Martyr
Martyr, Right-Believing King Edward, King of England, Passion-Bearer
ок. 962 — †18 марта 978
Also known as: Эдуард Мученик
Martyr Edward, King of England — the eldest son of King Edgar the Peaceful; ascended the throne in 975 at a young age; murdered by conspirators on March 18, 978, at Corfe Castle at the instigation of his stepmother Ælfthryth, who sought to place her young son Æthelred on the throne; venerated as a martyr-passion-bearer, canonized in 1001 after his relics were found incorrupt.
St. Edward was born around 962, the eldest son of King Edgar the Peaceful of England. After his father's death in 975, while still a youth, he ascended the English throne, though part of the nobility supported the claims of his younger half-brother Æthelred, son of Edgar's second wife, Queen Ælfthryth. On March 18, 978, while visiting Corfe Castle, where Ælfthryth and Æthelred resided, the young king was treacherously murdered by conspirators acting, according to tradition, at the instigation of his stepmother, who sought to place her own son on the throne. St. Edward's body was hastily buried without honors, but miracles soon began to occur at his burial site. In 979 his relics were solemnly translated to Shaftesbury Abbey. In 1001, when the relics were found incorrupt, St. Edward was officially canonized by the English Church as a martyr. He is venerated as one of the passion-bearer saints of pre-schism England. His memory is kept on March 18/31.