Saint Edmond le Martyr
Roi d'Est-Anglia, martyr (+ 870)
ou saint Edme.
Il était le roi d'un petit royaume de l'est de
l'Angleterre que les Danois envahissaient souvent. Fait prisonnier lors d'une
bataille dans le Suffolk, il refusa leurs conditions en particulier celle
d'apostasier et périt décapité après avoir été criblé de flèches. Les Anglais
lui donnèrent la couronne du martyre. Il a laissé son nom à l'abbaye et à la
ville de Bury-saint-Edmund
(…).
Dans le Norfolk en Angleterre, l’an 870, saint Edmond,
martyr. Roi des Angles de l’Est, il lutta contre l’invasion des Vikings, fut
vaincu, capturé et tué, parce qu’il refusait de renier la foi chrétienne.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/17/Saint-Edmond-le-Martyr.html
Avant de s'en aller en Terre-Sainte pour y finir ses
jours dans la prière et la pénitence, le roi Athelstan1 choisit son neveu Edmond, fils de
Ealhere, ealdorman de Kent, qui descendait des anciens rois saxons
d'Est-Anglie, pour gouverner ses Etats2. Le jour de la Noël 854, les clercs et les
nobles du Norfolk assemblés à Attleborough, élirent pour roi Edmond qui était
né à Norbury3 quatorze ans plus tôt ; l’élection
fut acceptée par les habitants du Suffolk.
Lorsque le roi Edmond débarqua sur la terre de son
royaume, il se prosterna pour une longue prière ; quand il se releva,
douze fontaines sourdirent de terre.
Edmond qui voulut terminer ses études dans la
résidence royale d'Attleborough, ne fut couronné dans l'église de Bures
(Suffolk) qu'à la Noël 856, par Humbert, ancien conseiller de son prédécesseur
et évêque d'Hulme. « Pourvu de cette triple consécration, je décidai
d'être utile à la nation des Angles, plutôt que de la commander, en négligeant
de faire courber les têtes sous un autre joug que celui du Christ ». Ainsi,
Edmond est le premier des saints rois à faire de la sainteté son programme de
gouvernement. Abbon parle de « ce que fut sa bonté pour ses sujets, sa
rigueur pour les méchants », ajoutant qu'il « était pour les
indigents d'une magnifique libéralité, pour les orphelins et les veuves un père
plein d'indulgence » ; très attentifs aux affaires de gouvernement,
« s'il connaissait mal une affaire, il apportait tous ses soins à
l'examiner ; sur la voie royale où il marchait, il ne se détournait ni à droite
pour se prévaloir de ses mérites, ni à gauche en s'abandonnant aux défauts de
la faiblesse humaine. »
Souverain d'un petit royaume, à côté de ceux de Mercie
et du Wessex, exposé aux invasions normandes, il employa son règne à négocier
les lourds tributs qu'il devait verser aux pirates et qui, au bout de quinze
ans, avaient ruiné son Etat et ses sujets. A partir de 865, les Danois, ne
recevant plus les lourdes rançons qu'ils exigeaient, entreprirent la conquête
du royaume. Chassés en 866, les Danois ravagèrent la Northumbrie et la Mercie,
mais revinrent en East en 869 : le wiking Iva envahit l'Est-Anglie, mit le
pays à feu et à sang et Edmond fut vaincu à la bataille de Thetford (20
novembre 870) puis massacré. Le royaume d'Est-Anglie passa tout entier sous la
domination danoise.
Très vite le roi Edmond, mort en combattant les
païens, fut l'objet d'un culte populaire ; un siècle après sa mort, le
bénédictin Abbon, futur abbé de Fleury (Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire), alors qu'il
était à l'abbaye de Ramsey (de l'automne 985 au printemps 987), recueillit, à
la demande des moines, les pieux éléments de la tradition populaire et le
témoignage de saint Dunstan, archevêque de Cantorbéry, qui, dans sa jeunesse, à
la cour du roi Athelstan (925-939) avait entendu raconter la mort d'Edmond par
un vieillard qui avait été l'écuyer du Roi.
Abbon raconte que le wiking Ivar envoya un
ambassadeur pour proposer au roi Edmond de lui laisser son royaume s'il voulait
se reconnaître son vassal et lui donner son trésor ; Edmond répondit que sa foi
lui interdisait de se soumettre à un païen et qu'il préférait mourir. Ivar fit
attaquer le palais ; « afin que ne périsse pas la nation tout entière, le
saint roi Edmond dans son palais, en digne membre du Christ, jette ses armes et
se laisse prendre. Il sait qu'il va comparaître devant le chef impie, comme le
Christ devant le gouverneur Pilate, tant il désire suivre les pas de celui qui
s'est immolé en victime pour nous. Garotté dans des liens étroits, il subit
toutes sortes de moquerie et, pour finir, on le bâtonne, puis on le conduit
près d'un arbre voisin auquel on l'attache et fort longtemps on le maltraite à
coups de fouet, sans qu'il s'avoue vaincu. » On l'attacha ensuite à
un autre arbre, on le perça de flèches comme saint Sébastien, et on le décapita
avant de jeter son cadavre dans la forêt. « C'est ainsi que, le vingt
novembre, en holocauste très agréable à Dieu, Edmond, éprouvé au feu de la
souffrance, portant la palme de la victoire et la couronne de la justice,
entra, roi et martyr, vers la Cour céleste. »
Quand les fidèles, après avoir récupéré le corps,
voulurent trouver la tête, ils crièrent dans la forêt : Où es-tu ? et
la voix du roi Edmond leur répondait : Her ! her ! her ! jusqu'à ce
qu'ils la trouvassent entre les pattes d'un énorme loup qui la gardait contre
les atteintes des autres bêtes. La dépouille du roi Edmond d'abord été enterrée
à Hoxne, sur la rivière Waweney, à une trente kilomètres à l'est de Thetford,
fut, en 903, déposée dans l'église du monastère de Beodricsworth4 (aujourd’hui Bury).
Outre l'œuvre d'Abbon, on connaît une Vie de
saint Edmond le roi, poème anglo-normand composé vers 1180 par Denys Piramus,
que reprendra, au siècle suivant, Matthieu Paris.
De nombreux miracles dont deux résurrections, sont
attribués à saint Edmond : un paralytique qui dormait près de son tombeau, l’en
vit sortir pour marquer ses membres du signe de la Croix, et fut guéri ; un
chevalier du Lindsey qui, paralysé, le vit apparaître dans sa chambre pour lui
toucher la tête et le haut du corps, puis lui ordonner d’aller prier sur son
tombeau, fut guéri en chemin ; il sortit de son tombeau pour tuer d’un coup de
lance le roi Sven qui exploitait les East-Angliens ; il fit mourir deux
conseillers d’Edouard III qui voulaient monnayer les métaux précieux de sa
châsse (1341 et 1345) ; en 1173, en compagnie de saint Thomas Becket, il
délivra deux prisonniers politiques d’Henri II ; il délivra un prisonnier
de guerre, un bailli seigneurial et un meunier emprisonnés injustement et qui
l’avaient invoqué ; il délivra des navigateurs de tempêtes, de naufrages et de
noyades.
La Passion écrite par Abbon5 eut un énorme succès et l'abbaye
Beodricsworth, devenue, vers 1065, Bury-Saint-Edmond, fondée vers 1020, devint
un des plus grands monastères d'Angleterre6 ; le roi Cnut le Grand (1014-1035)
accorda une charte de liberté très étendue (exemption de l’Ordinaire et
juridiction civile sur tout le territoire) et fit commencer la construction
d'une belle église en pierre (1021) qui fut consacrée par l'archevêque
Agelmothus de Cantorbéry, le 18 octobre 1032.
Saint Edouard le Confesseur7 qui visita l’abbaye en 1044, lui
octroya le droit de libre élection, la pleine juridiction sur un territoire qui
couvrait près d’un tiers du grand comté de Suffolk, lui abandonna les taxes sur
les habitants de la ville qui s’était créée à l’ombre du pèlerinage, et lui
conféra le privilège de battre monnaie (1065).
Après Guillaume le Conquérant qui fit
reconstruire l’abbaye et jeta les fondements d’une nouvelle église, les rois
normands confirmèrent les privilèges d’Edmondbury. Il faut dire que, de 1065 à
1097, l’abbé de Saint-Edmond était le chartrain Baudouin, moine de Saint-Denys,
qui servit à Guillaume le Conquérant de médecin et d’intermédiaire
auprès du haut clergé. En 1095, l’abbé Baudouin fit la translation solennelle
des reliques de saint Edmond dans la nouvelle église. Sous l’abbé Ording
(1148-1156), l’abbaye fut presque entièrement détruite par un incendie, mais
l’église ne fut pratiquement pas touchée.
C'est dans cette abbaye que les comtes et les barons
révoltés contre le roi Jean Sans Terre8 lui firent signer la Grande Charte
d'Angleterre (1215)9. « Un jour, les Vingt-Cinq10 vinrent à la Cour du Roi pour rendre
un jugement. Le Roi était au lit, malade, au point de ne pouvoir marcher. Il
pria les juges de venir conférer dans sa chambre. Ils s'y refusèrent, cela
étant contraire à leur droit, et mandèrent au Roi que, s'il ne pouvait se tenir
sur ses pieds, il n'avait qu'à se faire porter. Le Roi se fit porter dans la
salle où les Vingt-cinq avaient pris séance : pas un ne se leva au moment de
son entrée, parce que cela aussi était contre leur droit. Tels sont les actes
orgueilleux et les outrages dont ils l'accablaient chaque jour. »11
Or, quand la Grande Charte d'Angleterre fut cassée par
le pape Innocent III12 (24 août 1215), les barons prirent les
armes, mirent le roi Jean hors la loi et résolurent de changer de dynastie en
appelant sur le trône anglais l'héritier de France, fils de Philippe II Auguste,
Louis13, dont la femme, Blanche de Castille, était
la nièce de Jean Sans Terre14. A l'automne 1215, ils entamèrent des
négociations avec Philippe II Auguste qui, retenant vingt-quatre
otages à Compiègne, permit à Louis d'aller prendre la couronne d'Angleterre.
Encore qu'Innocent III excommunia les rebelles et suspendit l'archevêque de Cantorbéry, Louis partit vers l'Angleterre, non sans avoir fait dresser par les légistes français un mémoire justificatif destiné à prouver que le trône d'Angleterre était vacant depuis le jour où les Pairs de France avaient condamné Jean Sans Terre pour le meurtre d'Arthur15.
Avec douze cents chevaliers, le 21 mai 1216, le prince
Louis débarqua à Stonor, dans l'île de Thanet, marcha sur Londres, et fut
reconnu comme roi d'Angleterre à Westminster où, après avoir reçu les hommages,
il confirma les privilèges de la Grande Charte d'Angleterre ;
cependant, comme le prince Louis était lui-même excommunié, puisque le Pape
considérait l’Angleterre comme fief du Saint-Siège, et que l'archevêque de
Cantorbéry était retenu à Rome, il ne se fit pas couronner et ne prit pas le
titre royal. A part Lincoln, Windsor et Douvres, toute l'Angleterre s'était
ralliée au prince Louis lorsque Jean Sans Terre mourut de chagrin à
Newark-Castle pour avoir perdu son trésor, englouti par des sables mouvants (19
octobre 1216).
