Sigeberht (meaning roughly "Magnificent Victory") was the King of
Wessex
la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons
, common_name = Wessex
, image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg
, map_caption = S ...
from 756 to 757.
Sigeberht succeeded his distant relative
Cuthred Cuthred is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
*Cuthred of Kent, ninth-century monarch
*Cuthred of Wessex, eighth-century monarch
*Cuthred son of Cwichelm of Wessex
Cwichelm (died 636) was an Anglo-Saxon king of the Gewisse, a pe ...
, but was then accused of acting unjustly. After ruling a year he was accused of unlawful acts and removed from power by the
witan
The Witan () was the king's council in Anglo-Saxon England from before the seventh century until the 11th century. It was composed of the leading magnates, both ecclesiastic and secular, and meetings of the council were sometimes called the Wit ...
, a council of nobles.
[''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', trans. & ed. Michael James Swanton (New York: Routledge, 1998), p. 46] This council was led by
Cynewulf
Cynewulf (, ; also spelled Cynwulf or Kynewulf) is one of twelve Old English poets known by name, and one of four whose work is known to survive today. He presumably flourished in the 9th century, with possible dates extending into the late 8th ...
who succeeded Sigeberht.
[Mike Ashley, ''The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens'' (New York: Carroll & Graf, 1999), p. 311] The former Sigeberht was given control of
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
. There, he was accused of
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
, driven out and ultimately killed. It is possible that this happened under the influence of
Æthelbald of Mercia
Æthelbald (also spelled Ethelbald or Aethelbald; died 757) was the King of Mercia, in what is now the English Midlands from 716 until he was killed in 757. Æthelbald was the son of Alweo and thus a grandson of King Eowa. Æthelbald came to t ...
. His brother
Cyneheard was also driven out, but returned in 786 to kill Sigeberht's successor
Cynewulf
Cynewulf (, ; also spelled Cynwulf or Kynewulf) is one of twelve Old English poets known by name, and one of four whose work is known to survive today. He presumably flourished in the 9th century, with possible dates extending into the late 8th ...
.
See also
*
House of Wessex family tree
This is a list of monarchs of Wessex until AD 886. For later monarchs, see the List of English monarchs. While the details of the later monarchs are confirmed by a number of sources, the earlier ones are in many cases obscure.
The names are give ...
References
External links
*
West Saxon monarchs
Year of birth unknown
757 deaths
8th-century English monarchs
House of Wessex
{{UK-royal-stub