50. SAINT EDWIN, MARTYR-KING OF NORTHUMBRIA
St. Edwin was the second Christian king in England, and the first in the northern English kingdom of Northumbria. He was born in 584 into the royal family of Deira, and spent much of his early life in Wales and East Anglia, fleeing from King Ethelfrith of Northumbria. He married Cwenburga of Mercia, by whom he had two sons. In 616, with the help of King Redwald of East Anglia, his host in exile, Edwin defeated and killed Ethelfrith at the battle of the River Idle, and became king of Northumbria.
After the death of Cwenburga, he sought the hand of Ethelburga, a Christian princess from Kent. His suit was initially rejected, but then accepted on condition that Ethelburga was allowed to practice her own religion and that Edwin would seriously consider becoming a Christian. In 625 St. Paulinus was consecrated bishop and sent to York as Ethelburgás chaplain.
Edwin thought long and carefully before becoming a Christian. He received a letter of encouragement from Pope Boniface, and he was astounded when St. Paulinus displayed clairvoyance concerning a mysterious vision that Edwin had had some years before. But he still insisted on consulting with his chief men about the matter. At this meeting Coifi, the chief pagan Priest, confessed his conversion to the new religion, and even took the initiative in destroying his pagan idols. Inspired by this example, King Edwin, his nobles and a large number of the poorer people agreed to be baptised by the holy bishop in York at Pascha, 627.
Under the leadership of Saints Edwin and Paulinus, the conversion of the north of England to the Christian faith proceeded apace. Moreover, St. Edwin acquired extensive territories in Scotland (the Scottish capital of Edinburgh is named after him), in the West (Anglesey and Man) and even in the south, becoming the overlord of the southern kingdoms except Kent.
The Venerable Bede writes: «So peaceful was it in those parts of Britain under King Edwin's jurisdiction that the proverb still runs that a woman could carry her new-born babe across the island from sea to sea without any fear of harm. Such was the king's concern for the welfare of his people that in a number of places where he had noticed clear springs adjacent to the highway he ordered posts to be erected with brass bowls hanging from them, so that travellers could drink and refresh themselves. And so great was the peoplés affection for him, and so great the awe in which he was held, that no one wished or ventured to use these bowls for any other purpose. So royally was the king's dignity maintained throughout the realm that whether in battle or on a peaceful progress on horseback through city, town, and countryside in the company of his thegns, the royal standard was always borne before him. »
However, the British Christian King Cadwalla of Wales rebelled against him, and, combining with the pagan King Penda of Mercia, defeated and killed King Edwain on October 12, 633 St. Edwin at the battle of Hatfield. His sons Osfrid and Eadfrid were also killed. The site of the battle is said to have been near Doncaster. However, according to another tradition, it took place in Sherwood forest, Nottinghamshire. There, in a clearing in the forest, he was secretly buried. By the time his friends had returned to collect the body for a proper royal burial in York, people were calling him St. Edwin. A small wooden chapel was erected on the spot where he was first buried, which is now in the town of Edwinstowe.
«The head of King Edwin,» writes Bede, «was carried to York and subsequently placed in the church of the blessed Apostle Peter, which he had begun to build, but which his successor Oswald completed.»
St. Edwin is commemorated on October 12.
Holy Martyr-King Edwin, pray to God for us!
(Sources: The Venerable Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, II, 5, 9–18, 20, III, 1; «St. Mary's Church, Edwinstowe»; David Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1978, p. 126)