Rædwald

Rædwald (early 7th cent.), king of the East Angles. Baptized under the influence of King Æthelbert of Kent, he compromised with his heathen wife, adding a Christian altar in his temple alongside those to pagan gods. Sheltering the Deiran royal exile Edwin, c. 616, he was under pressure from the Northumbrian king Æthelfryth to kill him or hand him over. Pre-empting Æthelfryth's threats, he attacked, defeated, and killed him by the river Idle (Lincs.), securing the Northumbrian kingdom for Edwin. Rædwald's name is often linked with the famous ship-burial at Sutton Hoo.