Edmund the Martyr: England's First Patron Saint - Scriptorium

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]Around AD 855, a boy of perhaps 14 was [music] crowned king of the East Angles in a Christian kingdom two and a half centuries deep in Anglo-Saxon soil. His name was Edmund. For 15 years he ruled from his royal estate at Hegelisdoon, keeping faith with his bishops and his coronation oath to defend church and people.

[00:00:20]Then the Great Heathen Army arrived. In 866, the largest Norse invasion England had yet seen landed in East Anglia. By autumn of 869, Viking commanders Ivar the Boneless and Ubba marched directly against Edmund's kingdom.

[00:00:37]Edmund was defeated. The Vikings offered terms.

[00:00:41]"Keep your throne, share your kingdom with a pagan overlord, renounce [music] your exclusive Christian profession."

[00:00:49]Edmund refused on both counts. He would not survive [music] his men, and he would not abandon the faith of his fathers.

[00:00:56]He was bound to a tree, shot through with arrows, and when he would not stop calling on the name of Christ, beheaded.

[00:01:04]His shrine at Bury St. Edmunds became the most important pilgrimage destination in Eastern England for four centuries.

[00:01:13]Before George, Edmund was England's patron saint, holding that office for 400 years.

[00:01:19]Three gold crowns on a blue field, king, martyr, virgin.

[00:01:25]That banner still flies as the arms of the Diocese of East Anglia. A boy who kept his word.