Eadmund "the Martyr" of East Anglia (840-20 November 869) was the King of East Anglia from 855 to 869, succeeding Aethelweard of East Anglia and preceding Aethelstan II of East Anglia. He was one of the Anglo-Saxon kings who resisted the Great Heathen Army's invasion, and he was martyred in the same fashion as Saint Sebastian, being shot full of arrows on the orders of Ubbe Ragnarrsson and Guthrum.
Biography[]
Eadmund was born to the Anglo-Saxon Christian House of East Anglia, the son of King Aethelweard of East Anglia. He married Riguistl of East Anglia, and in 855 he was crowned King of East Anglia at Bures St. Mary in Suffolk. He allied with King Aethelred of Wessex of Wessex, King Burghred of Mercia of Mercia, and King Aella of Northumbria of Northumbria against the Great Heathen Army in 867, but he was defeated and captured at the Battle of Haegelisdun in 869.
Death[]
Eadmund's death
Eadmund was imprisoned at Bury St. Edmunds by Ubbe Ragnarrsson and Guthrum, and they offered to allow him to live and continue serving as a puppet king if he would provide them with horses and supplies. However, he insisted that they convert to Christianity as a precondition for his support. The Vikings mocked him and asked him the name of the man depicted on a painting in the chamber; Eadmund said that he was Saint Sebastian. When asked who Sebastian was, Eadmund said that he was a Roman soldier who had found God in his heart, refused to renounce God, and was shot full of arrows; he survived the arrows by God's will, only to be clubbed. Eadmund said that he still lived, in Heaven, and an intrigued Ubbe decided to test the story by having Eadmund subjected to the same death. Eadmund nervously withdrew his counter-offer and offered his full support, but Ubbe - pressured by Guthrum to kill all of his male hostages - ordered his archers to prepare to fire. Eadmund defiantly told the archers to fire, but Ubbe said that he was in command of his men, and that he was the only one who could order them. Ubbe then had his men fire, and he asked Eadmund if he should be clubbed, or if the arrows were sufficient; Eadmund died seconds later from the arrows, dying a martyr for Christianity.
Gallery[]
