Editing Kingdom of Essex (section)

==Subkingdoms==
The kingdom of Essex grew by the absorption of smaller subkingdoms<ref name=reynolds>Andrew Reynolds, ''Later Anglo-Saxon England'' (Tempus, 2002, page 67) drawing on S Bassett (ed) ''The Origin of Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms'' (Leicester, 1989)</ref> or Saxon tribal groups. There are a number of suggestions for the location of these subkingdoms including:
*[[The Rodings]] ("the people of Hrōþa"),<ref name=reynolds/>
*the ''Hæmele'', [[Hemel Hempstead]]<ref name="Yorke2002">{{cite book|last=Yorke|first=Barbara|author-link=Barbara Yorke|title=Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BC6EAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA16|year=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-70725-6|page=54}}</ref>
*Vange<ref>Pewsey & Brooks, ''East Saxon Heritage'' (Alan Sutton Publishing, 1993)</ref> – "marsh district" (possibly stretching to the [[Mardyke (river)|Mardyke]])
*Denge<ref name=rippon />
*''Ginges''<ref name="Yorke2002"/>
*Berecingas – [[Barking, London|Barking]], in the south-west of the kingdom<ref name=Hooke>{{cite book|first=Della|last=Hooke|title=The Landscape of Anglo-Saxon England |year=1998|publisher=Leicester University Press| page=47}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42723| title = VCH, volume 5}}</ref>
*Hæferingas in the [[London Borough of Havering]]<ref name=Hooke/>
*Uppingas – [[Epping, Essex|Epping]]<ref name=Hooke/>

===Essex monarchy===
Essex emerged as a single kingdom during the 6th century. The dates, names and achievements of the Essex kings, like those of most early rulers in the [[Heptarchy]], remain conjectural. The historical identification of the kings of Essex, including the evidence and a reconstructed genealogy are discussed extensively by Yorke.<ref>{{cite book|last=Yorke|first=Barbara|chapter=The Kingdom of the East Saxons|title=Anglo-Saxon England 14|year=1985|pages=1–36|editor-first=Peter|editor-last=Clemoes|editor2-first=Simon|editor2-last=Keynes|editor3-first=Michael|editor3-last=Lapidge|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref> The dynasty claimed descent from [[Odin|Woden]] via [[Seaxnēat]]. A genealogy of the Essex royal house was prepared in Wessex in the 9th century. Unfortunately, the surviving copy is somewhat mutilated.<ref>{{cite book|last=Yorke|first=Barbara|chapter=The Kingdom of the East Saxons|title=Anglo-Saxon England 14|year=1985|page=3|editor-first=Peter|editor-last=Clemoes|editor2-first=Simon|editor2-last=Keynes|editor3-first=Michael|editor3-last=Lapidge|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref> At times during the history of the kingdom several sub-kings within Essex appear to have been able to rule simultaneously.<ref name="Yorke, B. 1984 pp47-52"/> They may have exercised authority over different parts of the kingdom. The first recorded king, according to the East Saxon King List, was [[Æscwine of Essex|Æscwine]], to which a date of 527 is given for the start of his reign, although there are some difficulties with the date of his reign, and [[Sledd of Essex|Sledd]] is listed as the founder of the Essex royal house by other sources.<ref>{{cite book|last=Yorke|first=Barbara|chapter=The Kingdom of the East Saxons|title=Anglo-Saxon England 14|year=1985|page=16|editor-first=Peter|editor-last=Clemoes|editor2-first=Simon|editor2-last=Keynes|editor3-first=Michael|editor3-last=Lapidge|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref> The kings of Essex are notable for their S-nomenclature, nearly all their names begin with the letter S.

