Kingdom of Essex
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The Kingdom of the East Seaxe (one of the seven traditional kingdoms of the so-called Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy) was founded around 500 AD and covered the territory currently occupied by the counties of Essex, Hertfordshire and Middlesex.
The kingdom was bounded to the north by the River Stour and Kingdom of East Anglia, to the south by the River Thames and Kent, to the east lay the North Sea and to the west the Kingdom of Mercia. The earliest record of the kingdom dates to Bede's History Eccl., which noted the arrival of Bishop (later Saint) Mellitus in London in 604. The territory included the remains of two provincial Roman capitals Colchester and London. For a brief period in the 8th century the kingdom also encompassed the Kentish Kingdom to the South, but by the mid 8th century much of the kingdom, including London, had fallen to Mercia. After the defeat of the Mercian king Beornwulf around 825 AD, the kingdom became a possession of the Wessex king Ecgbert. In 870 the territory was ceded by Wessex, under the Treaty of Wedmore, to the Danelaw of the Danish kingdom of East Anglia. The modern English county of Essex maintains the historic northern and the southern borders, but only covers the territory east of the River Lee.
The dates, names and achievements, like those of most early rulers in the Heptarchy, remain conjectural. The dynasty claimed descent from the god Seaxneat, rather than the god Woden (from whom the other Saxon tribes claimed descent). The list of kings may omit whole generations.
This was a time when spellings varied widely, even within a document. A number of variations of the details below exist. Amongst these are the preference between <thorn> and <eth> (hard and soft "th").
List of Kings of the East Saxons (Essex)
| Reign | Incumbent | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 527 to 587 | Aescwine | ÆSCVVINE CENFVSING ESTSEAXNA CYNING ÆSCVVINE REX SAXONVM ORIENTALIVM | |
| 587 to ante 604 | Sledda | SLEDDA ÆSCVVINING ESTSEAXNA CYNING SLEDDA REX SAXONVM ORIENTALIVM | |
| ante 604 to 616/7 | Saebert | SÆBRYHT SLEDDING ESTSEAXNA CYNING SÆBRYHT REX SAXONVM ORIENTALIVM | |
| 616/7 to 617 | Sexred | SEXRED SÆBRYHTING ESTSEAXNA CYNING SEXRED REX SAXONVM ORIENTALIVM | Joint king with Saeward; killed in battle against the West Saxons |
| 616/7 to 617 | Saeward | SÆVVARD SÆBRYHTING ESTSEAXNA CYNING SÆVVARD REX SAXONVM ORIENTALIVM | Joint king with Sexred; killed in battle against the West Saxons |
| 617 to ante c.653 | Sigeberht I the Little | SIGEBRYHT SÆVVARDING ESTSEAXNA CYNING SIGEBRYHT PARVVS REX SAXONVM ORIENTALIVM | |
| c.653 to 664 | Sigeberht II the Good | SIGEBRYHT SÆVVARDING ESTSEAXNA CYNING SIGEBRYHT SANCTVS REX SAXONVM ORIENTALIVM | Saint Sigeberht; Saint Sebbi (Feast Day 29 August) |
| 660 to 664 | Swithelm | SVVI<THORN>ELM ESTSEAXNA CYNING SVVI<THORN>ELM REX SAXONVM ORIENTALIVM | |
| 664 to 683 | Sighere | SIGHERE SIGEBRYHTING ESTSEAXNA CYNING SIGHERE REX SAXONVM ORIENTALIVM | Joint-king with Sebbi |
| 664 to c.694 | Sebbi | SEBBI ESTSEAXNA CYNING SEBBI REX SAXONVM ORIENTALIVM | Joint-king with Sighere; abdicated in favour of his son Sigeheard |
| c.694 to c.709 | Sigeheard | SIGEHEARD SEBBING ESTSEAXNA CYNING SIGEHEARD REX SAXONVM ORIENTALIVM | Joint-king with his son Swaefred |
| c.695 to ante c.709 | Swaefred | SVVÆFRED SIGEHEARDING ESTSEAXNA CYNING SVVÆFRED REX SAXONVM ORIENTALIVM | Joint-king with his father Sigeheard |
| 709 | Offa | OFFA SIGEHERING ESTSEAXNA CYNING OFFA REX SAXONVM ORIENTALIVM | Abdicated |
| c.709 to 746 | Saelred | SÆLRED SIGEBRYHTING ESTSEAXNA CYNING SÆLRED REX SAXONVM ORIENTALIVM | (aka Swebert) Probably joint-king with Swaefbert |
| c.715 to 738 | Swaefbert | SVVÆFBRYHT ESTSEAXNA CYNING SVVÆFBRYHT REX SAXONVM ORIENTALIVM | Probably joint-king with Saelred |
| 746 to 758 | Svvithred | SVVI<THORN>RED SIGEMVNDING ESTSEAXNA CYNING SVVI<THORN>RED REX SAXONVM ORIENTALIVM | |
| 758 to 798 | Sigeric | SIGERIC ESTSEAXNA CYNING SIGERIC REX SAXONVM ORIENTALIVM | Abdicated |
| 798 to 812 | Sigered | SIGERED SIGERICING ESTSEAXNA CYNING SIGERED REX SAXONVM ORIENTALIVM | |
| 812 to 825 | SIGERED DVX SAXONVM ORIENTALIVM | Rank reduced by Mercian overlords | |
| c.825 | Mercia defeated by Egbert of Wessex, sub-kingdom of Essex subsumed into Wessex | ||
Sigered was the last king of Essex, and he ceded the kingdom to Egbert of Wessex.
| The Heptarchy |
|---|
| East Anglia | Essex | Kent | Mercia | Northumbria | Sussex | Wessex |