Bury St. Edmunds History

Edmund, who was the last Saxon king of East Anglia, was killed by the marauding Danes in 870. They offered to spare him and let him rule as their vassal on the condition that he outlawed the practise of Christianity; he refused and so became a martyr. His bones were returned to the local monastery in 903 and a shrine to St. Edmund was established.

Two hundred years later Danish King Canute ruled and in an act of public contrition (or maybe simply good PR) he upgraded the monastery to abbey status. This move was extremely popular and the pilgrims flocked to the town, whose prosperity grew and grew. In 1214 King John’s Barons swore on the abbey altar to force the King to accept the terms of the Magna Carta. Bury St. Edmunds became a renowned centre of learning and produced illuminated manuscripts, which are now on display in museums around the world.

When in 1465 a devastating fire destroyed much of the abbey, it was rebuilt in a very grand style reflecting the fact that it was the wealthiest ecclesiastical estate in the country. However, this opulent display of church wealth did not last long as just one year after the rebuilding work was completed, Henry VIII dissolved the abbey.