Le successeur du pape Innocent III16, Honorius III17, continua sa politique ; Honorius III
soutint la légitimité d'Henri18, jeune fils de Jean Sans Terre, qui
régnait sous le conseil de régence que dirigeait un légat du Saint-Siège, le
cardinal Galon19. Le cardinal Galon fit couronner Henri III
à Glocester (29 octobre 1216) et lui fit jurer fidélité aux articles de
la Grande Charte d'Angleterre. Après que le cardinal eut réputé
croisade la guerre contre les rebelles, onze évêques d’Angleterre abandonnèrent
le parti du prince Louis ; alors qu'il était revenu en France pour
chercher de l'argent et des renforts, le prince Louis finit par perdre la
plupart des barons anglais. La ville de Londres avait beau rester attachée au
prince de France, les défections s'accentuèrent de plus en plus, et la partie
sembla définitivement perdue lorsqu’une bonne partie de l'armée
franco-anglaise fut surprise dans Lincoln et mise en déroute (19 mai 1217).
Comme Robert de Courtenai venait de débarquer sur les
côtes anglaises avec une armée de secours, les marins des cinq ports20 coulèrent ses navires et le firent
prisonnier (27 août 1217). Le prince Louis, assiégé dans Londres, « voyant
qu'il n'avait plus de secours à attendre ni par terre ni par mer »,
entreprit de traiter avec le cardinal-légat et le grand-maréchal
d'Angleterre ; il signa le traité de Lambeth (11 septembre 1217) où
il abandonnait l'entreprise contre une indemnité de guerre de dix mille marcs,
la libération des prisonniers, l'amnistie pour ses partisans et la restitution
des héritages et libertés confisqués par Jean Sans Terre.
Le prince Louis, pendant qu'il était en Angleterre, se
fit remettre, « par offre gracieuse ou par fait de guerre », la
dépouille du saint roi Edmond qu'il ramena en France. Ainsi, quand, en 1539,
« les envoyés d’Henry VIII se rendirent à Edmondbury pour ouvrir la châsse
du saint martyr, en retirer les reliques et les brûler, ils ne les y trouvèrent
pas ; mais seulement quelques rognures d’ongles et de cheveux. »
Les traditions toulousaines affirment que le prince
Louis confia le corps de saint Edmond aux chanoines de Saint-Sernin de Toulouse
pendant la croisade contre les Albigeois21 : « C'est une chose démontrée que
Louis VIII, après son retour d'Angleterre, vint en 1219 assiéger Toulouse et
fut contraint de lever précipitamment le siège et d'abandonner son camp qui fut
pillé par les assiégés : c'est ainsi que, degré ou de force, les reliques du
saint Roi que Louis VIII auraient emportées avec lui d'Angleterre, purent
tomber entre les mains des Toulousains. » Toujours est-il que les
Capitouls de la ville de Toulouse firent, en 1631, le vœu solennel d'offrir à
saint Edmond une châsse d'argent pour y enfermer ses reliques si, par son
intercession, la ville était délivrée de la peste qui désolait ses habitants
depuis 1628. Des fêtes solennelles eurent lieu en 1644 pour l'accomplissement
de ce vœu. En juin 1901, une partie des reliques de saint Edmond fut envoyée au
pape Léon XIII22 qui la donna au cardinal Vaughan23 pour qu’on la conservât dans la
nouvelle cathédrale de Westminster.
A Paris, au faubourg Saint-Jacques, saint Edmond
était le patron de l’église des Bénédictins anglais. Chassés d’Angleterre par
Elisabeth I°, les moines bénédictins s’étaient dispersés en Espagne et en
Italie, mais quelques uns d’entre eux s’étaient réfugiés à Dieulouard, en
Lorraine, à Saint-Malo et à Douai (1607). En 1611, Marie de Lorraine, abbesse
de Chelles24, et Catherine de Lorraine, abbesse de
Remiremont, appellent les Bénédictins anglais pour la direction spirituelle de
leurs monastères ; la même année, Marie de Lorraine établit six
bénédictins anglais de Dieulouard à Paris, au collège de Montaigu, pour y faire
des études et préparer des missions en Angleterre ; en 1614, ils
s’installèrent au faubourg Saint-Jacques « où ils ont donné des marques de
leur piété et charité en retirant non seulement ceux de leur nation, mais
encore en instruisant les habitants dudit faubourg, ce qui les a faits
subsister des aumônes des particuliers.25 »
Le P. William Gifford26 loua pour eux une maison de la rue de
Vaugirard (1623-1629) qu’ils durent abandonner, lors de la construction du
palais du Luxembourg, pour une maison de la rue d’Enfer ; en 1632, ils
s’établirent rue Saint-Jacques, en face du couvent des Carmélites, où,
dans une maison jadis habitée par des Feuillantines, saint François de Sales
les visita, en compagnie de la princesse de Savoie, Christine de France27, dont il était l’aumônier. Le 15 décembre
1640, François La Bossu, bourgeois de Paris, acheta pour eux, aux héritiers de
Pierre de Cossy, la maison de la Trinité, tout près du Val-de-Grâce28, où l’archevêque de Paris autorisa leur
installation (14 janvier 1642). Grâce aux libéralités de la reine Anne
d’Autriche, ils construisirent un couvent dont le prieur, dom Joseph Shirburn,
fit démolir et reconstruire les bâtiments, en 1674.
La première pierre de la chapelle, mise sous le titre
de Saint-Edmond, bénie par l’abbé Walter Montaigu, fut posée le 29 mai
1674, jour anniversaire de la naissance du roi Charles II d’Angleterre, par
Marie-Louise d’Orléans29, nièce de Louis XIV, fille du duc Philippe
d’Orléans et d’Henriette d’Angleterre ; la chapelle fut bénite le 28
février 1677, par l’abbé Louis-Antoine de Noailles30. On y déposa le corps du roi Jacques II
Stuart31 (17 septembre 1701), insigne
bienfaiteur de la chapelle32, et de sa dernière fille Louise-Marie (20
avril 1712).
Les révolutionnaires arrêtèrent les Bénédictins
anglais, confisquèrent leurs biens et mirent le couvent sous séquestre (7
septembre 1793) ; la chapelle dut pillée et saccagée, le cercueil de Jacques II
Stuart fut violé (7 novembre 1793) et son corps, retrouvé intact, disparut33. Après avoir été transformé en prison34 (9 octobre 1793), le couvent fut vendu
(30 août 1799) puis rendu aux Bénédictins anglais (1803). De 1808 à 1900, il
fut successivement occupé par une manufacture de coton, des établissements
d’éducation, une école préparatoire à l’Ecole polytechnique ; depuis il est
le siège de la Schola Cantorum fondée par Vincent d’Indy en 1896.
1 Athelstan fut
le huitième roi d’Est-Anglie de 925 à 939. il était le beau-frère de Othon I° le
Grand, de Charles III le Simple et de Hugues le Grand.
2 Vers
450, les Jutes, les Angles, les Saxons et les Danois débarquent en Bretagne que
les Romains ont abandonnée, et repoussent les Bretons dans le Pays de Galles,
en Cornouailles, en Ecosse et en Armorique. Ils fondent sept états : Kent
(Jutes), Northumbrie, Mercie et East-Anglie (Angles), Essex, Sussex et Wessex
(Saxons).
3 Norbury,
près de Croydon, dans le Surrey.
4 Beodricsworth fut
fondé, vers 633, par Sigebert, roi de l’Anglie orientale, qui le confia au
clergé séculier. Après que la dépouille de saint Edmond y fut déposée, l’évêque
d’Elmhan, ancien moine de l’abbaye d’Ely, confia le monastère à une vingtaine
de Bénédictins venus des abbayes d’Ely et de Hulme, sous la conduite d’Uvius,
prieur de Saint-Benoît de Hulme, qui reçut la bénédiction abbatiale de l’évêque
de Londres.
5 Abbon
de Fleury-sur-Loire, né dans l'Orléanais, vers 945, fut étudiant puis
enseignant l’abbaye de Fleury. Curieux de connaissances plus larges et grand
voyageur, il fréquenta les écoles de Paris, de Reims et d'Orléans. Ecolâtre de
Fleury, il écrivit sur le calcul et l'astronomie ; il combattit contre
ceux qui annonçaient la fin du monde à l’approche de l'an 1000. Il fut ensuite
envoyé en Angleterre, à l’abbaye de Ramsey, pour y diriger les études. Rentré
en France, il est ordonné prêtre, puis il est élu Pendant son séjour en
Angleterre, outre les Quæstiones grammaticales, il écrivit la Passio
S. Edmundi regis. Ordonné prêtre à son retour, Abbon est élu abbé de Fleury
(sans doute vers 987). Entre 988 et 996 il compose, pour le roi Hugues et son
fils Robert, sa célèbre collection canonique. Il va de concile en concile
(Saint-Basle de Verzy en 99l, Mouzon, Reims et Saint-Denis en 995). Au concile
de Saint-Denis, il y eut de violents incidents : les évêques furent jetés
dehors, et le vénérable primat reçut des horions ; Abbon rendu
responsable, dut pour se justifier rédiger toute une apologétique. Il fut
un des champions de l’exemption des abbayes ; entend émanciper son
monastère et mettre légalement dehors son évêque. Il bénéficia de la première
bulle d’exemption accordée par Grégoire V (13 novembre 997). Le roi Robert
l’avait envoyé à Rome pour arranger l'épineuse affaire de son second mariage,
avec Berthe de Bourgogne, mais Abbon ne réussit pas. On l’appelait souvent pour
arbitrer les conflits monastiques (Marmoutiers en 997, Saint-Pére en 1003, à
Micy en 1004). C'est au cours d'un de ces voyages qu'il trouva la mort, à La
Reole (Gironde), le 13 novembre 1004; il fut pris dans une rixe entre
moines et serfs du monastère, et assommé parmi les combattants. En quelques
endroits, Abbon a été canonisé : Bordeaux et Orléans le fêtent au 13
novembre.
6 La
plupart des moines de l'abbaye d’Edmondbury furent sécularisés de force par
Henry VIII (1535) et l’abbaye, séquestrée (4 novembre 1538), fut détruite en
1539.
7 Saint
Edouard le Confesseur fils du roi Aethelred II et d’Ema, fille du duc
Richard de Normandie, né en 1003, vécut plus de vingt-cinq ans en Normandie où
il avait trouvé refuge pendant l’invasion danoise. Retourné en Angleterre
(1041), il fut reconnu par Hartacnut, fils de Cnut le Grand, comme son
successeur et monta sur le trône d’Angleterre en 1042 ; il est le dernier roi
de la vieille lignée anglo-saxonne. Son règne apparaît comme une sorte d’âge
d’or. Il mourut en odeur de sainteté le 5 janvier 1066, après avoir désigné
comme successeur son beau-frère Harold, au détriment de Guillaume, duc de
Normandie, à qui il avait promis sa couronne (1051). Harold II fut battu et tué
à la bataille d’Hastings (14 octobre 1066) contre Guillaume le Conquérant,
duc de Normandie, qui devint roi d’Angleterre.
8 Jean,
dernier fils et préféré d’Henri II Plantagenêt, était le frère et le successeur
de Richard Cœur de Lion, roi d’Angleterre de 1199 à 1216. Jean était
surnommé Sans Terre parce que, contrairement à ses frères, il n’avait
pas reçu d’apanage.
