Sigeberht of East Anglia

Sigeberht of East Anglia (also known as Saint Sigebert), (

Sigeberht was probably either a younger son of Rædwald of East Anglia, or his step-son from Rædwald's marriage to a pagan princess from the kingdom of Essex. Nothing is known of his life before he was exiled to Gaul, which was possibly done in order to ensure that Rædwald's own descendants ruled the kingdom. After his step-brother Eorpwald's assassination in about 627, Sigeberht returned to East Anglia and (perhaps in the aftermath of a military campaign) became king, ruling jointly with Ecgric, who may have been either a son of Rædwald's, or his nephew.

During Sigeberht's reign the cause of Christianity in East Anglia was advanced greatly, even though his co-ruler Ecgric probably remained a pagan. Alliances were strengthened between the Christian kingdoms of

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.[8] 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.^[9] 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.^[10]

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.^[11]

After an interregnum prompted by Eorpwald's assassination, Sigeberht returned from Gaul to become ruler of the East Angles. It is likely that he gained the kingdom by military means, because his prowess as a commander was later remembered. During his reign, part of the kingdom was governed by Ecgric his 'kinsman', a relationship described by the Latin term cognatus.^[12] This may mean that Ecgric was a son of Rædwald. However, the historian Steven Plunkett is amongst those that consider Ecgric to be the same person as Æthelric, named in the East Anglian tally (in the Anglian collection) as a son of Eni, Rædwald's brother.^[13] Whoever the pagan Ecgric was, Sigeberht had equal or senior power while he ruled, because the influence of his religious patronage was felt throughout his kingdom.

Sigeberht's Christian conversion may have been a decisive factor in his achieving royal power, since at that time

Bede relates that the East Anglian apostle

Sigeberht secured the future of the Church in East Anglia when he established a school in his kingdom so that boys could be taught reading and writing in Latin, on the model that he had witnessed in Gaul.[16] Felix assisted him by obtaining teachers of the kind who taught in Kent.^[20] According to the Life of Gregory the Great, Paulinus of York, who from 633 to 644 was the Bishop of Rochester in northern Kent, had been connected with Rædwald's court during the exile of Edwin.^[21][22]

The allegiance of Felix to

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.^[28] 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.^[29]

At an unknown date, which may have been in the early 640s,^[30] 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.^[31] He is among the names of the kings who according to an ancient saying, were avenged by the slaying of Penda in 654.^[32][33]

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.^[34]

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.

• 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.

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• "Celtic and Old English Saints". Celtic Saints. 2021. Saint Sigebert: Died 635; feast day 16 January, sometimes 27 September
• Thua, Laban (8 May 2019). "Saint Sigeberht of East Anglia - Feast Day - January 16". Catholic Daily Readings. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
• Young, Francis (29 October 2015). "St Sigebert: East Anglia's first martyr king". Dr Francis Young − publications. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
• "Orthodox Calendar: January 16, 2012 (Church Calendar)". Holy Trinity Orthodox Church. St. Sigebert, king of the East Angles, martyr (635) (Celtic & British), January 16.
• "Latin Saints of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Rome". Orthodox England.org.uk. Sigebert Jan 25
• "Saint Felix of Burgundy, Bishop of Dunwich, Enlightener of East Anglia". Orthodox Church in America. March 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2023. It was he who converted Sigebert (September 27), King of East Anglia ...

• 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 7 February 2011.
• A. Williams, A.P. Smyth and D.P. Kirkby (1991), A Biographical Dictionary of Dark Age Britain (Seaby 1991).
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• Gasquet, Francis Aidan / 8th-century monk at Whitby (1904). "A life of Pope St. Gregory the Great". Retrieved 9 February 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

• Sigeberht 3 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England