Sigeberht of East Anglia

Sigeberht ruled the kingdom of East Anglia (Old English: Ēast Engla Rīce), a small independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom that comprised what are now the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk and perhaps the eastern part of the Cambridgeshire Fens.[1]

It is not known when Sigeberht was born and nothing is known of his life before he was exiled from East Anglia prior to becoming king, as few records have survived from this period of English history. The most reliable source for Sigeberht's background and career is Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People (produced in 731), in which Bede stated that Sigeberht was the brother of Eorpwald[note 1] and the son of Rædwald, who ruled the kingdom of East Anglia from about 599 to 624, but William of Malmesbury described him as Rædwald's stepson.[3] The stepson theory is strengthened by the fact that the name Sigeberht is without comparison in the East Anglian Wuffingas dynasty, but closely resembles the naming fashions of the East Saxon royal house. If this identification is correct, Rædwald's wife had previously been married to an East Saxon prince or ruler. Rædwald's own principal heir was Rægenhere (a youth of warrior age in 616, when he was slain in battle)[4] and his second heir was Eorpwald, slain by the heathen Ricberht in about 627.[5][6]

Rædwald was baptised before 616 and a Christian altar existed in his temple, but his son Eorpwald was not himself a convert when he succeeded Rædwald in about 624.[7] Since it is known that Rædwald's wife (who was Sigeberht's mother) did not become a Christian, Sigeberht must have received limited encouragement to convert to Christianity before being sent to Gaul and remaining there as an exile for many years during the lifetime of Eorpwald, "while fleeing from the enmity of Rædwald", as Bede reports.[8] His exile supports the stepson theory, if Rædwald was protecting Eorpwald's succession against a possible claim by a son who was not of the Wuffingas line.[9]

Whilst living in Gaul as an exile, Sigeberht was converted and baptized and became a devout Christian and a man of learning. He was strongly impressed by the religious institutions and schools for the study of reading and writing which he found during his long exile.[10]

At some point during his reign, Sigeberht abdicated his power to Ecgric and retired to lead a religious life within a monastery he had built for his own use. Bede does not name the location of Sigeberht's monastery, but later sources name it as Beodricesworth, afterwards called Bury St Edmunds. If that identification is accepted, the likely site was in the original precinct of the mediaeval abbey at Bury St Edmunds, probably the 'worth' or curtilage of Beodric after whom the place was originally named.[27] The site occupied a strong position on the upper reaches of the Lark valley, which drains north-west into the Great Fen through important early settlements at Icklingham, Culford, West Stow and others. This was a line of access towards Ely, where a foundation of Saint Augustine may already have existed, and towards Soham, where Saint Felix is thought to have founded a monastery.[28]

At an unknown date, which may have been in the early 640s,[29] East Anglia was attacked by a Mercian army and Ecgric was obliged to defend it with a much smaller force, though one that was not negligible. The East Angles appealed to Sigeberht to leave his monastery and lead them in battle, hoping that his presence and the memory of his former military exploits would encourage the army and make them less likely to flee. Sigeberht refused, saying that he had renounced his worldly kingdom and now lived only for the heavenly kingdom. However, he was dragged from the monastery to the battlefield where, unwilling to bear arms, he went into battle carrying only a staff. The Mercians were victorious and Sigeberht, Ecgric and many of the East Angles were slain and their army was routed. In this way Sigeberht became a Christian martyr.[30] He is among the names of the kings who according to an ancient saying, were avenged by the slaying of Penda in 654.[31][32]

The Church that Sigeberht had done so much to establish in East Anglia survived for two centuries, enduring 'evil times' (such as the period when the kingdom was under attack by the armies of Penda of Mercia). It lasted continuously under a succession of bishops until the Danish Great Heathen Army invaded East Anglia in the 860s.[33]

The feast day of Sigeberht is commemorated on various dates, even within the same religious tradition. For example, different Catholic calendars of saints designate 16 January, 27 September, or 29 October, or note two dates as alternatives.[34][35][36] Lives of the English Saints, written by John Henry Newman in 1843, is amongst the texts that gives Sigeberht's feast day as being observed on 29 October.[37] Eastern Orthodox sources also give 16 January, but in addition list 25 January and 27 September as the relevant feast day.[38][39][40]

• For more information on Ecgric's Wuffingas identity, see the family trees in Ecgric of East Anglia.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "East Anglia". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

• Bede (1999). Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-283866-7. (available at Google Books)
• Haslam, Jeremy (1992). "Dommoc and Dunwich: A Reappraisal" (PDF). Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History. Oxford. 5: 41. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
• Henry of Huntingdon (1996). Historia Anglorum: the history of the English people. Translated by Greenway, Diana E. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-822224-8.
• Kirby, D.P. (2000). The Earliest English Kings. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-24211-0.
• Plunkett, Steven (2005). Suffolk in Anglo-Saxon Times. Stroud: Tempus. ISBN 978-0-7524-3139-0.
• Stenton, Sir Frank (1988). Anglo-Saxon England. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-821716-9.
• Warner, Peter (1996). The origins of Suffolk. Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-3817-4.
• Yorke, Barbara (2002). Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-16639-3.

• A poem written in 1879 by Aubrey De Vere (1879). "King Sigebert of East Anglia, and Heida the Prophetess". Legends of the Saxon Saints. p. 67. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
• A. Williams, A.P. Smyth and D.P. Kirkby (1991), A Biographical Dictionary of Dark Age Britain (Seaby 1991). ISBN 978-1-85264-047-7.
• Gasquet, Francis Aidan / 8th-century monk at Whitby (1904). "A life of Pope St. Gregory the Great". Retrieved February 9, 2011.

• Sigeberht 3 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England