St Edmund

Part of a pilgrim badge of St Edmund from his shrine at Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. St Edmund, King of East Anglia, was murdered by the Vikings in 869 when he refused to give up Christianity. He was whipped and tied to a tree before the Vikings threw spears or shot arrows at him and cut off his head. He was buried at the nearby town of Beodricsworth, which became known as Bury St Edmunds and was a major centre for medieval pilgrimage. On this badge, St Edmund is shown tied to a y-shaped tree and stripped to the waist. He is wearing braies (long, loose underpants) and his hands are tied together around the trunk of the tree. His head and legs are missing. There are the remains of arrow points sticking out of his braies but the arrow shafts have snapped off.