Sigebert (East Anglia)

The Kingdom of East Anglia in the early Anglo-Saxon period

Sigebert (also Sigeberht, Sigberct ; † around 640 in Suffolk ) was from 630/631 to 637 king of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of East Anglia from the Wuffinger dynasty .

Life

Beda Venerabilis called Sigebert Eorpwald's brother and not Rædwald's son, which has been interpreted by some historians to mean that Sigebert was Rædwald's stepson. This theory goes back to William of Malmesbury , a 12th century historian. Sigebert got the resentment of Rædwalds and had to leave East Anglia. He went to the Franconian Empire and was baptized there. Bede described him as a pious and learned man. In exile he met the clergyman Felix of Burgundy , who followed him to East Anglia around 630.

Around 630/631 Sigebert achieved the royal dignity in East Anglia. He immediately began converting East Anglia. At his request, Honorius , the Archbishop of Canterbury , consecrated Felix Bishop of the East Angles and assigned him Dommoc as the bishopric. Dommoc is usually identified with Dunwich , but Walton Castle near Felixstowe can also be considered. King Sigebert and Felix built a school around 631 based on the Franconian model. The Irish missionaries Fursa and Foillan were also warmly received by Sigebert. Sigebert provides land for the foundation of the Cnobheresburg monastery . The location of the now defunct monastery complex may have been at the former Caister-on-Sea or Burgh-Castle near Great Yarmouth in Norfolk.

Sigebert abdicated around 637 and handed the throne over to his relative Ecgric , who had already ruled as sub-king in part of East Anglia. He retired as a monk in a monastery he had built. That this, as claimed in the Liber Eliensis from the 12th century, was about Betrichesworðe , later Bury St Edmunds , is unbelievable.

Around 640 Penda , King of Mercia attacked East Anglia. Sigebert, who had the reputation of a famous and courageous military leader, was brought out of the monastery by the defeated Ostangeln to encourage the army in the following battle. Reluctantly and remembering his vows, he is said to have gone into battle, unarmed, only with a staff in hand, in the midst of the army. Sigebert and Ecgric fell in battle, and the East Anglian army was slain or fled. Sigebert was probably buried in Bedricesweord ( Bury St Edmunds , Suffolk).

Beda's brief remarks on Sigebert's exile in the Franconian Empire , Merovingian coin finds in Sutton Hoo and Sigebert's name, which was also borne by the Frankish kings, indicate the close connection between East Anglia and the continent in the early 7th century.

He is considered a martyr because he fell fighting pagans. He is venerated as a saint in the Anglican Church for his services to the Christianization of East Anglia . His feast day is October 29th.

swell

• Beda Venerabilis : Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum , Online in the Medieval Sourcebook (English)
• Janet Fairweather: Liber Eliensis . A History of the Isle of Ely from the Seventh Century to the Twelfth, compiled by a Monk of Ely in the Twelfth Century , Boydell, 2005, ISBN 978-1-84383-015-3

literature

• Richard Hoggett: The Archeology of the East Anglian Conversion (Anglo-Saxon Studies) , Boydell & Brewer , 2010, ISBN 978-1-84383-595-0
• Barbara Yorke : Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England . Routledge, London-New York 2002, ISBN 978-0-415-16639-3 , especially pp. 62-71.

Web links

• Sigebert in Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
• Sigeberht 3 in Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England (PASE)
• J. Campbell: Sigeberht (paid registration required). In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved November 13, 2011

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Richard Hoggett: The Archeology of the East Anglian Conversion (Anglo-Saxon Studies) , Boydell & Brewer, 2010, ISBN 978-1-84383-595-0 , pp. 31-32.
2. ^ JA Giles : William of Malmesbury's Chronicle of the Kings of England . George Bell and Sons , London 1904, p. 89 f . (English, online [accessed August 8, 2019]).
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Beda, HE 3,18
4. ↑ ^{a b} Beda: HE 2,15
5. ^ William of Malmesbury : Gesta Pontificum Anglorum II.74
6. ^ Richard Hoggett: The Archeology of the East Anglian Conversion (Anglo-Saxon Studies), Boydell & Brewer, 2010, ISBN 978-1-84383-595-0 , pp. 37-38.
7. ↑ Beda, HE 3,19
8. ↑ ^{a b} J. Campbell: Sigeberht  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.   (paid registration required). In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved November 13, 2011
9. ↑ Michael Lapidge et al. (Ed.): The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England , Wiley-Blackwell, 2001, ISBN 978-0-631-22492-1 , p. 76.
10. ^ Sigebert von Ostanglien in: Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon
11. ^ John Henry Cardinal Newman: Lives of the English Saints , 1843

predecessor	Office	successor
Ricbert	King of East Anglia 630/631 – around 637	Ecgric