Edmund Ironside

Edmund, son of Æthelred the Unready and his first wife Ælfgifu of York, was likely born between 990 and 993, one of several siblings. He was raised in Wessex by his grandmother, Ælfthryth, wife of King Edgar the Peaceable. He might have had an education at Wherwell Abbey, a place important to his grandmother.

In his youth, there were constant raids on England from Vikings. He may have been put into the field early as a soldier, but we don't really have any evidence of his actions until about 1014 when his older brother Æthelstan Ætheling died. Edmund and Æthelstan were still in England, even though his father had taken the family to Normandy to flee from the invasion of Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark. Æthelstan's will left most of his goods to Edmund, including estates and a sword that had belonged to Offa, King of Mercia c.730 - 796.

Edmund became angry with his father when Æthelred allowed the execution of two friends, Sigeferth and Morcar. They were killed by Æthelred's enforcer and son-in-law, Eadric Streona, probably so that the king could seize their lands. Edmund boldly married Sigeferth's widow and occupied the area that had been controlled by Sigeferth. Edmund began issuing charters, in one of which he referred to himself as king.

His revolt against his father didn't last, since Sweyn's son Cnut invaded in the summer of 1015. Edmund was forced to raise an army and fight alongside Eadric and Æthelred, but distrust caused their effort to collapse. After Æthelred died in 1016 the succession passed to Edmund. Edmund was successful in several battles, inspiring all the English to unite. Eadric fled, however, from the climactic Battle of Assandun, and the English were suddenly outnumbered. Edmund was forced to give most of his kingdom to Cnut, leaving himself with only Wessex.

Edmund's total rule was 222 days. Cnut executed or exiled all of Edmund's relatives and consolidated the rest of England under his rule. Although Cnut was his enemy, on the tenth anniversary of Edmund's death, Cnut visited the grave at Glastonbury Abbey and honored it with a cloak of peacock feathers to symbolize Christian resurrection. Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries destroyed Glastonbury and the location of the remains of Edmund are unclear.

Why was he called "Ironside"? The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle refers to a lost history called Life of King Edmund Ironside. We can guess that it was the source for the nickname "Ironside" denoting a strong and relentless warrior. It also is where we find the source to call Eadric "Streona" meaning "The Acquisitive" must originate.

Speaking of Eadric Streona, what an interesting man. Let's talk about him next.

The St. Edmund Cult

After Edmund of East Anglia began to be treated as a saint, he became an important focal point for Christians in East Anglia, and embraced by important figures.

The Danish King Cnut (c.990 - 1035), who conquered England in 1016, was a good Christian who supported the Church. Cnut founded an abbey at Bury St. Edmunds.

The shrine of St. Edmund became famous, and fame brought wealth in the form of donations, making the abbey wealthy. (The illustration shows John Lydgate worshipping at the shrine.) King Edward the Confessor in 1044 created the Liberty of St. Edmund, placing the entire area of the County of West Suffolk under the jurisdiction of the abbot of Bury St. Edmunds. A Steward was appointed by William the Conqueror to manage the Liberty on behalf of the abbot. Although Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries eliminated the abbot's prerogative, the position of Hereditary High Steward of the Liberty of St Edmund still exists.

King John gave the abbey a great sapphire and a stone set in gold. His son, King Henry III, prayed to St. Edmund for a second son, which he eventually received, and named him Edmund. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the shrine was defaced and silver and gold valued at 5000 marks was taken away.

Edmund's cult was revived in, of all places, France. The city of Toulouse was spared from a plague (1628 - 1631), which they ascribed to the intercession of relics in their basilica of a saint referred to as Aymundus. They built a new reliquary to hold the saint's relics. In 1664, a Toulouse lawyer published the theory that the relics of Edmund had been taken from England by King Louis VIII of France in 1217 after the Battle of Lincoln, giving them to the basilica in Toulouse. This newly revived cult of St. Edmund flourished in Toulouse until the French Revolution (1794), but found and returned to the basilica in 1845.

