Bury Saint Edmunds, town, in the borough of Saint Edmundsbury, Suffolk, eastern England, on the Lark River. It is the trading and processing center of a farming region. In about AD630 the town, known as Beodricsweorthe, was made the seat of a monastery. Its present name honors the memory of St. Edmund, the East Anglian king who was interred here in the early 10th century. In 1020 the Danish king of England, Canute II, established a Benedictine abbey here that became one of the most important abbeys in England. In 1214 the English barons met in the abbey and took a vow to force King John to accept their demands. This action led to the signing of the Magna Carta (1215). Until 1974, Bury St. Edmunds was the county town of the former county of West Suffolk. Population (1991) 31,237.Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
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