St. Edwin, King and Martyr
(Aeduini)
12 October
Born c. 585; died October 12, 633. Son of King Aella of Deira (southern
Northumbria, Yorkshire area), Saint Edwin was only three when his father
died. The saint was deprived of the throne by King Ethelfrith of
Bernicia (North Northumbria), who seized Aella's kingdom. Edwin spent
the next 30 years in Wales and East Anglia. As a young man he married
Cwenburg of Mercia by whom he had two sons. Finally in 616, with the
help of King Baedwald (Redwald) of East Anglia who had hosted him during
his exile, Edwin was restored to the throne by defeating and killing
Ethelfrith at the Battle of Idle River.
Edwin ruled ably and, in 625, after the death of his first wife, married
Ethelburga, sister of King Eadbald of Kent, and a Christian. At first
his embassy seeking her hand was rebuffed because he was not a
Christian. But eventually a contract was reached wherein Ethelburga
would be permitted the freedom to practice her religion and Edwin would
seriously consider joining her in faith. With the agreement made,
Ethelburga brought with her to Northumbria her confessor, Saint
Paulinus, a Roman monk who had been sent by Pope Saint Gregory the Great
to help Saint Augustine in the conversion of England and who had just
been consecrated bishop of York. The bishop also saw this as an
opportunity to spread the faith in the northern parts of the island.
The thoughtful and melancholy king was not naturally inclined to
impetuous acts and, thus, it took some time before his conversion. The
examples of Christian virtue displayed by his wife and her chaplain
played an important role in his decision, but three specific events were
determinative. First, an unsuccessful assassination attempt by the West
Saxons. Second, the abandonment of paganism by Coifi the high priest.
And, finally, a reminder by Paulinus of a mysterious experience Edwin
had undergone while in exile some years earlier.
Following these incidents, Edwin was converted to Christianity in 627,
and baptized by Paulinus at Easter (attested by Bede) after the birth of
a daughter. Many in Edwin's court and subjects in Yorkshire and
Lincolnshire also came to faith. Thus, began Christianity in
Northumbria. The idols and false gods had already been destroyed by the
high priest himself.
King Edwin established law and order in the kingdom and soon became the
most powerful king in England. He expanded his territory north into the
land of the Picts, west into that of the Cumbrians and Welsh, and into
Elmet near Leeds. The Venerable Bede relates that during the last year's
of King Edwin's reign there was such peace and order in his dominions
that a proverb said 'a woman could carry her newborn baby across the
island from sea to sea and suffer no harm.'
His intention to build a stone church at York (an unprecedented event in
those days) never materialised when his kingdom was invaded by pagan
King Penda of Mercia and Cadwallon of North Wales. Edwin was defeated
and killed at the Battle of Hatfield Chase in 633. This church was
constructed, enshrined his head, and became the centre of his cultus.
After his death, Northumbria reverted to paganism and Paulinus had to
conduct Ethelburga and her children by sea to safety in Kent, where for
the last 10 years of his life, he embellished his diocese of Rochester.
The massacres and chaos that followed Edwin's death ended with the
accession of Saint Oswald in 634.
Saint Edwin is viewed as a tribal hero, model Christian king, and
martyr. Although his feast was not included in any of the surviving
liturgical books of Northumbria, there was at least one ancient church
dedication in his honour. Pope Gregory XIII implicitly approved his
cultus by including Edwin among the English martyrs in the murals of the
English College at Rome.
Edwin's cultus had another locus at Whitby, which had a shrine of his
body, supposedly discovered by revelation and brought there from
Hatfield Chase. Whitby Abbey was governed in turn by Edwin's daughter,
Saint Enfleda, and his granddaughter, Saint Elfleda. It became the
burial site for the royal members of the house of Deira and the home of
Saint Gregory I's first biographer
(Attwater,
Benedictines,
Delaney,
Encyclopaedia,
Farmer).
Another Life:
St. Edwin, King of Northumbria (AD 584-AD 633)
http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/adversaries/bios/edwin.html
Edwin was a prince of the Deiran Royal family from Yorkshire, the
eldest son of King Aelle. After his father's death in 588, the
kingdom was annexed by the armies of King Aethelfrith from adjoining
Bernicia, Edwin was forced to flee and he "wandered secretly as a
fugitive through many places and kingdoms". He was still a boy when
tradition has him initially seeking sanctuary at the court of King
Iago of Gwynedd. Here he must have grown up alongside the King's sons
(an impossible legend says grandsons) and became a particular rival
of his foster-nephew, Prince Cadwallon. He may also have spent some
time at the Mercian Court. These people were the natural allies of
the Northern Welsh and it seems to have been around this time that
Edwin married Princess Cwenburga, daughter of King Ceorl of Mercia.
They soon had two children, Osfrith and Edfrith. With Aethelfirth now
secure in the North, in AD 613, he decided to try and root out Edwin
from Wales. The two forces clashed at the Battles of Chester and
Bangor-on-Dee. King Iago of Gwynedd and a number of other British
monarchs were killed in the fighting and Edwin felt it best to move
his family to the court of the Saxon Bretwalda, King Redwald of East
Anglia, in order to protect Cadfan, the new King of Gwynedd, from
further attacks. Aethelfrith sent envoys to Redwald with bribes and
threats and the mighty monarch was sorely tempted to give Edwin up to
his enemies. However, the Queen persuaded Redwald that this would be
shameful in the extreme. So, instead, in AD 616, the two raised an
army and marched North to engage the Bernicians on the banks of the
River Idle. The Northern army was thoroughly defeated and its King
killed.