9 Nous
avons en premier lieu confirmé par la présente charte, pour nous et nos
héritiers et à perpétuité, que l’Eglise d’Angleterre sera libre et conservera
intégralement ses droits et ses libertés. Aucun impôt ne sera établi dans notre
royaume si ce n’est par le commun conseil de notre royaume, excepté pour
racheter notre personne, pour armer notre fils aîné chevalier ou pour marier
une première fois notre fille aînée. La cité de Londres conservera ses antiques
libertés et toutes ses libres coutumes, tant sur terre que sur eau. En outre,
nous voulons et accordons que les autres cités, bourgs et ports, sans
exception, jouissent de leurs libertés et libres coutumes. Et, pour avoir le
commun conseil du royaume, en vue d’établir une aide en dehors des trois cas susdits,
nous ferons convoquer les archevêques, évêques, abbés, comtes et grands barons
au moyen de lettres scellées de notre sceau ; et, en outre, nous ferons
convoquer d’une manière générale, par l’intermédiaire de nos vicomtes et de nos
baillis, tous nos vassaux directs pour un jour fixé, à savoir d’avec délai d’au
moins quarante jours, et en un lieu déterminé ; et dans toutes nos lettres nous
donnerons le motif de la convocation. Aucun homme libre ne sera arrêté,
emprisonné ou privé de ses biens, ou mis hors la loi, ou exilé, ou lésé de
quelque façon que ce soit, sauf en vertu d’un jugement légal de ses pairs,
conformément à la loi du pays.
10 Surveillants
de la Grande Charte d'Angleterre
11 Histoire
des rois d'Angleterre et des ducs de Normandie.
12 Innocent
III élu à l’unanimité le jour de la mort de Célestin III (8 janvier
1198) mourut le 16 juillet 1216.
13 Fils
de Philippe II Auguste et d’Isabelle de Hainaut, Louis, né en
1187, devint roi de France (Louis VIII le Lion) le 14 juillet 1223 (sacré
le 6 août) et mourut, au château de Montpensier, le 8 novembre 1226. C’est le
père de saint Louis qui lui succéda.
14 Henri
II Plantagenêt (mort en 1189) avait eu de son épouse, Aliénor d’Aquitaine,
cinq enfants : Henri (mort en 1183), Geoffroy, duc de Bretagne (mort en 1186),
Richard Cœur de Lion (mort en 1199), Jean Sans Terre (mort
en 1216) dont descendent les rois d’Angleterre, et Aliénor qui épousa le roi
Alphonse VIII de Castille (mort en 1214) dont elle eut Blanche, femme de Louis
VIII (mort en 1226) et mère de saint Louis (mort en 1270).
15 Arthur
I°, duc de Bretagne, (1187-1203), fils posthume de Geoffroy II le Beau,
duc de Bretagne (troisième fils d’Henri II Plantagenêt) et de Constance (fille
de Conan IV, duc de Bretagne), il disputa le trône d’Angleterre à son oncle,
Jean Sans Terre, qui le fit emprisonner à Rouen et le fit peut-être noyer.
16 Mort
le 16 juillet 1216.
17 Honorius
III, élu à l’unanimité (18 juillet 1216) deux jours après la mort d’Innocent
III, mourut le 18 mars 1227. Il fit pression sur la France pour qu’elle
renonçât à l’invasion de l’Angleterre et aida Henri III, fils mineur de
Jean Sans Terre, à obtenir la couronne anglaise qu’il porta de 1216 à
1272.
18 Né
en 1207, mort en 1272.
19 Jacques
Guala de Bicchieri (1150-1227), chanoine régulier de Pavie, cardinal
diacre au titre de Santa Maria in Porticu (1204) puis cardinal prêtre
au titre de Saint-Martin (1211), fut légat pontifical en France
(1208-1209), en Ombrie (1210), puis de nouveau en France (1216) et en
Angleterre (1216). Il fulmina l’excommunication contre le prince Louis et
Jean Sans Terre lui confia son fils Henri à qui il conquit la
couronne anglaise en excommuniant à tour de bras.
20 Le cinq
ports sont : Douvres, Sandwich, Romney, Hastings et Hythe.
21 Le
prince Louis mit le siège devant Toulouse le 14 juin 1219 jusqu’au 1°
août suivant : Ramond VI de Toulouse avait battu les Français à Basiège, en
Lauraguais, et son fils, de 1219 à 1221, reprenait les pays perdus.
22 Elu
le 20 février 1878, mort le 20 juillet 1903, Léon XIII eut un souci
tout particulier pour la conversion de l’Angleterre (lettre Ad Anglos du
14 avril 1895).
23 Archevêque
de Westminster de 1892 à 1903, le cardinal Vaughan succède à Newman ;
édifia la cathédrale de Westminster qui fut inaugurée à Noël 1903.
24 Marie
de Lorraine, nommée par le Roi abbesse de Chelles en 1579, le resta jusqu’à sa
mort, le 27 janvier 1627.
25 Lettres
patentes de janvier 1680.
26 Plus
connu sous le nom de Gabriel de Sainte-Marie, William Gifford, né en
1554 dans le Hampshire, réfugié à Louvain, puis en France, fut envoyé à Rome où
il fut ordonné prêtre (1582). Théologien et prédicateur célèbre, il fut pendant
onze ans doyen du chapitre Saint-Pierre de Lille (1595-1606) et entra chez les
Bénédictins anglais (1608). Collaborateur du cardinal de Guise, archevêque de
Reims, à partir de 1616, il fut nommé évêque in partibus d’Arcadiopolis
(1617) et administrateur apostolique de Reims dont il devint archevêque (1623).
Il mourut en 1629.
27 Christine
de France, fille d’Henri IV et de Marie de Médicis, née en 1606, mourut en
1663 ; elle avait épousé Victor-Amédée I° (né en 1587, mort en 1637),
duc de Savoie (1630).
28 Actuel
n° 269 de la rue Saint-Jacques.
29 Marie-Louise
d’Orléans, née à Paris le 27 mars 1662, était la filleule de Louis XIV et de la
reine d’Angleterre (baptisée le 21 mai 1662 dans la chapelle du
Palais-Royal) ; elle épousera le roi Charles II d’Espagne (1679) et mourra
à Madrid le 12 février 1689.
30 Louis-Antoine
de Noailles, né le 27 mai 1651, fut depuis évêque de Cahors (1659), puis de
Châlons-sur-Marne (1680) ; il mourut cardinal et archevêque de Paris (4
mai 1729).
31 Les
entrailles de Jacques II furent partagées entre l’église de
Saint-Germain-en-Laye et le collège anglais de Saint-Omer, son cerveau fut remis
au collège des Ecossais, son cœur fut donné aux Filles de Sainte-Marie de
Chaillot et un de ses bras fut confié aux Augustines, la plus ancienne
communauté anglaise de Paris. Il ne reste que les entrailles de
Saint-Germain-en-Laye, déposées dans le mausolée construit par le prince-régent
de Grande-Bretagne (1818) et que fut restaurer la reine Victoria (1857).
32 Alors
qu’il était encore en Angleterre, Jacques II fit venir quelques uns de
ces moines à Saint-James, pour desservir la chapelle de sa femme,
Marie-Béatrix d’Este. Chassé de son trône par son gendre, Guillaume III
d’Orange, il fut accueilli par Louis XIV à Saint-Germain-en-Laye et consacra la
presque totalité de la pension que la France lui accordait en faveur du couvent
qu’il visitait souvent et où il faisait des retraites spirituelles.
33 On
dit que le corps de Jacques II ne fut pas profané et qu’il fut inhumé
dans un endroit qui reste ignoré, malgré les recherches faites en 1840 par
ordre du roi Georges IV d’Angleterre.
34 Dans
cette prison, furent enfermés l’astronome Cassini, Mme. de Tourzel et sa fille,
la femme de Beaumarchais et celle de La Bourdonnaie.
SOURCE : http://missel.free.fr/Sanctoral/11/20.php
Saint Edmond, Roi et Martyr d'Anglie orientale (869)
Le saint roi orthodoxe Edmond le martyr, est un roi et
martyr de l'Anglie orientale, du IXe siècle. Il monta sur le trône d'Anglie
orientale en 855 à quatorze ans. Il mourut en martyr en luttant contre la
"Grande Armée Païenne", une grande armée de Vikings qui pilla et
conquit une grande partie de l'Angleterre à la fin du neuvième siècle. Il fut
vénéré très tôt et devint populaire parmi la noblesse anglo-normande. Sa fête
est au 20 Novembre.
Edmond est né en 841. Les premiers récits et les
histoires sont vagues en ce qui concerne l'identité de son père. Les sources
considérées comme les plus fiables représentent Edmond comme descendant des
précédents rois d'Anglie orientale. Quand le roi Ethelweard mourut en 854, ce
fut Edmond, alors qu'il n'avait que quatorze ans, qui lui succéda sur le trône.
On sait peu de choses des quatorze années subséquentes
d'Edmond. Il a été dit de son règne qu'il était celui d'un roi modèle. On dit
qu'il traitait tous avec une égale justice et qu'il était insensible aux
flatteries. Il est dit qu'il passa un an dans sa résidence de Hunstanton à
apprendre le psautier qu'il était capable de réciter de mémoire.
Les sources de description de son martyre varient. Les
Danois de la Grande Armée Païenne avancèrent sur l'Anglie orientale en 869 et
furent confrontés au roi Edmond et à son armée. Si Edmond pourrait avoir été
tué dans la bataille, les traditions populaires sont qu'Edmond refusa les
demandes des païens Danois de renoncer au Christ, ou qu'il ne pouvait tenir son
royaume en tant que vassal de seigneurs païens. Ces deux histoires datent de
peu de temps après sa mort et on ne sait pas laquelle des deux versions est la
bonne.
Selon un biographe, Abbon de Fleury, Edmond a choisi,
à la manière du Christ, de ne pas utiliser les armes avec les Danois païens et
il fut capturé et emmené à Hoxne dans le Suffolk. Là, il fut battu puis attaché
à un gros arbre où il a de nouveau été battu. Entendant les appels d'Edmond au
Christ, pour avoir du courage, les Danois l'attaquèrent encore, tirant des
nombreuses flèches sur le roi lié qui ne montra aucun désir de renoncer au
Christ. Enfin, il fut décapité le 20 Novembre 869.
Le corps d'Edmond fut enterré à Beadoriceworth,
le Bury Saint Edmunds moderne. Cet endroit est devenu un sanctuaire
d'Edmond qui a grandement accru sa renommée. Sa popularité parmi la noblesse
d'Angleterre a augmenté et a duré. Sa bannière est devenue un symbole chez les
Anglo-Normands dans leurs expéditions en l'Irlande et à Caerlaverock Castle.
Son emblème était porté sur une bannière à la bataille d'Azincourt. Des églises
et des collèges ont été nommés d'après saint Edmond dans toute l'Angleterre .
Ces dernières années, des initiatives ont ont été
prises en Angleterre pour restaurer saint Edmond comme saint patron de
l'Angleterre. Edmond avait été remplacé par Saint-Georges comme saint patron
par l'association de Saint-Georges du roi Edouard III avec l'Ordre de la
Jarretière. La tentative a échoué. Cependant, saint Edmund a été nommé saint
patron du comté de Suffolk en 2006.
Version française Claude Lopez-Ginisty
d'après
http://www.oodegr.com/english/biographies/arxaioi/Edmund_Martyr_king.htm
Ton 3
Tropaire à saint Edmond, Roi d'Anglie orientale,
Martyr, (Natalice en 869 A.D.)