The Essex kings issued coins that echoed those issued by [[Cunobeline]] simultaneously asserting a link to the first century rulers while emphasising independence from Mercia.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Anglo-Saxons|year=1991|publisher=Penguin|pages=63–64|chapter=Anglo-Saxon Coins 1|first=DM|last=Metcalf|editor=Campbell, James}}</ref>

===Christianity===
Christianity is thought to have flourished among the Trinovantes in the 4th century AD (late [[Roman Britain|Roman period]]); indications include the remains of a probable church at Colchester,<ref>Details on the church, Colchester Archaeologist website https://www.thecolchesterarchaeologist.co.uk/?p=34126</ref> dating from some time after 320, shortly after the emperor [[Constantine the Great]] [[Edict of Milan|granted freedom of worship]] to Christians in 313. Other archaeological evidence includes a [[chi rho]] symbol etched on a tile at a site in [[Wickford]], and a gold ring inscribed with a chi rho monogram found at [[Brentwood, Essex|Brentwood]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dunnett|first1=Rosalind|title=The Trinovantes|date=1975 |orig-year=1975 |publisher=Duckworth|location=London|isbn=0-7156-0843-6|page=58}}</ref> It is not clear to what extent, if any, Christianity persisted by the time of the pagan East Saxon kings in the sixth century.

The earliest English record of the kingdom dates to [[Bede]]'s {{lang|la|[[Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum]]}}, which noted the arrival of Bishop (later Saint) [[Mellitus]] in London in 604. [[Æthelberht of Kent|Æthelberht]] (King of Kent and overlord of southern England according to Bede) was in a position to exercise some authority in Essex shortly after 604, when his intervention helped in the conversion of King [[Saebert of Essex|Sæberht of Essex]] (son of [[Sledda|Sledd]]), his nephew, to Christianity. It was Æthelberht, and not Sæberht, who built and endowed St. Paul's in London, where [[St. Paul's Cathedral]] now stands. Bede describes Æthelberht as Sæberht's overlord.<ref>Bede, book II, chapter 3</ref><ref name=Stenton_109>Stenton, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', p. 109.</ref> After the death of Sæberht in 616, Mellitus was driven out and the kingdom reverted to paganism. This may have been the result of opposition to Kentish influence in Essex affairs rather than being specifically anti-Christian.<ref name="Yorke, Barbara 1990">Yorke, Barbara, ''Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England'' (1990)</ref>

The kingdom reconverted to Christianity under [[Sigeberht II of Essex|Sigeberht II the Good]] following a mission by [[Cedd|St Cedd]] who established monasteries at ''Tilaburg'' (probably [[East Tilbury]], but possibly [[West Tilbury]]) and ''Ithancester'' (almost certainly [[Bradwell-on-Sea]]). A [[Royal saxon tomb in Prittlewell|royal tomb]] at Prittlewell was discovered and excavated in 2003. Finds included gold foil crosses, suggesting the occupant was Christian. If the occupant was a king, it was probably either Sæberht or Sigeberht (murdered 653). It is, however, also possible that the occupant was not royal, but simply a wealthy and powerful individual whose identity has gone unrecorded.<ref>Blair, I. 2007. Prittlewell Prince. ''Current Archaeology'' '''207''': 8-11</ref>

[[File:St Peters Chapel.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall|St Peter's Chapel, Bradwell-on-Sea]]. Established by [[St Cedd]], the patron saint of Essex around 662, it was built on the site of the abandoned Roman [[Saxon Shore]] fort of [[Othona]].]]
Essex reverted to Paganism again in 660 with the ascension of the pagan King [[Swithelm of Essex|Swiþhelm]]. He converted in 662, but died in 664. He was succeeded by his two sons: [[Sighere of Essex|Sigehere]] and [[Sebbi of Essex|Sæbbi]]. A plague the same year caused Sigehere and his people to recant their Christianity and Essex reverted to Paganism a third time. This rebellion was suppressed by [[Wulfhere of Mercia]] who established himself as overlord. Bede describes Sigehere and Sæbbi as "rulers […] under Wulfhere, king of the Mercians".<ref name=Kirby_114_1>Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'', p.&nbsp;114.</ref> Wulfhere sent Jaruman, the bishop of [[Lichfield]], to reconvert the East Saxons.<ref>Bede, ''HE'', III, 30, pp. 200–1.</ref>

