Sigebert⁽¹⁾

Sigebert (d. 635), king of East Anglia and martyr. Virtually all we know of him comes from Bede. During the reign of his predecessor Redwald (who had attempted to combine the worship of Christ with that of the Germanic gods in the same church), Sigebert went into exile in Frankia and became a Christian. He returned as king in 630, a very learned man (doctissimus), and with the help of Honorius, archbishop of Canterbury, introduced Felix as bishop of East Anglia, based at Dunwich (or possibly Felixstowe) and enabled with royal endowment Fursey to establish his monastery at Burgh Castle. Felix under royal patronage also set up schools in East Anglia.

Sigebert did not reign for long: he resigned in favour of Ecgric and became a monk, possibly at Burgh Castle. Meanwhile Penda, king of Mercia, the scourge of other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, made war on East Anglia. Sigebert's countrymen, fearful of the morale of the troops in battle, took him against his will out of his monastery and brought him to the army, hoping that the presence of one who had been a brave and famous general would allay their fears. He, however, refused to carry a weapon but only a staff. He was killed with Ecgric in the total defeat which followed. Sigebert, like some other Anglo-Saxon kings who died in battle, was venerated as a martyr. East Anglian liturgical books were destroyed in the Danish invasions and his feast has been variously assigned to 16 January and 27 September.

Bibliography
Click here for a list of abbreviations used in this bibliography.

• Bede, H.E., ii. 15 and iii. 18; P. Hunter Blair, The World of Bede (1970), pp. 106–9
• Stanton, pp. 35–6