Ton père ayant quitté le trône pour la bure,*
Tu reçus la couronne pour tes quatorze ans.*
Tu fus le modèle des monarques chrétiens,*
Et lors de l'invasion des barbares danois,*
Tu as donné ta vie pour l'Eglise du Christ.*
Saint Edmond, implore pour nous le Roi de Gloire!
SOURCE : http://orthodoxologie.blogspot.ca/2010/04/saint-edmond-roi-et-martyr-danglie.html
Also known as
Edmund the Martyr
King of the East Angles
formerly 2
November
29
April (translation of relics)
25
December on some calendars
Profile
King of
East Anglia at age 14, crowned on Christmas Day 855 by Bishop Saint Humbert
of Elmham. Edmund was a model ruler,
concerned with justice for his people and his own spirituality; he spent a year
sequestered at Hunstanton learning the Psalter by heart. Following one of a
series of armed engagement with invading Danes,
he was captured.
He was ordered to give his Christian people
to the pagan invaders;
he refused. Martyr.
Born
c.841 probably
at Nuremburg, Germany
beaten, whipped, shot with arrows “until
he bristled with them like a hedgehog”, and beheaded at
Hoxne, Suffolk, England 20
November 870
buried at
Hoxne
relics moved
to Beodricsworth, England (modern
Bury Saint Edmunds (Borough of Saint Edmunds)) in the 915
relics moved
to the Cathedral of Saint Paul in London, England in 1010 ahead
of an invading Viking force
relics returned
to Bury Saint Edmunds in 1113
relics re-enshrined in
a new church in a Benedictine monastery built
by King Canute
in 1020
relics re-enshrined in
a new Norman church in Bury Saint Edmunds in 1095
following a fire, the relics re-enshrined in
a new church in 1198
following a battle in Lincoln, England in 1217, French troops claim
to have taken the relics,
but modern testing has disproved this; the real relics may
have been hidden, destroyed, looted – we just don’t know, and no
authentic relics exist
today
East
Anglia, England, diocese of
king tied
to a tree and shot with arrows
bearded king with
a sword and arrow
man with his severed head between the paws of a wolf
Additional Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Catholic
Encyclopedia, by G E Phillips
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
Short
Lives of the Saints, by Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other sites in english
Christian Biographies, by James E Keifer
Martyrdom
of Saint Edmund, King of East Anglia, by Abbo of Fleury
Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
images
video
sitios en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
sites en français
Abbé Christian-Philippe Chanut
fonti in italiano
Martirologio Romano, 2005 edition
nettsteder i norsk
MLA Citation
“Saint Edmund of East Anglia“. CatholicSaints.Info.
5 May 2021. Web. 20 November 2021. <https://catholicsaints.info/saint-edmund-of-east-anglia/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-edmund-of-east-anglia/
St. Edmund the Martyr
King of East Anglia, born about 840; died at Hoxne,
Suffolk, 20 November, 870. The earliest and most reliable accounts represent
St. Edmund as descended from the preceding kings of East Anglia, though,
according to later legends, he was born at Nuremberg (Germany),
son to an otherwise unknown King Alcmund of Saxony. Though only about fifteen
years old when crowned in
855, Edmund showed himself a model ruler from the first, anxious to treat all
with equal justice,
and closing his ears to flatterers and untrustworthy informers. In his
eagerness for prayer he
retired for a year to his royal tower at Hunstanton and learned the whole Psalter by
heart, in order that he might afterwards recite it regularly. In 870 he bravely repulsed
the two Danish chiefs
Hinguar and Hubba who had invaded his dominions. They soon returned with
overwhelming numbers, and pressed terms upon him which as a Christian he
felt bound to refuse. In his desire to avert a fruitless massacre, he disbanded
his troops and himself retired towards Framlingham; on the way he fell into the
hands of the invaders. Having loaded him with chains, his captors conducted him
to Hinguar, whose impious demands he again rejected, declaring his religion
dearer to him than his life. His martyrdom took
place in 870 at Hoxne in Suffolk. After beating him with cudgels, the Danes
tied him to a tree, and cruelly tore his flesh with whips. Throughout these
tortures Edmund continued to call upon the name
of Jesus, until at last, exasperated by his constancy, his enemies began to
discharge arrows at him. This cruel sport was continued until his body had the
appearance of a porcupine, when Hinguar commanded his head to be struck off.
From his first burial-place at Hoxne his relics were
removed in the tenth century to Beodricsworth, since called St. Edmundsbury,
where arose the famous abbey of
that name. His feast is
observed 20 November, and he is represented in Christian
art with sword and arrow, the instruments of his torture.
Sources
Thomas Arnold, Memorials of St. Edmund's Abbey in R.S. (London,
1890), containing Abbo of Fleury, Passio S. Eadmundi (985), and
Gaufridus De Fontibus, Infantia S. Eadmundi (c. 1150); Tynemouth and
Capgrave, Nova Legenda Angliae, ed. Horstman (Oxford, 1901); Butler, Lives
of the Saints (Dublin, 1872); Mackinlay, Saint Edmund King and Martyr (London,
1893).
Phillips, George. "St. Edmund the
Martyr." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York:
Robert Appleton Company, 1909.20 Nov.
2016 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05295a.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for
New Advent by Ian Bruce Montgomery. Sermo Tuus Veritas Est.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. May
1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop
of New York.
Copyright © 2020 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05295a.htm
St. Edmund, King and Martyr
On Christmas Day 855, 14-year-old Edmund was acclaimed
king of Norfolk by the ruling men and clergy of that county. The following year
the leaders of Suffolk also made him their king.
For 15 years Edmund ruled over the East Angles with
what all acknowledged as Christian dignity and justice. He himself seems to
have modelled his piety on that of King David in the Old Testament, becoming
especially proficient in reciting the Psalms in public worship.
From the year 866 his kingdom was increasingly
threatened by Danish invasions. For four years the East Angles managed to keep
a shaky, often broken peace with them. Then the invaders burned Thetford. King
Edmund’s army attacked the Danes but could not defeat the marauders.
On reaching East Anglia, their leaders confronted
Edmund and offered him peace on condition that he would rule as their vassal
and forbid the practice of the Christian faith. Edmund refused this last
condition, fought, and was captured.
After his refusal he was tied to a tree and became the
target for Danish bowmen until he was pierced by dozens of arrows. This torture
he endured bravely all the while calling on the name of Jesus. He was finally
decapitated. His burial place is the town of Bury St. Edmunds.
The tree at which tradition declared Edmund to have
been slain stood in the park at Hoxne until 1849, when it fell. In the course
of its breaking up an arrow-head was found embedded in the trunk.
Saint Edmund thus remains the only English sovereign
until the time of King Charles I to die for religious beliefs as well as the
defense of his throne. Edmund was quickly revered as a martyr and his cultus
spread widely during the middle ages. Along with St. George, St. Edmund is
the Patron Saint of England.
On Christmas Day 855, 14-year-old Edmund was acclaimed
king of Norfolk by the ruling men and clergy of that county. The following year
the leaders of Suffolk also made him their king.
For 15 years Edmund ruled over the East Angles with
what all acknowledged as Christian dignity and justice. He himself seems to
have modelled his piety on that of King David in the Old Testament, becoming
especially proficient in reciting the Psalms in public worship.
From the year 866 his kingdom was increasingly
threatened by Danish invasions. For four years the East Angles managed to keep
a shaky, often broken peace with them. Then the invaders burned Thetford. King
Edmund's army attacked the Danes but could not defeat the marauders. Edmund was
taken prisoner and became the target for Danish bowmen.
In a later account in the The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,
reputedly derived second-hand from an eyewitness, Abbo compared Saint Edmund to
Saint Sebastien, and so he also became a saint invoked against the plague. The
story goes that Edmund was captured at Hoxne. He refused to share his Christian
kingdom with the heathen invaders, whereupon he was tied to a tree and shot
with arrows, till his body was 'like a thistle covered with prickles'; then his
head was struck off. He died with the name of Jesus on his lips.
The record continues that the Danes "killed the
king and overcame all the land . . . they destroyed all the churches that they
came to, and at the same time reaching Peterborough, killed the abbot and monks
and burned and broke everything they found there."
Saint Edmund thus remains the only English sovereign
until the time of King Charles I to die for religious beliefs as well as the
defense of his throne. Edmund was quickly revered as a martyr and his cultus
spread widely during the middle ages (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Hervey,
Roeder).
King Saint Edmund is generally depicted as a bearded
king holding his emblem--an arrow. Sometimes he is shown suspended from a tree
and shot, or his head between the paws of a wolf. He is sometimes confused with
Saint Sebastien, who is never portrayed as a king (Roeder).
He is venerated at Bury Saint Edmunds (Saint Edmund's
borough), where his body is enshrined and a great abbey arose in 1020. Richard
II invoked him as patron as to those threatened by the plague (Roeder).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/1120.shtml
St. Edmund, King and Martyr
A.D. 870.
THOUGH from the time of King
Egbert, in 802, the kings of the West-Saxons were monarchs of all England, yet
several kings reigned in certain parts after that time, in some measure
subordinate to them. One Offa was king of the East-Angles, who, being desirous
to end his days in penance and devotion at Rome, resigned his crown to St.
Edmund, at that time only fifteen years of age, but a most virtuous prince, and
descended from the old English-Saxon kings of this isle. 2 The
saint was placed on the throne of his ancestors, as Lydgate, Abbo, and others
express themselves, and was crowned by Hunbert, bishop of Elman, on
Christmas-day in 855, at Burum, a royal villa on the Stour, now called Bures or
Buers. 3 Though
very young, he was by his piety, goodness, humility, and all other virtues, the
model of good princes. He was a declared enemy of flatterers and informers, and
would see with his own eyes and hear with his own ears, to avoid being
surprised into a wrong judgment, or imposed upon by the passions or ill designs
of others. The peace and happiness of his people were his whole concern, which
he endeavoured to establish by an impartial administration of justice and
religious regulations in his dominions. He was the father of his subjects,
particularly of the poor, the protector of widows and orphans, and the support
of the weak. Religion and piety were the most distinguishing part of his
character. Monks and devout persons used to know the psalter without book, that
they might recite the psalms at work, in travelling, and on every other
occasion. To get it by heart St. Edmund lived in retirement a whole year in his
royal tower at Hunstanton, (which he had built for a country solitude,) which
place is now a village in Norfolk. The book which the saint used for that
purpose was religiously kept at St. Edmundsbury till the dissolution of abbeys. 4
The holy king had reigned fifteen
years when the Danes infested his dominions. The Danish Chronicle relates, 5 that
Regner Lodbrog, king of Denmark, was taken prisoner, and put to death in
Ireland, which he had invaded. Harald Klag, who had fled from his tyranny to
Lewis Debonnair in Germany, and received the Christian faith, succeeded him,
but relapsed into idolatry. After him Syward III., and Eric I., and II.,
reigned; the latter, towards the end of his life, was converted to the faith by
St. Anscharius. In his time the sons of Regner Lodbrog, after having subdued
Norway, laid England waste.
Their names were Eric, Orebic,
Godfrey, Hinguar, Hubba, Ulfo, and Biorno, who, with mighty armies which they
collected in the northern kingdoms, all commenced adventurers and pirates.
