Saint Edmund

Description

Pilgrim badge: St Edmund

Time period: 15th Century
Origin: Salisbury, England
Materials: Pewter
Product Dimensions:1.6 cm width x 5.8 cm height

Further details:

Crowned standing figure holding an arrow across chest. The Saxon king Edmund was put to death by the Vikings following his defeat at the battle of Thetford in 869. Traditionally, he is supposed to have surrendered himself in the hope of saving his people, but was killed by being tied to a tree, shot with arrows and then beheaded. Legend says that a wolf found his discarded head, and carrying it followed the funeral procession to Hoxne, where it was rejoined to the body. Following a series of miracles, the king’s body was translated to a shrine at Bury where a great Benedictine Abbey was later founded.