Edward the Martyr was King of England from 975 until his murder in 978. The eldest son of King Edgar the Peaceful, he was elevated to the throne while still a youth amid a contested succession, and his brief reign ended in his violent death at Corfe in Dorset. Because the killing was attributed to opponents hostile to the Church and Edward himself was held to have been a devout king, he came to be venerated as a martyr and is also reckoned a passion-bearer. His principal feast is kept on March 18, with a further commemoration on September 3.
On the death of his father in 975, the leadership of England was disputed: some of the nobility supported Edward's claim, while others favored his much younger half-brother Aethelred. By tradition Edward stood firm together with Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, in defense of the Church and the monasteries, particularly against nobles who, during a time of famine, sought to reclaim lands that Edgar had endowed to religious houses. The sources relate that this resistance hardened the resolve of certain nobles to remove him in favor of Aethelred.
By tradition Edward was slain on March 18, 978, while hunting near Wareham, when he came to visit Aethelred at Corfe. The accounts relate that he was offered drink and then stabbed by one of the party of his stepmother Aelfthryth (Elfrida), who is implicated in the killing; Aethelred, then a child, was not held responsible. Edward was first buried at Wareham without ceremony, and his remains were afterward translated to Shaftesbury. Miracles were reported at and after his death, and he was glorified as a saint in the years that followed, his veneration being affirmed by an English council of 1008.
