Sæberht of Essex

Who was Sæberht of Essex?

Sæberht, Saberht or Sæbert was a King of Essex, in succession of his father King Sledd. He is known as the first East Saxon king to have been converted to Christianity.

The principal source for his reign is the early 8th-century Historia Ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum by Bede, who claims to have derived his information about the missionary work of Mellitus among the East Saxons from Abbot Albinus of Canterbury through the London priest Nothhelm, later Archbishop of Canterbury. Other sources include the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, an imperfectly preserved genealogy possibly of the late 9th century and a handful of genealogies and regnal lists written down by Anglo-Norman historians.