Hinguar and Hubba, two of these brothers, the most barbarous of all the Danish
plunderers, landing in England, wintered among the East-Angles; then, having
made a truce with that nation, they in summer sailed to the north, and, landing
at the mouth of the Tweed, plundered with fire and sword Northumberland, and
afterwards Mercia, directing their march through Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire,
and Cambridgeshire. Out of a lust of rage and cruelty, and the most implacable
aversion to the Christian name, they everywhere destroyed the churches and
monasteries; and, as it were, in barbarous sport, massacred all priests and
religious persons whom they met with. In the great monastery of Coldingham,
beyond Berwick, the nuns fearing not death, but insults which might be offered
to their chastity, at the instigation of St. Ebba, the holy abbess, cut off
their noses and upper lips, that, appearing to the barbarians frightful
spectacles of horrors, they might preserve their virtue from danger: the
infidels accordingly were disconcerted at such a sight, and spared their
virtue, but put them all to the sword. In their march, amongst other monasteries,
those of Bardney, Croyland, Peterborough, Ely, and Huntingdon were levelled
with the ground, and the religious inhabitants murdered. In the cathedral of
Peterborough is shown a monument (removed thither from a place without the
building) called Monk’s-Stone, on which are the effigies of an abbot and
several monks. It stood over the pit in which fourscore monks of this house
were interred, whom Hinguar and Hubba massacred in 870. The barbarians, reeking
with blood, poured down upon St. Edmund’s dominions, burning Thetford, the
first town they met with, and laying waste all before them. The people, relying
upon the faith of treaties, thought themselves secure, and were unprepared.
However, the good king raised what forces he could, met the infidels, or at
least a part of their army, near Thetford, and discomfited them. But seeing
them soon after reinforced with fresh numbers, against which his small body was
not able to make any stand, and being unwilling to sacrifice the lives of his
soldiers in vain, and grieving for the eternal loss of the souls of his
enemies, who would be slain in a fruitless engagement, he disbanded his troops,
and retired himself towards his castle of Framlingham in Suffolk. 6 The
barbarian had sent him proposals which were inconsistent both with religion and
with the justice which he owed to his people. These the saint rejected, being
resolved rather to die a victim of his faith and duty to God, than to do anything
against his conscience and religion. In his flight he was overtaken and
surrounded by infidels at Oxon, upon the Waveney: he concealed himself for some
short time, but, being discovered, was bound with heavy chains, and conducted
to the general’s tent. Terms were again offered him equally prejudicial to
religion and to his people, which the holy king refused to confirm, declaring
that religion was dearer to him than his life, which he would never purchase by
offending God. Hinguar, exasperated at this answer, in his barbarous rage
caused him to be cruelly beaten with cudgels; then to be tied to a tree, and
torn a long time together with whips. All this he bore with invincible meekness
and patience, never ceasing to call upon the name of Jesus. The infidels were
the more exasperated, and as he stood bound to the tree, they made him a mark
wantonly to shoot at, till his body was covered with arrows, like a porcupine.
Hinguar at length, in order to put an end to the butchery, commanded his head
to be struck off. Thus the saint finished his martyrdom on the 20th of
November, in 870, the fifteenth of his reign, and twenty-ninth of his age; the
circumstances of which St. Dunstan learned from one who was armour-bearer to
the saint, and an eye-witness. The place was then called Henglesdun, now Hoxon,
or Hoxne; a priory of monks was afterwards built there, which bore the name of
the martyr.
The saint’s head was carried by the
infidels into a wood, and thrown into a brake of bushes; but miraculously found
by a pillar of light, and deposited with the body at Hoxon. These sacred
remains were very soon after conveyed to Bedricsworth, or Kingston, since
called St. Edmundsbury, because this place was St. Edmund’s own town and
private patrimony; not on account of his burial, for Bury in the
English-Saxon language signified a court or palace. 7 A
church of timber was erected over the place where he was interred; which was
thus built, according to the fashion of those times. Trunks of large trees were.
sawn lengthways in the middle, and reared up with one end fixed in the ground,
with the bark or rough side outermost. These trunks being made of an equal
height, and set up close to one another and the interstices filled up with mud
or mortar, formed the four walls, upon which was raised a thatched roof. 8 Nor
can we be surprised at the homeliness of this structure since the same was the
fabric of the royal rich abbey of Glastenbury, the work of the most munificent
and powerful West-Saxon kings, till in latter ages it was built in a stately
manner of stone. The precious remains of St. Edmund were honoured with many
miracles. In 920, for fear of the barbarians under Turkil the Dane, in the
reign of king Ethelred, they were conveyed to London by Alfun, bishop of that
city, and the monk Eglewin, or Ailwin, the keeper of this sacred treasure, who
never abandoned it. After remaining three years in the church of StGregory in
London, it was translated again with honour to St. Edmundsbury, in 923. 9 The
great church of timber-work stood till King Knute, or Canutus, to make
reparation for the injuries his father Swein or Sweno, had done to this place,
and to the relics of the martyr, built and founded there, in 1020, a new most
magnificent church and abbey in honour of this holy martyr. 10 The
unparalleled piety, humility, meekness, and other virtues of St. Edmund are
admirably set forth by our historians. 11 This
incomparable prince and holy martyr was considered by succeeding English kings
as their special patron, and as an accomplished model of all royal virtues.
Henry VI. who, with a weak understanding in secular matters, joined an uncommon
goodness of heart, made the practice of religion the study of his whole life,
and shared largely in afflictions, the portion of the elect, had a singular
devotion to this saint, and enjoyed no where so much comfort, peace, and joy as
in the retreats which he made in the monastery of St. Edmundsbury. The feast of
St. Edmund is reckoned among the holidays of precept in this kingdom by the
national council of Oxford, in 1222; but is omitted in the constitutions of
Archbishop Simon Islep, who retrenched certain holidays in 1362. 12
No Christian can be surprised that
innocence should suffer. Prosperity is often the most grievous judgment that
God exercises upon a wicked man, who by it is suffered, in punishment of his
impiety, to blind and harden himself in his evil courses, and to plunge himself
deeper in iniquity. On the other hand, God, in his merciful providence, conducts
second causes, so that afflictions fall to the share of those souls whose
sanctification he has particularly in view. By tribulation a man learns
perfectly to die to the world and himself, a work which without its aid, even
the severest self-denial, and the most perfect obedience, leave imperfect. By
tribulation we learn the perfect exercise of humility, patience, meekness,
resignation, and pure love of God; which are neither practised nor learned
without such occasions. By a good use of tribulation a person becomes a saint
in a very short time, and at a cheap rate. The opportunity and grace of
suffering well is a mercy in favour of chosen souls; and a mercy to which every
saint from Abel to the last of the elect is indebted for his crown. We meet with
sufferings from ourselves, from disappointments, from friends and from enemies.
We are on every side beset with crosses. But we bear them with impatience and
complaints. Thus we cherish our passions, and multiply sins by the very means
which are given us to crucify and overcome them. To learn to bear crosses well
is one of the most essential and most important duties of a Christian life. To
make a good use of the little crosses which we continually meet with, is the
means of making the greatest progress in all virtue, and of obtaining strength
to stand our ground under great trials. St. Edmund’s whole life was a
preparation for martyrdom.
Note 1. Lydgate was a very learned man,
versed especially in every branch of polite literature: he wrote many other
poems besides this, and several works in prose, especially of piety and
prayers, on which see Tanner. (Bibl. Britan. p. 489.) He had travelled in France
and Italy, and was a disciple of Chaucer, whom he far excelled in the article
of versification. His verses were so very smooth, that it was said of him that
his wit was framed and fashioned by the muses themselves. See Lives of (Engl.)
Poets, (by several hands,) t. 1. [back]
Note
2. Blomfield,
in his Norfolk, pretends that St. Edmund was son to one Alcmund, king of Old
Saxony in Germany, and that he was adopted by his cousin, Offa, in his way to
Rome. But Lydgate and our best historians assure us, that he derived his
pedigree from the old English-Saxon kings of the East-Angles; and tells us that
he was an Englishman born. Nor does David Chytræus, in his Saxonia, name any
Alcmund who ever reigned there; or place St. Edmund in the list of kings which
Old Saxony gave to England. See also Leland, Collect. vol. 1, p. 245. [back]
Note 3. Hearne rather thinks Bures to be
Sudbury. [back]
Note
4. Blomfield’s
Norfolk; and Camden, ib. vol. 1, p. 470. [back]
Note 5. Published by Lindenbruch, with Adam
Bremensis, p. 26. [back]
Note
6. Framlingham
castle since the Conquest has been in the hands sometimes of the dukes of
Norfolk, and sometimes of the crown, till, in 1654, it was bequeathed by Sir N.
Hilcham, who had purchased it of the Norfolk family, to Pembroke-hall, in
Cambridge, to which this castle and manor now belong. The fine outward old
walls are now standing, but, by the consent of the college, a new workhouse is
erected within them. The chief palace of the kings of the East-Angles was
Kaninghall, Kyning cr Cing being our old name for king: at which time Thetford,
on account of its neighbourhood, within twelve miles, might be esteemed the
capital city; it is now filled with ruins of religious houses above all other
towns in the kingdom, in part monuments of the piety of those kings. The manor
of Keninghall passed from the Mowbrays to the Howards, dukes of Norfolk. Duke
Thomas, in the beginning of the reign of Henry VIII. built there a stately
seat, known by the name of the duke’s palace, about a furlong distant from the
ruins of the royal palace, where coins and other antiquities have been
sometimes dug up. Upon that duke’s attainder, this manor was seized by the
king. The Princess Mary retired hither when she was called to the crown. Queen
Elizabeth afterwards lived here some time; and Queen Bess’s-lane and other
places still retain her name. It was recovered by the Howards, and the Duke of
Norfolk is still possessed of this most honourable manor, though the great
house was pulled down by the family in 1650. The ruins are still visible. [back]
Note 7. See Lambert’s Topographical
Dictionary of England, p. 33. [back]
Note
8. A draught of this
old church may be seen in the collection of antiquities made by Mr. Martin of
Palgrave, in Suffolk, together with some large pictures, manuscript books, and
other curiosities relating to the abbey of St. Edmundsbury. [back]
Note 9. See Asser. Annal. Britan. ab an. 596,
ad 914, cum Continuat. inter Histor. Angl. par Gal. 159, 160, 161,
&c. [back]
Note
10. Leland, who saw this abbey in its
splendour, though then expiring, writes of it as follows: “The sun hath not
seen either a city more finely seated or a goodlier abbey, whether a man
consider the revenues and endowments, or the largeness and the incomparable
magnificence thereof. A man who saw the abbey would say, verily it were a city;
so many gates there are in it, and some of brass; so many towers, and a most
stately church, upon which attend three other churches, also standing
gloriously in the same church-yard, all of passing fine and curious
workmanship.” Thus the antiquarian who by order of Henry VIII. made the tour of
the abbeys and churches of England to collect antiquities, which commission, by
losing his senses, he never was able to finish, nor to reduce the researches he
had made into order. He went all the lengths of the reigns of Henry VIII. and
Edward VI. and died in 1552. Of St. Edmundsbury abbey nothing now remains but
amazing ruins, and two churches in one church-yard: that called St. James’s was
finished, and reduced into its present form by Edward VI.: the other is the old
church called St. Mary’s, full of old monuments of illustrious persons there
buried, as of Alan, earl of Brittany, and Richmond, nephew to the Conqueror, in
1093; of Mary, queen of France, sister to Henry VIII. &c., though few
remain entire; the very brass plates and inscriptions of many having been
pilfered. Henry VIII. spared Peterborough church for the sake of his queen,
Catharine, who was buried there. Many wish a like indulgence had been shown to
St. Edmundsbury for the sake of his sister, &c. “It is pity,” says Dr.
