A Brief History
On May 26, 946, King Edmund I of the English was unceremoniously killed in a street brawl in the conspicuously named town of Pucklechurch in Gloucestershire, England.
Digging Deeper
According to John of Worcester (died c. 1140) as quoted by Reginald Ralph Darlington and Patrick McGurk in 1995, “While the glorious Edmund, king of the English, was at the royal township called Pucklechurch in English, in seeking to rescue his steward from Leofa, a most wicked thief, lest he be killed, was himself killed by the same man on the feast of St Augustine, teacher of the English, on Tuesday, 26 May, in the fourth indiction, having completed five years and seven months of his reign. He was borne to Glastonbury, and buried by the abbot, St Dunstan.” Leofa was in turn reportedly immediately killed by the King’s retainers.
Edmund was the eldest son of King Edward the Elder and his grandfather was the esteemed Alfred the Great in the House of Wessex. His royal lineage did little to protect Edmund on the streets of an English town in the face of local thugs.
Having reigned from 939 until his murder in 946, Edmund was a mere lad of between 24 and 26 years old when he was killed. Leaving sons too young to assume the throne, Edmund was succeeded by his brother, Eadred, who died only 9 years later leaving the throne to Edmund’s sons.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Should monarchies be banned?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Mitchell, David. Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England’s Kings and Queens. Random House Audio, 2023.
Norman, Dominic. House of Wessex: A History Nonfiction. Kindle, 2024.
The featured image in this article, a 1793 drawing by R. Smirke, engraved by A. Smith, of the murder of King Edmund I at Pucklechurch in 946, is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer.
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