Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.


Saturday, 18 March 2017

St Edward the Martyr


Today is the feast of the martyrdom of  St Edward the Martyr. Having been King since the death of his father King Edgar in 975 he was murdered at Corfe on this day in 978.

There is an online account of  him at Edward the Martyr and my previous posts about him, with other links, can be seen at St Edward the Martyr from 2012 and at St Edward the Martyr from 2013.


https://orthodoxwiki.org/images/8/85/Edward_the_Martyr.jpg

  Image: orthodoxwiki.org

Today in this country devotion to him appears to be strong amongst Orthodox believers and congregations. There he is venerated as a passion bearer, and perhaps fits in to their equivalent of the link or union of throne and altar. His relics are now enshrined at the Orthodox community at Brookwood in Surrey. In consequence there are several modern icons of him which I have used to illustrate this post.

http://www.catholic.org/files/images/saints/862.jpg

  Image: catholic.org

There is an Orthodox account of him, and of devotion to him, and which also includes pictures of various historic English churches under his patronage here


 
http://www.pravoslavie.ru/sas/image/102001/200160.p.jpg?mtime=1427718573

Image:pravoslavie.ru

Given recent developments in reconstructing the appearance of the deceased, including ones I have featured - King Richard III, King Henry of Scots and the two priest martyrs from Yorkshire - maybe something similar could be attempted with the scull of St Edward.

St Edward the Martyr pray for us 


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