Brown Willis, (Hist, of Mitred Abbeys, vol. 1, p. 142,) “that Henry VIII. did
not leave the monastery of Bury for the sake of his sister Mary, the French
Queen, who, after the death of her first husband, Lewis XII. married Charles
Brandon, duke of Suffolk, and lies buried there.” King Edmund, father to King
Edgar, gave to this church the town and territory of Beodricesworth. Other
kings, bishops, &c., gave other towns and manors, enumerated by Leland in
several pages. Collect. vol. 1, p. 249, &c. [back]
Note 11. See Harpsfield, Sæc. 9, c. 8;
Capgrave and Alford’s Annals ad an. 920, and 1010. [back]
Note
12. N. 3. [back]
Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume
XI: November. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : https://www.bartleby.com/210/11/201.html
Golden Legend –
Saint Edmund, King
Here followeth the Life of Saint Edmund, King
and martyr.
In the province of England of old time were divers
kings, for the land was departed; among whom there was Saint Edmund, king of
Norfolk and Suffolk, which took his birth of the noble and ancient lineage of
the Saxons, and was from the beginning of his first age a blessed man, soft,
virtuous, and full of meekness, and kept truly the very religion of christian
faith, and governed his kingdom full well to the pleasure of Almighty God. In
his time it happed that two wicked tyrants, that one named Hingvar, and that
other Hubba, came out of Denmark and arrived in the country of Northumberland,
and robbed and destroyed the country and slew the people without mercy in every
place where they came. Then the one of them named Hingvar came into the country
where this most christian Saint Edmund reigned, and understood that he was in
his flowering age, strong and mighty in battle, and demanded of the people
where their king was resident and dwelled, which that was most abiding in a
town named then Eglesdon, and now is called Bury. Now the Danes had always
custom that they would never fight battle set ne appointed, but ever lie in
wait how they might by sleight and deceit prevented, fall on good christian
men, and so slay and destroy them, like as thieves lie in await to rob and slay
good true men. Wherefore, when he knew where this holy king was, he addressed
one of his knights to him for to espy what strength he had, and what people
about him. And Hingvar himself followed with all his host to the end that
suddenly he should fall upon this king unadvised, and that he might subdue him
unto his laws and commandments. Then this said knight came to this holy king
Saint Edmund, and made his legation and message in this wise: Our most dread
lord by land and by sea, Hingvar, which hath subdued divers countries and lands
in this province unto his seigniory by strength of arms, and purposeth with all
his ships and army to winter him in these marches, sendeth to thee his
commandment that thou incontinent come and make alliance and friendship with
him. And that thou depart to him thy paternal treasures and riches in such wise
that thou mayst reign under him, or certainly thou shalt die by cruel death.
And when the blessed king, Saint Edmund, had heard this message, anon he sighed
and called to him one of his bishops and demanded counsel of him, what and how
he should answer upon this demand that was asked of him. Which bishop, sore
dreading for the king’s life, exhorted him by many examples for to consent and
agree to this tyrant Hingvar, and the king a while said nothing but remembered
him well, and after many devout words at the last, he answered to the messenger
in this wise and said: This shalt thou say to thy lord: know thou for truth,
that for the love of temporal life, the christian king Edmund shall no subdue
him to a paynim duke. Then unnethe was the messenger gone out,
but Hingvar met him and bade him use short words and tell him his answer, which
message told unto Hingvar, anon the cruel tyrant commanded to slay all the
people that were with Saint Edmund and destroy them, but they should hold and
keep only the king, whom he knew rebel unto his wicked laws. Then this holy
king was taken and bounden, his hands behind him, and is brought tofore the
duke, and after many opprobrious words, at the last they led him forth unto a
tree which was thereby. To which tree his adversaries bound him, and then shot
arrows at him, so thick and many that he was through wounded, and that one
arrow smote out another, and always this blessed king ceased not, for all his
wounds, to give laud and praising unto Almighty God. Then this wicked tyrant
commanded that they should smite off his head, which they so did, he always
praying, and saying his orisons to our Lord God.
Then the Danes left the body there Iying, and took the
head and bare it into the thick of the wood, and hid it in the thickest place
among thorns and briars, to the end that it should not be found of the
christian men. But by the purveyance of Almighty God there came a wolf which
diligently kept the holy head from devouring of beasts and fowls. And after,
when the Danes were departed, the christian men found the body, but they could
not find the head, wherefore they sought it in the wood. And as one of them
spake to another: Where art thou? Which were in the thick of the wood, and
cried: Where art thou? the head answered and said: Here! here! here ! and anon
then all they came thither and saw it and also a great wolf sitting and
embracing the head between his forelegs, keeping it from all other beasts. And
then anon they took the head and brought it unto the body and set it to the
place where it was smitten off, and anon they joined together, and then they
bare this holy body unto the place where it is now buried. And the wolf
followed humbly the body till it was buried, and then he, hurting no body, returned
again to the wood. And the blessed body and head be so joined together that
there appeareth nothing that it had been smitten off, save as it were a red
shining thread in the place of the departing where the head was smitten off.
And in that place where he now lieth so buried is a noble monastery made, and
therein monks of the order of Saint Benet, which be richly endowed. In which
place Almighty God hath showed many miracles for the holy king and martyr.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/golden-legend-saint-edmund-king/
Short
Lives of the Saints – Saint Edmund, King and Martyr
During the reign of Edmund, king of the East Angles,
the Danes, headed by their ferocious chief Hingar, made an incursion into
England. Edmund, who was a wise and just prince, endeavored to repel the rude
invaders, and was at first successful in battle against them; but the latter
returning to the charge, the Christian monarch and his forces were
irretrievably vanquished. Hingar had vowed an implacable hatred against the
faith of Christ, and he now proposed to King Edmund that if he would abolish
Christianity in his dominions he should be rewarded by being reinstated on his
throne. Edmund rejected the infamous proposal with indignation and horror. The
Danish chief then subjected the holy king to many and painful tortures. He was
scourged, flayed, and, having been tied to a tree, was pierced, like Saint
Sebastian, with arrows, slowly driven in one by one. Edmund, however, remained
constant to Christ, and repeatedly pronounced the holy name Jesus, which so
enraged Hingar that he caused him to be beheaded on November 20, 870.
Favorite Practice – To reflect upon those words
of the Gospel, “What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
MLA Citation
Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly. “Saint Edmund, King and
Martyr”. Short
Lives of the Saints, 1910. CatholicSaints.Info.
25 April 2021. Web. 20 November 2021.
<https://catholicsaints.info/short-lives-of-the-saints-saint-edmund-king-and-martyr/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/short-lives-of-the-saints-saint-edmund-king-and-martyr/
Nov 20 – St Edmund
martyr, king, (841-870)
20 November, 2012
Summary: St Edmund became King of East Anglia at
the age of fifteen and fought against the Danes who had invaded England.
Defeated, he was captured and refusing to deny his Christian faith, he was
tortured and put to death.
Patrick Duffy tells
his story.
Patron saint of
England?
Devotion to St.
Edmund the martyr became very popular in England. Many
churches were dedicated in his honour. He was regarded as patron saint of
England until during the reign of Henry II (1154-89), he was partly eclipsed by
St Edward the Confessor (1003-66). The cult of St George came to England with
knights returning from the Crusades at the end of the twelfth century and it
was during the reign of King Edward III (1327-77) who dedicated a chapel
at Windsor Castle to the soldier that George came to be recognised as the
patron saint of the English monarchy. Currently there is a campaign to have St Edmund reinstated as England’s
patron.
SOURCE : https://www.catholicireland.net/saintoftheday/st-edmund-of-east-anglia-841-870-martyr/
.jpg)
St Edmund the Martyr
June 17, 2009 by Mark Armitage
Aged just 14,
Edmund was crowned King of East Anglia on 25 December 855 by St Humbert at
Burna (modern Bures St Mary in Suffolk). For the next fourteen
years he reigned quietly but justly, modeling himself on King David – so much
so, in fact, that he withdrew for a while to his royal tower at Hunstanton in
order to learn the entire Psalter in such a way that he would be able to recite
it from memory in public worship.
In 869 the Danish army under Ubbe Ragnarsson and Ivar
the Boneless marched into East Anglia and set up camp at Thetford. Edmund
challenged the invaders in battle (probably at Hoxne near Eye in Suffolk) but
was defeated, and the Danes proceeded to lay waste the Kingdom, destroying
churches and monasteries throughout East Anglia. The most precise account of
Edmund’s martyrdom comes from Abbo of Fleury, who heard the story from St
Dunstan who in turn heard it from Edmund’s own sword-bearer.
According to Abbo, Edmund was mindful of the story in
the Garden of Gethsemane when Christ rebukes Peter for wanting to fight against
those who were seeking arrest him. Thus it was that, when confronted before the
battle (in which he never actually fought) by Ivar the Boneless, he threw down
his weapons – for which he was mocked, beaten, tied to a tree and scourged
(with obvious echoes of Christ’s scourging at the pillar) while continuing to
proclaim his faith in Christ.
The more that Edmund refused to renounce Christ, and
the more that he refused to hand over his Christian kingdom to the heathen
Vikings, the more the Vikings intensified the torture, firing innumerable
arrows into him until he was “all beset with their shots, as with a porcupine’s
bristles” (here the echo is of the martyrdom of St Sebastian).
Finally, realizing that no amount of torture was going
to weaken Edmund’s resolve, Ivar had him decapitated, and ordered that his
severed head should be thrown into the surrounding wood. Edmund’s followers
eventually found the head being guarded by a wolf (which, though starving,
chose to protect the sacred relic rather than consume it).
Edmund’s head and body were buried together, and, when
they were exhumed a few years later for the purposes of being properly buried
in the new church which was being constructed in Edmund’s honour, it was
discovered that they had become miraculously reattached to each other, the only
indication of the manner of his death being a red line around his neck (British
Museum scientists have suggested that the body which was dug up was actually
that of a ritually strangled prehistoric bog body).
Edmund’s remains were finally laid to rest at
Beadoriceworth (modern Bury St Edmunds), which by the 12th century
developed into a major shrine and place of pilgrimage. Though Edmund was an
Anglo-Saxon martyr, the Normans were always keen to stress the continuity
between pre-conquest and post-conquest England (in order to emphasize their own
political and cultural legitimacy), and were active in promoting Edmund’s
cultus. (They also fostered the custom of carrying a banner his arms into
battle, most notably at Agincourt.)
According to one legend, in 1014 Sweyn Forkbeard, King
of Denmark and England, was threatening to destroy the church where Edmund was
buried when he was struck dead by the saint who descended from heaven with a
lance. While there is evidence that Sweyn may have died suddently of apoplexy
while attacking Bury St Edmunds, acceptance of this legend would presuppose
that Edmund had drastically changed his views on the use of violence during the
years since his martyrdom.
On converting to Christianity (which, perhaps for
political reasons, his father had always tolerated), Sweyn’s son King Canute,
rebuilt the destroyed abbey at Bury St Edmunds, making a pilgrimage there in
1020 and presenting his crown at the shrine to make atonement for Danish crimes
against Edmund.
