St Edmund, King and Martyr

The cult of St Edmund was one of the most important in medieval England, and further afield, as the pieces here show.

The cult of St Edmund was one of the most important in medieval England, and further afield, as the pieces here show.

St Edmund, king and martyr, supposedly killed by Danes (or "Vikings") in 869, was one of the pre-eminent saints of the middle ages; his cult was favoured and patronised by several English kings and spawned a rich array of visual,literary, musical and political artefacts. Celebrated throughout England, especially at the abbey of Bury St Edmunds, it also inspired separate cults in France, Iceland and Italy.
The essays in this collection offer a range of readings from a variety of disciplines - literature, history, music, art history - and of sources - chronicles, poems, theological material - providing an overview of the multi-faceted nature of St Edmund's cult, from the ninthcentury to the early modern period. They demonstrate the openness and dynamism of a medieval saint's cult, showing how the saint's image could be used in many and changing contexts: Edmund's image was bent to various political andpropagandistic ends, often articulating conflicting messages and ideals, negotiating identity, politics and belief.

CONTRIBUTORS: ANTHONY BALE, CARL PHELPSTEAD, ALISON FINLAY, PAUL ANTONY HAYWARD, LISA COLTON, REBECCA PINNER, A.S.G. EDWARDS, ALEXANDRA GILLESPIE

Introduction - Anthony Bale
King, Martyr and Virgin:Imitatio Christi in Ælfric'sLife of St Edmund - Carl Phelpstead
Chronology, Genealogy and Conversion: the Afterlife of St Edmund in the North - Alison Finlay
Geoffrey of Wells'Liber de infantia sancti Edmundi and the 'Anarchy' of King Stephen's Reign - Paul Hayward
Music and Identity in Medieval Bury St Edmunds - Lisa Colton
Medieval Images of St Edmund in Norfolk Churches - Rebecca Pinner
John Lydgate'sLives of Ss Edmund and Fremund: Politics, Hagiography and Literature - A S G Edwards
St Edmund in Fifteenth-Century London: The LydgatianMiracles of St Edmund - Anthony Bale
The Later Lives of St Edmund: John Lydgate to John Stow - Alexandra Gillespie
Select Bibliography