[[Wine (bishop)|Wine]] (in 666)<ref name=Handbook239>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 239</ref> and [[Erkenwald]] (in 675)<ref name=Handbook239/> were appointed bishops of London with spiritual authority over the East Saxon Kingdom. A small stone chest bearing the name of [[Sæbbi of Essex]] ({{reign|664|683}}) was visible in [[Old St Paul's Cathedral]] until the [[Great Fire of London]] of 1666 when the cathedral and the tombs within it were lost. The inscription on the chest was recorded by [[Paul Hentzner]] and translated by [[Robert Naunton]] as reading: "Here lies Seba, King of the East Saxons, who was converted to the faith by St. Erkenwald, Bishop of London, A.D. 677".<ref>''Travels in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth'' by Paul Hentzner; ''Fragmenta Regalia'' by Sir Robert Naunton. 1892 Cassell https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1992/pg1992.html accessed 8.9.2021</ref>

Although London, like the rest of Middlesex, was lost by the East Saxons in the 8th century, the bishops of London continued to exert spiritual authority over Essex as a kingdom, shire and county until 1845.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp;jsessionid=AE9DA57B52C81919C5ADBE98B322E165?u_id=10568420&c_id=| title = Essex archdeaconry through time| access-date = 14 May 2010| archive-date = 3 April 2012| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120403163411/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp| url-status = dead}}</ref>

===Later history and end===
Despite the comparative obscurity of the kingdom, there were strong connections between Essex and the Kentish kingdom across the river Thames that led to the marriage of King Sledd to Ricula, sister of the king, [[Æthelberht of Kent]]. For a brief period in the 8th century the kingdom included west Kent. During this period, Essex kings issued their own [[sceattas]] (coins), perhaps as an assertion of their own independence.<ref>{{cite book|first=Stephen|last=Rippon|chapter=Essex c.700 – 1066|url=https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/handle/10036/30480|editor=Bedwin, O|title=The Archaeology of Essex, proceedings of the Writtle conference|year=1996 |page=117|publisher=Essex County Council |isbn=9781852811228}}</ref> However, by the mid-8th century, much of the kingdom, including London, had fallen to [[Mercia]], and the rump of Essex, roughly the modern county, had become subordinate to the same.<ref>{{cite book|page=[https://archive.org/details/london8001216sha0000broo/page/18 18]|title=London, 800-1216: the shaping of a city|url=https://archive.org/details/london8001216sha0000broo|url-access=registration|first1=Christopher Nugent Lawrence|last1=Brooke|first2=Gillian|last2=Keir|year=1975|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520026865 }}</ref> After the defeat of the Mercian king [[Beornwulf of Mercia|Beornwulf]] around 825, [[Sigered of Essex|Sigered]], the last king of Essex, ceded the kingdom, which then became a possession of the [[West Saxon kingdom|Wessex]] king [[Egbert of Wessex|Egbert]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles|editor=Swanton, Michael|page=60|publisher=Phoenix Press|year=1996}}</ref>

The Mercians continued to control parts of Essex and may have supported a pretender to the Essex throne since a Sigeric {{lang|la|rex Orientalem Saxonum}} witnessed a Mercian charter after 825.<ref>{{PASE|177285|Sigeric 4|accessdate=2025-04-20}}</ref><ref name=Hart>Cyril Hart ''The Danelaw'' (The Hambledon Press, 1992, chapter 3)</ref> During the 9th century, Essex was part of a sub-kingdom that included Sussex, Surrey and Kent.<ref name=Hart/> Sometime between 878 and 886, the territory was formally ceded by Wessex to the [[Danelaw]] kingdom of East Anglia, under the [[Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum]]. After the reconquest by [[Edward the Elder]], the king's representative in Essex was styled an [[ealdorman]], and Essex came to be regarded as a [[shire]].<ref>{{cite book|title=An Essex Tribute|editor-last=Neale|editor-first=Kenneth|publisher=Leopard's Head Press|year=1987|last=Hart|first=Cyril|chapter=The Ealdordom of Essex|page=62}}</ref>