SOURCE : https://saintsandblesseds.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/st-edmund-the-martyr/
https://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j048sdEdmund11-21.htm
Sant' Edmondo Re degli Angli Orientali,
martire
841/42 - Thetford, Inghilterra, 20 novembre 870
Re dell'Estanglia, territorio costituito dalle contee
di Norfolk e Suffolk, il martire Edmondo è patrono dell'Inghilterra. Nato
attorno all'841, Edmondo visse in un secolo, il IX, che era caratterizzato
dalle razzie degli occupanti danesi secondo un metodo collaudato: l'assedio e
la richiesta di una taglia per risparmiare persone e cose. Edmondo, invece,
nell'869, non si piegò al ricatto e ingaggiò battaglia con il suo piccolo
esercito ma venne sconfitto e fatto prigioniero. A Edmondo furono promesse la
salvezza e il mantenimento della corona se avesse rinnegato la sua fede
religiosa e si fosse dichiarato vassallo dei danesi. Rispose senza esitazione
per due volte no e così venne trafitto dalle frecce dei vincitori. Riposa a
Bury St. Edmund, ad una cinquantina di chilometri da Cambridge. (Avvenire)
Etimologia: Edmondo = difensore della proprietà,
dal tedesco
Emblema: Lupo, Freccia, Palma
Martirologio Romano: In Inghilterra,
sant’Edmondo, martire, che, re degli Angli orientali, catturato nella guerra
contro i pagani invasori, fu coronato dal martirio per la fede in Cristo.
E' un santo più vivo nella memoria popolare d’Inghilterra che in tante pagine di documenti storici. Ed è vivo soprattutto per il modo e le ragioni della sua morte. Ma di lui sappiamo poco, e quel poco è pure raccontato male, per quanto concerne le sue origini. Gli storici, infatti, respingono la tradizione secondo cui Edmondo sarebbe stato figlio del re Alkmund di Sassonia, nato a Norimberga e poi adottato dal re dell’Estanglia, ossia dell’Inghilterra orientale, formata principalmente dalle contee di Norfolk e Suffolk. Perciò, niente Norimberga e niente adozione.
Autore: Domenico Agasso
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/78500
Abbo of Fleury and Osbert of Clare, Life, Passion, and
Miracles of St. Edmund, in Latin Illuminated by the Alexis Master and assistant
England, Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds, ca. 1130. One of
the earliest illustrated biographies of an English saint, this lavish volume
was a testimonial to patron saint and abbey alike. Most miniatures are based on
the passion text of Abbo of Fleury (945–1004); the posthumous miracles depend
on Osbert of Clare's text, composed for Anselm shortly before this manuscript
was made. In this image, eight thieves are miraculously paralyzed when they
attempt to break into Edmund's burial place. The miniatures are attributed to
the Alexis Master, founder of the St. Albans school. Named after his St. Alexis
cycle in the St. Albans Psalter, he skillfully combined Anglo-Saxon, Ottonian,
and Byzantine influences to create England's earliest
Romanesque style. e Morgan Library & Museum
Den hellige kong Edmund av East Anglia (~841-870)
Minnedag: 20.
november
Skytshelgen for
kong Richard II av England; mot pest; andre skytshelgen for det katolske
bispedømmet East Anglia
Den hellige Edmund (Eadmund, Eatmund; lat: Edmundus)
ble født rundt år 841, trolig i England. Hans opprinnelse er ukjent, de
tidligste kildene sier at han var etterkommer etter de tidligere kongene av
East Anglia, mens andre sier at han ble født i Nürnberg i Tyskland som yngste
sønn av en ellers ukjent kong Alcmund av Sachsen og hentet til East Anglia for
å overta tronen der. Selv om historikerne avviser denne historien, synes det i
alle fall som hans foreldre var saksere og at han ble oppdratt som kristen.
Nesten ingenting er egentlig kjent om Edmund. Han ble
første gang nevnt i en av annalene i The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, skrevet
rundt tyve år etter hans død. Ettersom alt i kongeriket East Anglia ble ødelagt
av vikingene, forsvant alle samtidige bevis fra hans regjeringstid. Senere
middelalderske kronikører har sørget for tvilsomme beretninger om hans liv, i
fravær av noen virkelige detaljer. Den mest troverdige teorien for Edmunds
foreldre foreslår Ealhhere, svoger av kong Ethelstan av Kent, som Edmunds far
og Edith (Ethelstans søster) som Edmunds mor.
Etter at kong Ethelweard av East Anglia døde i 855,
ble Edmund valgt til konge for østanglerne i East Anglia (grevskapene Norfolk
og Suffolk). Ifølge en relativt sen kilde, de såkalte «St Neot-annalene» som
ble samlet i Bury St Edmunds Abbey mellom rundt 1120 og rundt 1140, hevdes det
uten kjent kilde at Edmund ble kronet til konge for Norfolk allerede på første
juledag 855, bare fjorten år gammel. Han ble konsekrert av biskop Hunbert
(Hunberht) av East Anglia på juledag 856 i «Burna», trolig Bures St. Mary i
Suffolk, som på den tiden fungerte som kongelig hovedstad. Dermed var han også
akseptert som konge av Suffolk. I flere år styrte Edmund klokt og fredfullt, og
i et helt år trakk han seg tilbake til sitt kongelige tårn i Hunstanton for å
lære seg Salmenes bok utenat for å kunne delta i Kirkens tilbedelse. Ifølge
numismatiske bevis etterfulgte Edmund kong Ethelweard, og antallet mynter som
ble utgitt i Edmunds navn, indikerer at han regjerte i flere år.
Men England var på denne tiden utsatt for vikingenes
herjinger. Vikingene var opprinnelig ikke egentlige erobrere, men nøyde seg med
å kreve skatter, men disse ble stadig høyere og tyngre. Da det utplyndrede og
militært stadig svakere England ikke lenger kunne betale skattene, ble
vikingenes overfall mer og mer rene plyndringstokt, hvor den vergeløse befolkningen
skånselløst ble myrdet og byene brent ned. I 866 kom den største
vikinginvasjonen til da, da en stor dansk vikinghær inntok landet under ledelse
av brødrene Ivar Boneless (hinn beinlausi) (også kalt Ingvar, Ingwar,
Hinguar), Ubbe og Halfdan Ragnarsson. Kong Edmund kjøpte seg imidlertid fred
ved å utstyre dem med hester, og de satte opp sitt vinterkvarter i East Anglia.
Året etter krysset vikingene Humber og erobret York i 869. Kong Aelle II av
Northumbria og hans rival, Osbert, slo sine styrker sammen for å drive
vikingene ut fra byen, men de ble grundig slått i slaget. Osbert ble drept og
Aelle ble tatt til fange. Etter et år med plyndring etterlot Ivar og Ubbe
broren Halfdan i York og dro sørover igjen.
De marsjerte sørover inn i Mercia helt til Nottingham,
mens de plyndret, brente og tok slaver på veien. I 870 red de gjennom Mercia
til East Anglia og satte opp sitt vinterkvarter i Thetford i Norfolk.
Invasjonen skulle kulminere med at daneloven var blitt påtvunget landet fra
Northumbria i nord til Themsen i sør. Bare Wessex og Mercia slapp unna, takket
være den hellige kong Alfred
den Store av Wessex og England (871-99), som klarte å stanse deres fremgang,
dog ikke uten tilbakeslag. Alfred ble kort etter konge for vestsakserne.
Den unge og fromme Edmund skildres av historikerne som
en rettferdig og modig hersker. Da han så at byrdene som landet måtte bære på
grunn av invasjonen, ble uutholdelig for befolkningen, bestemte han seg for å
møte fienden til tross for sin mye svakere hær. Han samlet en så stor styrke
han klarte, men de kunne ikke stå seg mot vikinghæren. I slaget ved Thetford
ble Edmunds tropper slått og han ble trolig tatt til fange i Hoxne i Suffolk,
alternativt overga han seg for å spare folket.
Det eneste faktum om ham i samtidige skrifter, er den
korte notisen som forteller om hans død i The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, som
skriver under året 870: «I dette året satte den herjende [danske] hæren opp
sitt vinterkvarter i Thetford. Og den vinteren kjempet kong Edmund dem, og
danskene vant seier og drepte kongen og erobret hele landet». Ettersom The
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle synes å begynne året på den 24. september, daterer
dette Edmunds død til 869. Men krøniken forteller ikke eksakt hvorfor, hvor og
hvordan han døde – enten han falt i et slag eller ble myrdet etterpå. Annalene
kan ha betydd at Edmund falt i slag, og det er slik Asser tolket det i hans
biografi om kong Alfred, som han skrev rundt 890. Han skriver: «Edmund,
østanglernes konge, kjempet hardt mot hæren, men akk! hedningene triumferte
uten grenser, og han og en stor del av hans menn ble drept» (Vita Ælfredi
regis Angul Saxonum, kap 33).
En senere fortelling, som hevdet å være gjengitt etter
øyenvitneskildringer, sa at de brynjekledde vikingene bød kong Edmund fred hvis
han ga opp kristendommen og var villig til å styre landet som vasall under
Ivar, men kongen nektet begge deler. Han ble da drept. Ifølge tradisjonen ble
han først pisket, deretter ble han bundet til et tre og skutt med piler til
hans kropp var «som en tistel dekket med pigger», og til slutt ble han
halshogd. Detaljene kan være hentet fra legenden om den hellige Sebastian. En
annen teori er at han ble drept og ofret til den hedenske guden Odin. Han
utåndet med navnet Jesus på leppene.
En versjon sier at han snart innså at hans hær ikke
kunne stå seg mot danskene og at han trakk seg tilbake til sitt slott i
Framlingham. Da han avviste Ivars betingelser, ble han overmannet nær Hoxne og
tatt til fange ved elven Waveney (i en annen versjon i kirken i Hoxne). Ivar
gjentok sine betingelser, men igjen avviste Edmund dem og sa at hans tro var
mer dyrebar for ham enn livet, som han aldri ville kjøpe ved å krenke Gud.
Tradisjonen sier at han møtte sin død i en uidentifisert villa kjent som
Haegelisdun (Haegilisdun, Haeglesdun). Noen har identifisert dette som
Hellesdon i utkanten av Norwich, men mer nylig har Hellesden, en åker nær Bury
St Edmunds, blitt foreslått.
Etter lang tids leting fant de engelske kristne sin
heltemodige konges jordiske levninger, og de ble gravlagt i et lite trekapell i
nærheten. Ifølge en legende ble hans hode kastet inn i skogen etter
halshoggingen, men det ble funnet igjen av letemannskaper som ropte: «Hvor er
du, venn?» Deretter fulgte de ropene fra hodet som lød: «Hic, Hic, Hic» –
latin for «Her, Her, Her». Da de fant hodet, ble det voktet av en ulv som
sørget for at andre dyr ikke rørte det. Edmunds død markerte slutten på
kongeriket East Anglia.
Året 870 var et
fryktelig år for Kirken i East Anglia. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle for
870 forteller at hæren red fra York tvers gjennom Mercia og til East Anglia.
Der erobret de Thetford, og under sine høvdinger Ivar og Hubba beseiret og
drepte de kong Edmund. «På samme tid kom de til Medehampstede (Peterborough) og
brente og slo det ned, slaktet abbeden og munkene og alt det de fant der. Det
som hadde vært svært stort, reduserte de til ingenting». Den hellige
abbed Hedda
av Peterborough og 84 av hans munker led martyrdøden.
