Edward the Martyr (c. 962 – 18 March 978) was King of the English from 8 July 975 until he was killed in 978. His father, King Edgar, had been a strong and overbearing monarch who had forced the nobility to surrender land to the monasteries. Edward's reign is remembered as a time of lawlessness, because of the efforts of the nobles to get their land back, sometimes by force, and because of disputes between the leading magnates, although these never led to warfare. His short reign ended in his murder in unclear circumstances. Medieval kings were believed to be sacrosanct, and Edward's violent death deeply troubled contemporaries. He soon came to be regarded as a saint, and his feast of 18 March is still listed by the Church of England. Edward was known in his own time for his violent temper, and the historian Tom Watson comments: "For an obnoxious teenager who showed no evidence of sanctity or kingly attributes and who should have been barely a footnote, his cult has endured mightily well." (Full article...).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_the_Martyr> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1277: Charles I of Anjou acquired a claim on the Kingdom of Jerusalem in exchange for a significant sum of money. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_I_of_Anjou> 1906: Romanian inventor Traian Vuia became the first person to fly a heavier-than-air monoplane with an unassisted takeoff. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traian_Vuia> 1925: The deadliest tornado in U.S. history spawned in Missouri and traveled more than 219 miles (352 km) across Illinois and Indiana, leaving one of the longest continuous tornado tracks ever recorded. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1925_tri-state_tornado> 1977: The punk group the Clash released their first single, "White Riot", described as their "most controversial song" due to its lyrics about class economics and race. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Riot> 2019: Syrian civil war: The U.S. Air Force carried out an airstrike in al-Baghuz Fawqani, killing 64 civilians. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_U.S._airstrike_in_Baghuz> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: bearleader: 1. (chiefly historical) Someone who handles and keeps bears, especially for use in public entertainments such as bearbaiting or dancing displays; a bearward. 2. (by extension, historical) 3. Someone acting as a chaperone and tutor to a wealthy young man travelling abroad, especially in Europe. 4. (humorous, obsolete, rare) A captor; also, a guard, a jailer. <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bearleader> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: I think "taste" is a social concept and not an artistic one. I’m willing to show good taste, if I can, in somebody else’s living room, but our reading life is too short for a writer to be in any way polite. Since his words enter into another’s brain in silence and intimacy, he should be as honest and explicit as we are with ourselves. --John Updike <https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Updike> _______________________________________________ Wikipedia Daily Article mailing list. To unsubscribe write to: [email protected] Questions or comments? Contact [email protected]
