Edred of England

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The holy and right-believing King Edred of England (also Eadred; c. 923 - November 23, 955) was King of England from 946 until his death. His feast day is November 23. He referred to himself as King of the Anglo-Saxons and Emperor of the whole of Britain.

Edred succeeded his brother, King Edmund I, in 946 but suffered from poor health. He was an extremely religious man and continued his brother's appointment of St. Dunstan as a royal counselor. It was St. Edred's who first nominated St. Dunstan for the episcopacy in 953 to fill the vacant See of Crediton in Devon.

At the time of his death in Frome, in 955, he summoned St. Dunstan from Glastonbury to come with his treasures. On St. Clement's Day, the traveling party heard a voice from heaven exclaim, "King Edred now rests in peace," causing St. Dunstan's horse to die from the angelic power it beheld. The holy king never married and had no heirs. He was buried in Old Minster, Wincester, and was succeeded to the throne by his nephew, Edwig.

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