Swæfred (or Suebred) was joint king of Essex along with his brother, Sigeheard, from 694 to 709, succeeding their father Sæbbi.
In 705, they became estranged from King Ine of Wessex for sheltering his rivals to the throne. At the Synod of Brentford, they agreed to banish Ine's rivals from Essex in return for Ine's promise not to attack Essex. The exact chronology of the later years of their rule is uncertain. It isn't known whether they governed together until 709 or if Swæfred died before then.
Swæfred issued two charters related to land in Nazeing for the establishment of a nunnery,[1] although these charters only survive in later copies. He issued a further charter related to land in the Dengie peninsula.[2] A charter related to land in Twickenham (S65) is attributed to him.[3] This charter has been described as possibly spurious, although more recent writers have concluded that there is no reason to doubt its authenticity.[4]
By 709, Offa, son of their father's co-king and later rival, Sighere, was at least heir apparent and perhaps joint ruler of Essex when he traveled with King Cenred of Mercia to Rome. He would succeed Swæfred and Sigeheard.
Notes
^Kenneth Bascombe, Two Charters of King Suebred in Kenneth Neale, (Ed), An Essex Tribute (Leopard's Head Press, 1987)
^Cyril Hart, The Early Charters of Essex (Leicester University Press, revised edition, 1971)
^Downham, Clare (2007), Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: The Dynasty of Ívarr to A.D. 1014, Edinburgh: Dunedin, ISBN 978-1-903765-89-0, OCLC163618313
^Woolf, Alex (2007), From Pictland to Alba, 789–1070, The New Edinburgh History of Scotland, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 978-0-7486-1234-5, OCLC123113911
^Zaluckyj, Sarah & Feryok, Marge. Mercia: The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Central England (2001) ISBN 1-873827-62-8
^Barbara Yorke (1995), Wessex in the early Middle Ages, A & C Black, ISBN 071851856X; pp 79-83; table p. 81
^Keynes, Simon (2014). "Appendix I: Rulers of the English, c.450–1066". In Lapidge, Michael (ed.). The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-65632-7.
^Kirby, D. P. The Earliest English Kings. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-4152-4211-0.
^Lapidge, M.; et al., eds. (1999). "Kings of the East Angles". The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. London: Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-6312-2492-1.
^Searle, W. G. 1899. Anglo-Saxon Bishops, Kings and Nobles.
^Yorke, B. 1990. Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England.
^Carpenter, Clive. Kings, Rulers and Statesmen. Guinness Superlatives, Ltd.
^Ross, Martha. Rulers and Governments of the World, Vol. 1. Earliest Times to 1491.
.svg.png)
.svg.png)
.svg.png){kind=small}
.svg.png){kind=small}
.svg.png){kind=small}
.svg.png){kind=small}
.svg.png){kind=small}
