Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 5.djvu/343

 EDMUND

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EDUCATION

alone in the fields. In memory of what passed be- tween him and Christ on that occasion, he used every night to sign his forehead with the words "Jesus of Nazareth'', a custom he recommended to others. Anxious to preserve purity of mind and body, Ed- mund made a vow of chastity, and as a pledge thereof he procured two rings; one he placed on the finger of Our Lady's statue in St. Mary's, Oxford, the other he himself wore.

About 1195, in company with his brother Richard, he was sent to the schools of Paris. Thenceforward, for several years, his life was spent between Oxford and Paris. He taught with success in both universi- ties. After having devoted himself to the study of theology, Edmund acquired fame as a preacher, and was commissioned to preach the Sixth Crusade in various parts of England. All this time his austeri- ties were very great. Most of the night he spent in prayer, and the little sleep he allowed himself was taken without lying down. Though thus severe to himself, he was gentle and kind towards others, espe- cially to the poor and sick, whom sometimes he per- sonally attended. In 1222 Edmund became treasurer of Salisbury cathedral. Ten years later he was ap- pointed to the Archbishopric of Canterbury by Gregory IX and consecrated 2 April, 1234.

Notwithstanding the gentleness of his disposition, he firmly defended the rights of Church and State again.st the exactions and usurpations of Henry III. He visited Rome in 12.37 to plead his cause in person. This fearless policy brought him into conflict, not only with the king and his party, but also with the monks of Rochester and Canterbury. Determined opposi- tion met him from all sides, and constant appeals were carried to Rome over his head. In consequence, a papal legate was sent to England, but Henry adroitly managed the legate's authority to nullify Edmund's power. Unable tc force the king to give over the con- trol of vacant benefices, and determined not to counte- nance evil and injustice, Edmund saw he could not longer remain in England. In 1240 he retired to the Cistercian Abbey of Pontigny. Here he lived like a simple religious till the summer heat drove him to Soissy, where he died. Within six years he w.'is can- onized by Innocent IV. His body was taken to Pontigny, and numerous miracles have been wrought at his shrine. Notwithstanding the devastation that from time to time has overtaken Pontigny, the body of St. Edmund is still venerated in its abbey church. Important relics of the saint are preserved at Westminster Cathedral; St. Edmund's College, Ware; Portsmouth Cathedral, and Erdington Abbey. The ancient proper Mass of St. Edmund, taken from the Sarum Missal, is used in the Diocese of Ports- mouth, of which St. Edmund is patron. In Septem- ber, 1874, 350 English pilgrims visited St. Edmund's .shrine. The community, known as Fathers of St. Edmund, were forced to leave their home at Pontigny, by the A.ssociations law. The "Speculum Ecclesiae", an aseetical treatise, and the "Provincial Constitu- tions" are the most important of St. Edmund's writings.

Besides the three ancient hves of St. Edmund by Matthew Paris, RoBf:RT Bacon, and Robert Rich, there is a fourth ascribed to Bbrtrandof Pontigny in MARTiiNE and Duband, Thesaurus AnecdotoTum. For a complete account of the MS.S. records, the reader is referred to Wallace, St. Edmund of Can- terbury (London, 1893), 1-18, and to de Pahavicini. St. Ed- mund of Abingdon (London, 1898), xiii-xlii; Bvti.er, Lives of the Saints, ICith Nov.; .S', Edmund Archbp. of Canterbury (London, 1845) (Tractarian); Ward, St. Edmund Archbp. of Canterbury (London, 1903) ; Archer in Diet, of Nat. Biog., s. v.

CoLUMBA Edmonds.

Edmund the Martyr, Saint, King of East Anglia, b. about 840 ; d. at Hoxne, Suffolk, 20 November, 870. The earliest and most reliable accounts represent St. Ed- mimd as descended from the preceding kings of East Anglia, though, according to later legends, he was born

at Nuremberg (Germany), son to an otherwise unknown King Alcmund of Saxony. Though only about fifteen years old when crowned in 855, Edmund showed him- self a model ruler from the first, anxious to treat all with equal justice, and closing his ears to flatterers and untrustworthy informers. In his eagerness for prayer he retired for a year to his royal tower at Hunstanton and learned the whole Psalter by heart, in order that he might afterwards recite it regularly. In 870 he bravely repulsed the two Danish chiefs Hinguar and Hubba who had invaded his dominions. They soon returned with overwhelming numbers, and pressed terms upon him which as a Christian he felt bound to refuse. In his desire to avert a fruitless massacre, he disbanded his troops and himself retired towards Framlingham; on the way he fell into the hands of the invaders. Having loaded him with chains, his captors conducted him to Hinguar, whose impious demands he again rejected, declaring his religion dearer to him than his life. His martyrdom took place in 870 at Hoxne in Suffolk. After beating him with cudgels, the Danes tied him to a tree, and cruelly tore his flesh with whips. Throughout these tortures Edmund continued to call upon the name of Jesus, un- til at last, exasperated by his constancy, his enemies began to discharge arrows at him. This cruel sport was continued until his body had the appearance of a porcupine, when Hinguar commanded his head to be struck off. From his first burial-place at Hoxne his relics were removed in the tenth century to Beodrics- worth, since called St. Edmundsbury, where arose the famous abbey of that name. His feast is observed 20 Nov., and he is represented in Christian art with sword and arrow, the instruments of his torture.

Thomas Arnold, Memorial.'^ of St. Edmund's Abbey in R. S. (London, 1890), containing Abbo of Fleury, Pat^sio S. Ead- mundi (985). and Gaufridus de Fontibus, Infantia S. Ead- mundi (c. 1150); Tynemouth and Capgrave. Nova Legenda Anglia:, ed. HoRSTMAN (Oxford, 1901); Bctler. Lives of the Saints (Dubhn. 1872); Mackinlay, Saint Edmund King and Martyr (London, 1893).

G. E. Phillips.

Education. — In General. — In the broadest sense, education includes all those experiences by which in- telligence is developed, knowledge acquired, and char- acter formed. In a narrower sense, it is the work done by certain agencies and institutions, the home and the school, for the express purpose of training immature minds. The child is born with latent capacities which must be developed so as to fit him for the activities and duties of life. The meaning of life, therefore, of its purposes and values as understood by the educator, primarily tletermines the nature of his work. Educa- tion amis at an ideal, and this in turn depends on the view that is taken of man and his destiny, of his rela- tions to Ciod, to his fellowmen, and to the physical world. The content of education is furnished by the previous acquisition of mankind in literature, art, and science, in moral, social, and religious principles. The inheritance, however, contains elements that differ greatly in value, both as mental possessions and as means of culture ; hence a selection is necessary, and this must be guided largely by the educational ideal. It will also be influenced by the consideration of the educative jyrocess. Teaching must be adapted to the needs of the developing mind, and the endeavour to make the adaptation more thorough results in theo- ries and methods which are, or should be, based on the findings of biology, physiology, and psychology.

The work of education begins normally in the home; but it is, for obvious reasons, continued in institutions where other teachers stand in place of the parents. To secure efficiency it is necessary that each school be properly organized, that the teachers be qualified, and that the subjects of instruction be wisely chosen. Since the school, moreover, is so largely responsible for the intellectual and moral formation of those who