On Mon, 10 Jun 1996, John Damon wrote:
> saint. If political expedience was all that mattered, why wasn't Alfred
> a king? All the reasons for desiring his sainthood existed, and he was
> appropriately staunch in defending the faith, although he didn't "achieve
> martyrdom." Notice how attempts to sanctify Edgar went no where, while
> an uncomfortable cult for those in power like that of Edward Martyr did.
At the same time, Alfred was given perhaps an excessively charitable
portrait by Asser. According to the twelfth century Chronicon monasterii
de Abingdon, the king was likened to "Judas among the twelve, heaping
evil upon evil...thus rendering a very poor return to the Conquering
Lord, through whom he had obtained victory over the Danes at Ashdown."
Similarly, Edgar's repeated attempts to ravish holy virgins may have been
the reason why his coronation was delayed. Indeed, in flipping through
the pages of the Life of St. Dunstan penned by various authors in the
subsequent period, one finds Edgar's positive attributes being quickly
eclipsed by the less than wholesome aspects of his personal life.
David Liu
Centre for Medieval Studies, Toronto
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