Edward the Martyr (Old English: Eadweard; c. 962 – 18 March 978) is king of the English from 975 until he is murdered in 978.
Edward is the eldest son of King Edgar, but not his father's acknowledged heir.
On Edgar's death, the leadership of England is contested, with some supporting Edward's claim to be king and others supporting his much younger half-brother Æthelred the Unready, recognized as a legitimate son of Edgar.
Edward is chosen as king and is crowned by his main clerical supporters, the archbishops Dunstan and Oswald of Worcester.
The great nobles of the kingdom, ealdormen Ælfhere and Æthelwine, quarrel and civil war almost breaks out.
In the so-called anti-monastic reaction, the nobles take advantage of Edward's weakness to dispossess the Benedictine reformed monasteries of lands and other properties which King Edgar had granted to them.
Edward's short reign is brought to an end by his murder at Corfe Castle in circumstances that are not altogether clear.
His body is reburied with great ceremony at Shaftesbury Abbey early in 980.
In 1001 Edward's remains are moved to a more prominent place in the abbey, probably with the blessing of his half-brother King Æthelred.
Edward is already reckoned a saint by this time.
A number of lives of Edward were written in the centuries following his death in which he was portrayed as a martyr, generally seen as a victim of the Queen Dowager Ælfthryth, mother of Æthelred.
He is today recognized as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Communion.
