Editing Edmund I (section)

=== Charters ===
The period from around 925 to 975 was the golden age of Anglo-Saxon royal charters, when they were at their peak as instruments of royal government, and the scribes who drew up most of Edmund's charters constituted a royal secretariat which he inherited from his brother. From 928 until 935, charters were produced by the very learned scribe designated by scholars as [[Æthelstan A]] in a highly elaborate style. Keynes comments: "It is only by dwelling on the glories and complexities of the diplomas drafted and written by Æthelstan A that one can appreciate the elegant simplicity of the diplomas that followed."{{sfnm|1a1=Keynes|1y=2013|1pp=52–57|2a1=Snook|2y=2015|2p=191}} A scribe known as Edmund C wrote an inscription in a gospel book ([[British Library|BL]] Cotton Tiberius A. ii folio 15v) during Æthelstan's reign and wrote charters for Edmund and Eadred between 944 and 949.{{sfnm|1a1=Brooks and Kelly|1y=2013|1p=88 and n. 10|2a1=Chaplais|2y=1973|2p=46|3a1=Keynes|3y=1980|3pp=25–26}}

Most of Edmund's charters belong to the diplomatic "mainstream", including those of Edmund C, but four are part of a group, dating mainly to Eadred's reign, called the '[[Alliteration|alliterative]] charters'. They were drafted by a very learned scholar, almost certainly someone in the circle of [[Cenwald|Cenwald, Bishop of Worcester]], or perhaps the bishop himself. These charters are characterised both by a high proportion of words starting with the same letter and by the use of unusual words. Ben Snook describes the charters as "impressive literary works", and like much of the writing of the period their style displays the influence of [[Aldhelm]], a leading scholar and early eighth century [[bishop of Sherborne]].{{sfn|Snook|2015|pp=131–143}}

{{multiple image
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 | image1 = Silver penny of Edmund I (YORYM 2000 1493) obverse.jpg
 | alt1 = Silver penny of Edmund I, obverse
 | caption1 = Silver penny, obverse inscribed 'EADMUND REX'
 | image2 = Silver penny of Edmund I (YORYM 2000 1493) reverse.jpg
 | alt2 = Silver penny of Edmund I, reverse
 | caption2 = Reverse inscribed 'EOFERMUND M'{{efn|This is an HM var (d) (Horizontal reverse with Miscellaneous decoration, variety d) penny struck by the Shrewsbury [[moneyer]] Eofermund, York Museum. The "M" stands for ''Moneta'' (moneyer).{{sfnm|1a1=Pagan|1y=1995|1pp=141–142, 150–151|2a1=Blunt, Stewart and Lyon|2y=1989|2pp=13, plate 11 coin 241|3a1=Ashdowne|3a2=Howlett|3a3=Latham|3y=2018|3p=2186|ps=, 'Moneta' 3f}}}}
}}