Edmund, King of East Anglia, martyred in 870

                                                                   II Corinthians 13:14

The grace 

of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, the love of Gd and the fellowship 
of the Holy Spirit be with all all evermore. 

"During Edmund's reign, Danish attacks on the east coast o England became increasingly  frequent. In 869 the 28 year old king led his troops in battle agains the raiders and was defeated in battle. The Danes offered peace on the 2 conditions that Edmund give them half his wealth and become a vassal prince. Edmund was willing to comply with the first, but he refused to become a vassal prince unless his overlord became a Christian”.  It was a costly choice. On November 20 in 870 “the Danish chieftain ordered him to be scourged, tied to a tree and used as a living target for his archers, and finally beheaded.” (Hence, the arrows or archers in many of the images of him.)