Swæfred (or Suebred) was joint king of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

along with his brother, Sigeheard, from 694 to 709, succeeding their father Sæbbi. In 705, they became estranged from King

Ine of Wessex Ine, also rendered Ini or Ina, ( la, Inus; c. AD 670 – after 726) was King of Wessex from 689 to 726. At Ine's accession, his kingdom dominated much of southern England. However, he was unable to retain the territorial gains of his predecessor ...

for sheltering his rivals to the throne. At the Synod of

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

, 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 A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

related to land in

Nazeing Nazeing is a village and parish in Essex, England. Within the parish are the separate settlements of Upper Nazeing, Middle Nazeing, and Lower Nazeing. The Prime Meridian passes to the west of Lower Nazeing. Location and topography Nazeing is ...

for the establishment of a nunnery, although these charters only survive in later copies. He issued a further charter related to land in the

Dengie peninsula __NOTOC__ Dengie is a peninsula in Essex, England, that once formed a hundred (subdivision), hundred of the same name (sometimes spelled Dengy). The peninsula is formed by the River Crouch to the south, the River Blackwater, Essex, Blackwater to ...

. A charter related to land in Twickenham (S65) is attributed to him. This charter has been described as possibly spurious, although more recent writers have concluded that there is no reason to doubt its authenticity.Electronic Sawyer
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 Coenred (also spelled Cenred or Cœnred fl. 675–709) was king of Mercia from 704 to 709. Mercia was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in the English Midlands. He was a son of the Mercian king Wulfhere, whose brother Æthelred succeeded to the throne in ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. He would succeed Swæfred and Sigeheard.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Swaefred of Essex East Saxon monarchs 7th-century births 700s deaths 7th-century English monarchs 8th-century English monarchs