The relics were offered to the Archbishop of Westminster by Toulouse in 1901 to be placed in the altar of the under-construction Westminster Cathedral.

There was another Edmund connected to Cnut, the man he killed to take over England. Tomorrow we look at Edmund Ironside, often mentioned but never examined.

The Premonstratensians

Arguably one of the longest names for a Holy Order, the name comes from The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, called so because the Order was found in 1120 in Prémontré near Laon by Norbert of Xanten. They were also known as Norbertines and White Canons.

Norbert was a friend of Bernard of Clairvaux, who favored very strict rules for monasteries. In Prémontré Norbert established a monastery with 13 companions, essentially following the Rule of St. Augustine but adding new rules promoting even greater austerity.

The order was formally approved by Pope Honorius II and grew quickly: by 1126 there were nine houses. In 1143 the Order reached England, and were soon in Scotland where they had the support of the dynasty of Fergus of Galloway.

The first Premonstratensian saint was Evermode of Ratzeburg (died 1178), a companion of Norbert and the Bishop of Ratzeburg. His lifelong goal was the Christianization of the Wends, Slavs inhabiting what is now northeastern Germany. Another was Frederick of Hallum (died 1175), known for intense piety throughout his life and for miracles taking place at his tomb after his death. Ludolph of Ratzeburg (died 1250) disagreed with and was imprisoned and beaten by Duke Albert I of Saxony, dying because of his treatment. There is a legend that a soldier with an arrowhead embedded in his head was able to remove the arrow and survive only after praying to Ludolph.

The Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII was the first big blow to the success of the Order, which had 35 houses in England at the time. The Reformation and the French Revolution were also difficult times for them. By the 19th century they were almost extinct as an Order, with a few houses existing in Germany. 

In 1893, some Norbertines from Germany came to the United States to minister to Belgian immigrants in Wisconsin, starting the first Premonstratensian abbey in the New World. By the start of the 20th century, however, there were 20 monasteries. Today there are almost 100 monasteries, including abbeys for women, around the world.

The Order was sanctioned by Pope Honorius II, whose name has been woven throughout this blog. Tomorrow I'll give him his own entry. See you then.

King Cnut of England

After over a year of fighting for control of England, Cnut of Denmark and Edmund Ironside made an agreement: Edmund would have London and everything south of the Thames; Cnut would take everything north of the Thames. If Edmund pre-deceased Cnut (the two were of similar age), Cnut would inherit all.

Unfortunately, Edmund had been wounded in the most recent Battle of Assandun. The historian Henry of Huntingdon, writing a century later, says Edmund died in Oxford from multiple stab wounds while using the privy. It is more likely that he died in London, on 30 November 1016. More contemporary records like the Encomium Emmae Reginae ("Encomium of Queen Emma") do not mention murder. Death from battle wounds is a more likely outcome. His burial place at Glastonbury Abbey was destroyed during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries, so an examination of his remains is impossible.

Cnut was now King of England. Archbishop of Canterbury Lyfing crowned him in 1017. As King of England with ties to Denmark, he made sure that both Danes and Anglo-Saxons flourished, with exceptions: he had to make sure that there would be no challenges to his throne. The children of Edmund Ironside, and his father Æthelred's other children, fled to Normandy. Edmund's brother Eadwig Ætheling fled, but was followed and killed by Cnut's men.

Cnut then wed Emma of Normandy, Æthelred's widow. He was, of course, already married to Ælfgifu of Northampton, but this caused no problem. Setting aside one wife for another was common, especially if the first marriage was not by a Christian ceremony. Ælfgifu remained part of the family and the royal court, and her sons by Cnut still had standing.

There was another piece of business he had to conclude: paying off the thousands of mercenaries he had hired to help him conquer England. They had joined for the promise of payment once the country was secure. Cnut collected a Danegeld of £72,000, and a further £10,500 from London alone. He paid his army and sent most of them away, keeping some ships and men. He then used an annual tax called heregeld ("army gold") to maintain a standing army.

Cnut ruled  England for about two decades, and we'll go into some of his accomplishments (and his orchestrated failure) next time.