10th century
Saint Edward the Martyr, King of England
King of England (975–978) and son of Edgar, who was murdered as a youth in 978 and is venerated as a martyr; his relics are kept in an Orthodox monastery in England.
Biography
Edward was the son of King Edgar of England and came to the English throne in 975, still a boy, while the succession was contested by supporters of his younger half-brother Aethelred.
Three years later, in 978, he was murdered in unclear circumstances at Corfe in Dorset. Tradition attributes the killing to his stepmother Aelfthryth, though contemporary sources name no culprit and some modern historians question that account.
According to tradition his body was found incorrupt beneath a heavenly light, and he was soon venerated as a saint and martyr. His relics are today kept by Russian Orthodox monks of the diaspora at a monastery near London.