Friday 20 November 2020

November 20th St Edmund's Day

 Now this is the bloke who really should be Patron Saint of England! He has a far greater claim to English fame than St George.

In fact he actually was the first Patron Saint of England until 1348 when Edward III replaced him with St George.

 From my book "A Calendar of Saints"

 

(Everything in Italics is from HistoricUK.com website)

Born on Christmas Day 841 AD, Edmund succeeded to the throne of East Anglia in 856. Brought up as a Christian, he fought alongside King Alfred of Wessex against the pagan Viking and Norse invaders (the Great Heathen Army) until 869/70 when his forces were defeated and Edmund was captured by the Vikings. He was ordered to renounce his faith and share power with the pagan Vikings, but he refused

 I  wrote a bit about him  HERE  when I went to Bury St Edmunds

 

 

 And here at HOXNE CHURCH

  According to the 10th century account of the saint’s life by Abbo of Fleury, who quotes St Dunstan as his source, Edmund was then bound to a tree, shot through by arrows and beheaded. The date was 20th November. His decapitated head is said to have been reunited with its body with the help of a talking wolf who protected the head and then called out “Hic, Hic, Hic” (“Here, Here, Here”) to alert Edmund’s followers.

 

 In 2013 another campaign was launched to reinstate St Edmund as patron saint. This was the ‘St Edmund for England’ e-petition, backed by the Bury St Edmunds based brewery, Greene King.

This tongue-in-cheek yet serious campaign questioned whether St George, patron saint of 16 other countries, ever even visited England. It suggested he should be replaced by an Englishman, and who better than the Anglo-Saxon martyr-king St Edmund.

 Radio Suffolk also had a go at putting him forward for a "more English" English patron saint but still we are stuck with St George.

 

(House is online if you want a virtual nose round it should be HERE)


Back Tomorrow
Sue

 

 


 

21 comments:

  1. There was a chapel dedicated to St Edmund in one of my old parishes. It was originally the final stopping lace for pilgrims travelling along Ermine Street (Roman road) from the north to St Hugh's shrine at Lincoln. After the Reformation it became the chapel for seven almshouses and finally a chapel of ease before becoming redundant 30-40 years ago. It is now cared for by The Spital Chantry Trust of St Edmund. I took a few services there but it is actually an Extra Parochial Place.

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  2. Happy St Edmund's day!
    Great post. I had not known this (and how ironic that English nationalism is associated with the flag of St George, the European saint who replaced St Edmund because England was fighting alongside the rest of Europe in the Crusades)

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  3. St George isn't English at all, is he? I believe he is Greek and also patron saint of many places, so gets around quite a bit. I agree, St Edmund is a far more suitable candidate.

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  4. The BStE cathedral excellent Facebook page has a recipe for St Edmund's buns. I shall make some for tea.
    https://m.facebook.com/stedscathedral/?rf=126925780684027
    I hadn't realised quite how big your "country estate" is. It is a lot for one person to manage. But it is lovely, I am sure you'll find a buyer soon.

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  5. My goodness, I hadn't realised quite how big your house is! I think you have the same kitchen floor tiles as I do :-)
    I should think they'll be queuing up to buy it. How is your search going?

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  6. Your house is beautiful. I'm sure it'll be snapped up quickly!

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  7. It will fly off the shelf. All that land will sell it without even looking at the house. These townies love a bit of land.

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  8. The house is beautiful and I am sure you will find it easy to sell, especially as so many people are moving out from London because they have realised they can work from home.

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  9. St Edmund should be reinstated, I agree. Interesting to read about it.

    The house looks very inviting and I am sure that strip of land will be pounced upon as a potential "pony paddock" by someone. Hoping it sells very quickly for you.

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  10. Your house looks lovely, I'm sure you will be snapped up pretty soon. I wish the Stamp Duty threshold was the same in Wales as it is in England then ours might be too!!

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  11. The house is wonderful as is the land. I feel sure it will be snapped up soon. Lots of people will enjoy the space and privacy.

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  12. Interesting about St. Edmund. As regard your house, what a wonderful place to live. I can see why it's a difficult decision. Your rightmove viewing figures will be fantastic.

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  13. Very interesting about St. Edmund.

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  14. I always wondered why England had St George. St Edmund would make much more sense.

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  15. Happy St Edmund's day! I enjoyed your post and I never fail to learn so much from what you write.

    Your home is beautiful and much larger than I thought. A house like that with all the land and gardening capabilities should sell quickly! If it should sell right away do you have another place you can move to while you wait for a house to be built?

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  16. Yes.....I think that England should change back to St Edmund too. I was very surprised when I went to Greece and realized that St George was so important to the Greek Orthodox church. I think St George was actually a Roman soldier. Lovely view of your home and surroundings from the drone....

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  17. It just makes sense that you should have an English patron saint. Mind you Canada's patron saint is Joseph the father of Jesus.

    God bless.

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  18. When I read yesterdays post you hadn't put your house details on there, but now I've seen them and you have a lovely home. It shouldn't be too long in selling as there always seems to be someone who wants more land than a normal garden without it being acres.

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  19. I read somewhere that a person ideally needs 1000 sq ft to live so I think you’re making a very sensible decision in moving. Your house looks great.

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  20. I read somewhere that a person ideally needs 1000 sq ft to live so I think you’re making a very sensible decision in moving. Your house looks great.

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  21. I did have a nose around at your invitation. It looks to be a wonderful family home - so light and bright - and warm and inviting. (You had me at the yellow walls!) It is really nice that there is a floor plan shown in the listing as well; I wish we did that over here. Good luck with sale, and finding your new smaller haven home.

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