John Lydgate wrote the 'Lives of Ss Edmund & Fremund' at the request of his abbot William
Curteys to commemorate the stay of the young King Henry VI at the Benedictine abbey of Bury St
Edmunds from Christmas Eve 1433 to shortly after Easter 1434 when Henry was received into
confraternity. The work survives in thirteen manuscripts or fragments and BL MS Harley 2278
on which the present edition of the 'Lives of Ss Edmund & Fremund' is based was the copy of
the poem presented to Henry VI probably before 1444. The 'Lives' consists of a prologue the
Life of St Edmund as books one and two the Life of St Fremund as book three a conc1uding
prayer to St Edmund an envoy and an address to Henry VI. The volume also presents the three
texts that make up the 'Extra Miracles of St Edmund' which are found in four of the later
manuscripts of the 'Lives' and independently in one manuscript. This edition of the 'Lives of
Ss Edmund & Fremund' is the first to establish the text on the basis of the readings of all the
manuscripts and is also the first to include the 'Extra Miracles'. The edited texts are
followed by a commentary textual notes a glossary of proper names and a selective glossary.
