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Edmund

Detail depicting the unusual death of King Edmund Ironside as portrayed in a 13th-century illustrated Anglo-Norman manuscript of the Life of St Edward the Confessor. Source: Cambridge University Library / CC BY-NC 3.0

King Edmund Ironside Was Killed on the Toilet by a Cesspit Assassin

Having ruled England for less than a year, King Edmund is primarily remembered for his unusual death. In one of the most uncomfortable murders in history, legend has it the Anglo-Saxon king was...
Edmund killing Sweyn by Matthew Paris, 13th century (Cambridge University Library MS Ee.3.59 p. 4)

The Strange Death and Afterlife of King Edmund Part 2: Did the Martyred Saint Rise from the Grave to Kill a Viking King?

King Edmund was the man who died, indeed was martyred by the Vikings after enduring a tortuous death which ended in his beheading. He thus became St Edmund and was the England’s original heavenly...
Martrydom of St Edmund by Brian Whelan

The Strange Death and Afterlife of King Edmund Part 1: The Unfortunate Friendship With Ragnor Lodbrok that Led to Edmund’s Beheading

Over the past decade, there have been two major public campaigns in the UK to drum up support for removing St George as the patron saint of England and replacing him with St Edmund, the man who was...
Image from ‘Vikings’, a medieval drama series airing on The History Channel.

Vikings Beheaded English King and Patron Saint Edmund, but What Happened to his Body?

It’s a 9th century tale involving Vikings, their beheading of a famous English king, and upheaval that led to the burial and reburial of the king’s remains in an unknown spot. And the story is still...