Disse danskene viste en spesiell blodtørstighet
overfor angelsaksiske klostre. Før de myrdet Hedda og alle munkene i
Peterborough, hadde de allerede ødelagt klosteret i Bardney i Lincolnshire og
drept alle munkene. De hadde også ødelagt Ely og drept med sverd begge
kommunitetene av munker og nonner. Det samme skjedde i Holme (St Benet Hulme) i
Norfolk, hvor den hellige Suneman var
abbed, og i klosteret i Thorney, hvor de drepte den hellige Tothreds kommunitet
(de hellige Tancred,
Tothred og Tova av Thorney). Deretter fortsatte danskene til Croyland, hvor
de brøt seg inn i kirken akkurat da messen var over og prestene hadde ennå ikke
forlatt koret. Abbeden Theodor og mange munker ble hogd ned foran alteret. Noen
få unnslapp inn i skogen, men alle som forsøkte å gjemme seg i klosteret, ble
slaktet ned. Gruppen kalles den hellige Theodor av Croyland og
hans ledsagere.
Deretter bevegde hæren seg sørover og plyndret
dobbeltklosteret Chertsey og Barking. Alle nonnene i Barking ble slaktet ned,
og historikeren William av Malmesbury (ca 1080-1143) forteller at så mange som
nitti munker også ble drept, blant dem abbed Beocca og presten
Hethor. Det synes imidlertid usannsynlig at antallet skal ha vært så høyt
som nitti. Straks vikinghorden var på marsj, drepte og plyndret de vilkårlig. Men
da de nådde Reading senere samme år, ser blodtørsten å ha blitt slukket, og de
overvintret der. Mens de monastiske kronikørene betraktet disse danske hærene
som militante hedninger som drepte de kristne for religionens skyld, mener noen
moderne (materialistiske) historikere at det heller var ønsket om bytte som
drev dem.
Edmund ble raskt regnet som martyr, som en kristen
patriotkonge og symbol på motstand mot vikingerobrerne. Som de hellige Osvald av
Northumbria (d. 642) og Ethelbert av East
Anglia (d. 794) oppfylte Edmund idealene for gammel engelsk heroisme,
provinsial uavhengighet og kristen hellighet. Det tidligste beviset på Edmunds
helgenstatus er en minnemynt med innskriften «Scē Eadmund Rex», som er funnet i
stort omfang i Danelagen innen en generasjon etter hans død og inntil rundt
930.
Edmunds kult var
spredt vidt omkring i middelalderen. Alfred den Store utviklet
kulten til å gjøre Edmund til en nasjonal skytshelgen, uten tvil av egne
grunner, men detaljene er ukjente. Rundt år 915 ble hans legeme funnet å være
fullstendig intakt, og det ble overført til Bedricsworth, senere kalt Bury St
Edmunds (St Edmund’s borough), og skrinlagt. I 925 grunnla kong Athelstan
(Æthelstan) av Wessex og England (924-39) en kommunitet av to prester og fire
diakoner til å passe på skrinet. En ny vikinginvasjon i Ipswich i 1010 satte
det i fare, så vokterne flyttet det til kirken St. Gregory nær St. Paul’s
Cathedral i London, hvor det ble i tre år. Til tross for lokal motstand, ble
det flyttet tilbake til Bury. Nå var kulten vokst betydelig.
Den tidligste hagiografien, som Edmunds senere legende
vokste ut fra, er en latinsk biografi om Edmunds liv og martyrium (Passio
Sancti Eadmundi), som ble skrevet en gang mellom 985 og 987 av den
hellige Abbo av
Fleury, som da bodde i Ramsey Abbey, etter anmodning av den hellige Dunstan og
munkene i Ramsey.
I prologen hevder Abbo at Dunstan var hans kilde. Han
forteller at Dunstan hørte historien mens han var ved hoffet til kong
Athelstan. En svært gammel mann, som hevdet at han var Edmunds væpner den dagen
kongen døde, hadde fortalt historien til kongen i Dunstans nærvær. Historien
som Abbo forteller den, har helt klart vært utsatt for mye hagiografisk utbrodering.
Abbos mål var å avbilde en konge som var verdig til venerasjon, og hans
portrett av Edmund er idealisert på samme måte som man finner i hagiografiene
til andre helgener. Abbo presenterer ham som en perfekt, fredselskende kristen
hersker som valgte martyrdøden heller enn å forårsake at kristent blod ble
spilt. Denne beskrivelsen stemmer dårlig med det bildet som blir skapt av The
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle og Asser av en krigerkongen på en blodig slagmark.
Abbos beretning om selve martyriet er et lappeteppe av hagiografiske topoi.
Han sammenligner eksplisitt Edmunds lidelser med Kristi og Sebastian: Edmund
ble spottet og pisket som Kristus, og bundet til et tre og skutt med piler i
likhet med Sebastian inntil han lignet «et piggsvin eller en tornete tistel»
(Abbo av Fleury, § 10.19-21). Til slutt ble hans oppflerrete legeme bundet løs
og han ble halshogd.
Biografien ble oversatt til gammelengelsk av
forfatteren Ælfric av Eynsham (ca 955-ca 1010). Det middelalderske manuskriptet
til Abbos biografi er bevart. På 1100-tallet skrev Geoffrey av Wells en fiktiv
hagiografi om Edmunds barndom, De Infantia Sancti Edmundi, og det var der
han ble fremstilt som yngste sønn av «Alcmund» i Sachsen.
Kong Knut den Mektige (1016-35) bygde en steinkirke i
Bury i 1020, erstattet vokterne med benediktinermunker og bygde et kloster for
dem. Knuts politikk gikk ut på forsoning mellom dansker og angelsaksere gjennom
å rette opp hans landsmenns misgjerninger, og den ble uttrykt i 1028, da han ga
klosteret et charter med jurisdiksjon over byen som vokste opp rundt klosteret,
sammen med betydelige landeiendommer. Den hellige Edvard Bekjenneren fortsatte
Knuts politikk og utvidet jurisdiksjonen til nesten hele West Suffolk i 1044.
Bury ble snart et av de viktigste og mektigste av de engelske
benediktinerklostrene.
I 1215 ble klosteret skueplassen for den engelske
historiens kanskje viktigste hendelse: Da utarbeidet adelen og presteskapet der
det dokumentet som kalles Magna Charta Libertatum, «Det store
frihetscharter», som gjorde England til et konstitusjonelt monarki. Kong Johan
«uten Land» (John Lackland) ble tvunget til å undertegne dokumentet på øya
Runnymede i Themsen, og erkjente dermed at de to stendene hadde rett til å
kontrollere kongens maktutøvelse.
Den videre skjebnen til Edmunds relikvier er uviss.
Etter slaget i Lincoln i 1217 hevdet de tapende franske soldatene at de hadde
tatt dem med seg til Frankrike, og det finnes noen dokumentariske bevis på
dette. Fra 1400-tallet ble det hevdet at de relikviene som var i katedralen
Saint-Sernin i Toulouse, var Edmunds, men dette ble avvist på begynnelsen av
1900-tallet. Da kardinal Henry Edward Manning (1865-92) bygde Westminster
Cathedral i London på slutten av 1800-tallet, ba han erkebiskopen av Toulouse
om å få noen av disse relikviene, og en symbolsk samling ble sendt. Senere ba
den tredje erkebiskop av Westminster, kardinal Herbert Vaughan (1892-1903), om
å få hele legemet, men dette ble avvist. Men kardinal Vaughan appellerte til
pave Leo XIII (1878-1903), og relikviene ble til slutt sendt til England i
1912.
Da relikviene fra Toulouse endelig kom til England,
var planen at de skulle oppbevares i høyalteret i den nye katedralen. De ble
oppbevart i Fitzalan Chapel på Arundel Castle før de skulle overføres til
Westminster. Selv om relikviene hadde blitt verifisert og katalogisert i 1644
for bisettelse i det nye skrinet, og to biter i 1874 var gitt til kardinal
Manning, protesterte middelaldereksperten Montague Rhodes James (1862-1936) og
flere andre vitenskapsmenn og hevdet at disse relikviene ikke var autentiske.
De mente at Edmunds relikvier ble i Bury til reformasjonen og deretter gravlagt
på et ukjent sted. Deres argumenter var så overbevisende at det ikke ble noen
skrinlegging i katedralen.
Relikviene ble værende i Arundel i hertugen av
Norfolks varetekt, mens en historisk kommisjon ble etablert av kardinal Vaughan
og erkebiskop Germain av Saint-Sernin. Relikviene er fortsatt i Arundel. I 1966
ble tre tenner fra den franske samlingen donert til Douai Abbey i grevskapet
Berkshire. Moderne vitenskapelige metoder har senere vist at relikviene fra
Toulouse kom fra flere forskjellige skjeletter, noe som synes å være tilfelle
med mange helgenskrin fra middelalderen. Men det finnes ingen klare
dokumentasjoner i Bury etter 1198, og kulten i Toulouse støttes av dokumenter
fra 1400-tallet og fremover.
Edmunds skrin ble ødelagt under den engelske
reformasjonen, da klostrene ble oppløst. Sølvet og gullet i skrinet ble tatt av
kongen, og relikviene forsvant. Edmunds minnedag i Martyrologium Romanum er 20.
november. Ifølge Usuard ble festen for overføringen av hans relikvier
(Translatio) feiret på to ulike datoer, nemlig 30. mars og 29. april. Men
ifølge Wilson ble den feiret den 10. juni, mens andre igjen har 12. august.
Bortsett fra kong Karl I, som ble halshogd i 1649 under den engelske
borgerkrigen på 1600-tallet, er han den eneste engelske konge som har dødd for
sin tro i tillegg til forsvar for sin trone.
Den mest berømte avbildningen av Edmund er i
Wilton-diptyket fra rundt 1395, som nå er i National Gallery i London. Det er
malt på eikepanel og viser Edmund, Edvard Bekjenneren og Johannes Døperen avbildet
på venstre panel sammen med den unge kong Richard II av England (1377-99), som
kneler foran Jomfruen og barnet på høyre panel. Edmund kjennes på pilen han har
i hånden. Dette er den mest berømte avbildningen av Edmund. Hans vanligste
emblem er en pil, men også en ulv, som ifølge legenden skal ha voktet hans hode
etter at det var hogd av. Det ble også hevdet at hans hode og kropp på
mirakuløst vis vokste sammen, men hvis han aldri ble halshogd, ville det ikke
være noe ekstraordinært fenomen å forklare.
Kilder:
Attwater/John, Attwater/Cumming, Farmer, Jones, Bentley, Hallam, Butler, Butler
(XI), Benedictines, Bunson, Engelhart, Schauber/Schindler, ODNB, KIR, CE, CSO,
Patron Saints SQPN, Infocatho, Bautz, Heiligenlexikon, santiebeati.it,
en.wikipedia.org, earlybritishkingdoms.com, celt-saints - Kompilasjon og
oversettelse: p.
Per Einar Odden
Opprettet: 1. februar 2000
SOURCE : http://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/eanglia
Voir aussi : https://www.christianiconography.info/edmundKing.html
https://aclerkofoxford.blogspot.com/2014/11/eadmund-se-eadiga-eastengla-cynincg.html
http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/adversaries/bios/edmund_east_anglia.html