Edwin immediately pressed forward his advantage and overran Bernicia
as well as his own homeland of Deira. Aethelfrith's sons (including
Princes Enfrith, Oswald and Oswiu) fled to exile in Gododdin and
Scottish Dalriada. The following year, the new monarch of a united
Northumbria decided to enlarge his kingdom still further by
conquering the British Kingdom of Elmet, and slaying King Ceretic in
the process. His armies also moved into Strathclyde and Gododdin
looking for Aethlefrith's eldest son, Enfrith, who was obliged to
move northwards into Pictland. It was almost certainly also Edwin's
armies which overran South Rheged and forced King Llywarch Hen and
his family to flee to Powys. It was supposedly during this conquest
period that he came into contact with the Royal House of North Rheged
and was baptized into the Christian faith by Prince Rhun. However, he
must have lapsed back into paganism soon afterward for, in AD 625,
Edwin married - traditionally on the site of St. Gregory's Church,
Kirknewton - the Princess Ethelburga sister of King Edbald of Kent
and, though he welcomed her personal chaplain, St. Paulinus, as
Archbishop of York, Edwin himself was a still pagan.
It seems that Edwin's Mercian wife had been put aside for no other
reason than political expediency. This, no doubt, led to much bad-
feeling in Mercia and the lady's cousin, King Penda, seems to have
allied himself with the kingdom of Wessex around this time. In AD
626, Prince Cwichelm of Wessex sent an assassin north to murder
Edwin. He was, however, saved from being stabbed by the timely
intervention of one of his thanes. By co-incidence, Edwin's daughter,
Enflaed, was born that same night and it is said that the King
promised to give her to St. Paulinus for baptism, if he was
victorious over the assassin's paymaster. Discovering Cwichelm's
treachery, Edwin marched on Wessex. Prince Cwichelm and his father,
King Cynegils of Wessex, marched north to meet the Northumbrians at
the Battle of Win Hill & Lose Hill (Derbys), probably with the aid of
King Penda. Despite their army's superior numbers, the Wessex duo
were defeated and fled south once more. Edwin, of course, kept his
promise to St. Paulinus.
Following his victory over Wessex, Edwin may have even been
acknowledged as overlord of all the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms (save for
Kent). Bede certainly records that Edwin held imperium south of the
Humber. Soon afterward, he decided to extend his overlordship still
further into more British kingdoms. With a substantial fleet at his
disposal, Edwin conquered the Isle of Man, forcing King Anllech to
flee, before moving on to Gwynedd. His old foster-brother, King
Cadfan, had recently died and Edwin's seems to have been determined
to put his old rivalry with Cadwallon to bed once and for all. The
Northumbrian King conquered Anglesey and besieged his foster-nephew
on Puffin Island before finally forcing him to flee to Brittany.
Edwin then began to consolidate his position. At the Royal Court in
Yeavering, he allowed Paulinus to convert him to Christianity once
more. The King then travelled to York for baptism in Paulinus' proto-
Cathedral and persuaded all his nobles, as well as sub-Kings (such as
King Eorpwald of East Anglia) to follow suit: thus ensuring unity
within the country. It was a prestigious move which brought letters
and gifts from the Pope in Rome. Edwin also set about re-fortifying
York and the famous 'Anglian Tower' may date from this time. Though
this city might be considered Edwin's capital, he held a number of
important administrative centres and resided in them on a circuit
basis similar to that used by later Saxon and Norman Kings. The most
important were Yeavering in Bernicia, York and Catterick in Deira and
Campoduno (near Doncaster) in Elmet. Bede describes how Edwin would
travel around, preceded by a standard bearer "as he rode among his
cities, estates and kingdoms with his thegns. Further, when he walked
anywhere along the roads, there used to be carried before him the
type of standard which the Romans call a tufa and the English call a
thuf."
Such peaceful times were not to last however. Trouble was brewing.
King Cadwallon of Gwynedd soon returned from the Continent looking
for revenge. In AD 633, he marched a great British army into the
North and clashed with the Northumbrians at Hatfield Chase. King
Edwin was killed in the fighting and the victorious Cadwallon went on
to decimate his country. Edwin's supporters managed to take his body
for burial in the Royal Abbey of Whitby. He was later revered as a
saint, and his head was translated to York Minster. The King's
family, however, fled to Kent and the kingdom was nominally divided
between Enfrith of Bernicia and Osric of Deira.
Troparion of St Edwin
Tone 4
Having accepted the true Faith, O righteous Edwin,
thou wast found worthy to exchange thy worldly crown
for the crown of martyrdom
at the hands of the godless Mercians.
Inspired by thy example,
we beseech
thee to pray that we may have the courage to fight evil in any form
that we too may receive the reward of eternal blessedness.
Lives kindly supplied by:
For All the Saints:
http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/saint_a.shtml
Orthodox Ireland Saints
http://www.orthodoxireland.com/saints/
These Lives are archived at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celt-saints/
content © 2008, Ambrose Mooney
layout © 2008, Kathleen Hanrahan and Mo! Langdon
Page last updated: 16 November 2008
Please send us comments, corrections, etc. -
Kathleen or
Mo!.
This page's URL: <http://www.CelticSaints.org/2009/1012a.html>