The cult of St Edmund was one of the most important in medieval England, and further afield, as the pieces here show. St Edmund, king and martyr, supposedly killed by Danes (or "Vikings") in 869, was one of the pre-eminent saints of the middle ages; his cult was favoured and patronised by several English kings and spawned a rich array of visual,literary, musical and political artefacts. Celebrated throughout England, especially at the abbey of Bury St Edmunds, it also inspired separate cults in France, Iceland and Italy. The essays in this collection offer a range of readings from a variety of disciplines - literature, history, music, art history - and of sources - chronicles, poems, theological material - providing an overview of the multi-faceted nature of St Edmund's cult, from the ninthcentury to the early modern period. They demonstrate the openness and dynamism of a medieval saint's cult, showing how the saint's image could be used in many and changing contexts: Edmund's image was bent to various political andpropagandistic ends, often articulating conflicting messages and ideals, negotiating identity, politics and belief. CONTRIBUTORS: ANTHONY BALE, CARL PHELPSTEAD, ALISON FINLAY, PAUL ANTONY HAYWARD, LISA COLTON, REBECCA PINNER, A.S.G. EDWARDS, ALEXANDRA GILLESPIE

An investigation of the growth and influence of the cult of St Edmund, and how it manifested itself in medieval material culture. Longlisted for the Katharine Briggs Award 2016 St Edmund, king and martyr, supposedly killed by Danes (or "Vikings") in 869, was one of the pre-eminent saints of the middle ages; his cult was favoured and patronised by several English kings, and gave rise to a rich array of visual, literary, musical and political artefacts. This study explores the development of devotion to St Edmund, from its first flourishing in the ninth century to the eveof the Reformation. It explores a series of key questions: how, why and when did the cult develop? Who was responsible for its promotion and dissemination? To which groups and individuals did St Edmund appeal? How did this evolveover time? Using as evidence a range of textual and visual treasures from the Anglo-Saxon king's erstwhile kingdom and later cultic heartland, Norfolk and Suffolk, the study draws on sources and approaches from a variety of disciplines (literature, art history, social history and anthropology) to elucidate the social, cultural and political dynamics of cult construction. Dr Rebecca Pinner is a Lecturer in Medieval and Early Modern Literature atthe University of East Anglia.

An investigation of the growth and influence of the cult of St Edmund, and how it manifested itself in medieval material culture. Longlisted for the Katharine Briggs Award 2016 St Edmund, king and martyr, supposedly killed by Danes (or "Vikings") in 869, was one of the pre-eminent saints of the middle ages; his cult was favoured and patronised by several English kings, and gave rise to a rich array of visual, literary, musical and political artefacts. This study explores the development of devotion to St Edmund, from its first flourishing in the ninth century to the eveof the Reformation. It explores a series of key questions: how, why and when did the cult develop? Who was responsible for its promotion and dissemination? To which groups and individuals did St Edmund appeal? How did this evolveover time? Using as evidence a range of textual and visual treasures from the Anglo-Saxon king's erstwhile kingdom and later cultic heartland, Norfolk and Suffolk, the study draws on sources and approaches from a variety of disciplines (literature, art history, social history and anthropology) to elucidate the social, cultural and political dynamics of cult construction. Dr REBECCA PINNER is a Lecturer in Medieval and Early Modern Literature atthe University of East Anglia.