones again in Shaftesbury Abbey. For decades the remains remained in a bank vault in Woking , Surrey , until it was clarified which of the two churches should get them. Eventually the Orthodox Church got the relics and buried them in a church in Brookwood Cemetery in Woking. The church was renamed St. Edwards the Martyr Orthodox Church and the monastic order of the "St Edwards Brotherhood" was established there.

Today the holiday of St. Edward is celebrated on March 18th, the day of his death.

See also

• Family table of English kings
• House of Wessex

literature

• Nicholas Higham: The Death of Anglo-Saxon England . Sutton Books, Stroud 1997, ISBN 0-7509-2469-1 , pp. 7-8.
• Elizabeth Longford: Oxford Book of Royal Anecdotes . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-282851-7 , pp. 29-30.
• Sean Miller: Edward the Martyr . In: Michael Lapidge (Ed.): Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England . Blackwell, Oxford 1999, ISBN 0-631-22492-0 .
• Nigel Ramsay: St Dunstan. His Life, Times, and Cult . Boydell Press, Woodbridge / Suffolk 1992, ISBN 0-85115-301-1 .
• George O. Sayles: The Medieval Foundations of England . Methuen, London 1977, ISBN 0-416-68990-6 (reprint of London 1948 edition).
• Pauline Stafford: Ælfthryth . In: Michael Lapidge (Ed.): Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England . Blackwell, Oxford 1999, ISBN 0-631-22492-0 .
• Pauline Stafford: Unification and Conquest. A Political and Social History of England in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries . Edward Arnold, London 1989, ISBN 0-7131-6532-4 , p. 58.
• Frank Stenton: Anglo-Saxon England . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1971, ISBN 0-19-280139-2 , p. 372.

Web links

Commons : Edward the Martyr  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Osbern von Canterbury, Vita sancti Dunstani and Liber Miraculorum Sancti Dunstani , ed. W. Stubbs, Memorials of St Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury . Rolls Series. London, 1874. 69-161.
2. ↑ Eadmer , Vita S. Dunstani and Miracula S. Dunstani , ed. And tr. Bernard J. Muir and Andrew J. Turner, Eadmer of Canterbury. Lives and Miracles of Saints Oda, Dunstan, and Oswald . OMT. Oxford, 2006. 41-159 and 160-212; ed. W. Stubbs, Memorials of St Dunstan, archbishop of Canterbury . Rolls Series 63. London, 1874. 162-249, 412-25.

predecessor	Office	successor
Edgar	King of England 975–978	Æthelred